I have been watching this project and am thinking about pre-ordering, although I am thinking about waiting until I can see a review of the finished product.
The main question I have is, is there any way to replace the screen with an e-ink screen? I would love to have an e-ink version. I mostly want to use this in the evenings as a way to do some things without keeping myself too awake.
A normal eInk screen like in an eReader? I doubt it.
There is no official and easy to find documentation about them, you have to pay big money, the screen are quite pricey, and I’m not aware of an eInk screen with the screen ratio of the DevTerm.
They are not driven like a normal LCD pannel, and need a dedicated controller (and socftware) It is not that easy as just swapping the screen.
Now there are some SPI screen that do exist and are publicly documented (or at least par of) but they have at least one big issue. They are really slow, and even worse the one with colour. It can take up to 10-20s for full refresh on the coloured one. Also I’m not aware of any SPI one that would fit the DevTerm screen ratio.
And for both, the panel are not cheap. Back in the day a 6" panel for an eReader was costing something like $40 to $60, and I genuinely doubt the price went down (unless you are called Amazon)
So yeah. In theory it is possible, in practice I doubt it will happen
Yeah, my question was for a kindle-like screen. I would totally pay some hundreds of dollars for such a panel, as my main goal is to have a device that is easier on the eyes and will not upset melatonin cycle by using it late in the day. But I may try something else, like jailbreaking my kindle and/or an external monitor instead.
Thank you for your response! Glad to know it is possible but unlikely.
That would be an interesting project though, but maybe, should be a different product than the DevTerm.
At least because the screen is not in the right shape.
It could be possible considering the modularity of the DevTerm to develop something around some of the parts.
This goes back a bit, but remember the “Yota Phone” with the e-ink back?
Not sure what point that would have in the long run. Ha maybe a keyboard with e ink panels that can contextually change their type face.
Having an e ink screen on the back would be kind of useless.
Perhaps a module that goes in place of the heat printer that has the same resolution as the printer, for a simple preview of what the printout will look like. Or a small playing card sized device that you can load whatever e ink image you want from the dev term onto.
