Sony already thinking of colour Readers

Sony Reader Touch edition - not so black and white?
Sony Reader Touch edition - not so black and white?

Sony has told TechRadar it is considering full colour Readers for the next generation of eBooks.

The electronics giant has just released the Sony Reader Touch and the Sony Reader Pocket for the UK market, along with a 3G version for the US, but it's not always, ahem, going to be so black and white.

Speaking at the launch of the Touch and the Pocket, Sony's UK Product Manager for the Reader, Wes Dearing, admitted that bringing a bit of colour to the Reader brand was far from outlandish.

"We are assessing [colour]," he said. "We have to work out if the public are happy with grey scale papers or want colour.

Giving the option

"If the consumers demand it; if they are saying 'we want colour Readers' then of course we will listen and provide that option," he added.

Colour is more problematical in eBooks than a normal screen, with the E Ink used basically made up from positively charged white particles and negatively charged black ones in a clear fluid.

When a charge is applied across the screen, the particles can be aligned to form letters and patterns and once in place no further charge is needed until the page is turned.

Colour E Ink does exist, but it is far from ready for the consumer market. To work a colour filter is placed over the top of the black and white display made up of red, green, blue and white sub-pixels.

This leads to a much reduced brightness of display, and the need for a much higher resolution – which is more expensive to produce.

TOPICS
Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.

Latest in Computing
Microsoft Surface laptop 7 on the left side versus Apple MacBook Pro M4 14-inch on the right side, TechRadar vs background
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 vs. Apple MacBook Pro M4 14-inch: Mac and Windows go head to head once again
Apple WWDC 2025 announced
3 things Apple needs to do at WWDC 2025 to save Apple Intelligence, and why I'm convinced it will
Chat GPT-generated images along with source material
ChatGPT 4o image generation is so good we will never be able to trust iPhone renders (and photos) again
Discord Clyde
Discord's game overlay has seen a complete revamp - I've tried it, and it's one of the best updates ever
A young woman is working on a laptop in a relaxed office space.
I’ll admit, Microsoft’s new Windows 11 update surprised me with its usefulness, providing accessibility fixes, a gamepad keyboard layout, and PC spec cards
Apple MacBook Air M3 on yellow background with lowest price text overlay
Need a new MacBook Air? Well I've found 9 discounts you'll not want to miss, including a MacBook Air M4 Amazon deal
Latest in News
Hisense U8 series TV on wall in living room
Hisense announces 2025 mini-LED TV lineup, with screen sizes up to 100 inches – and a surprising smart TV switch
Nintendo Music teaser art
Nintendo Music expands its library with songs from Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Tetris
An image of Pro-Ject's Flatten it closed and opened
Pro-Ject’s new vinyl flattener will fix any warped LPs you inadvertently buy on Record Store Day
The iPhone 16 Pro on a grey background
iPhone 17 Pro tipped to get 8K video recording – but I want these 3 video features instead
EA Sports F1 25 promotional image featuring drivers Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman.
F1 25 has been officially announced, with this year's entry marking a return for Braking Point and a 'significant overhaul' for My Team mode
Garmin clippd integration
Garmin's golf watches just got a big software integration upgrade to help you improve your game