CES 2015: Colour e-ink displays could adorn the walls of your house very soon

E-ink displays are fantastic because they barely require any power to function, meaning they can last days, or even weeks, on a single charge. The only real problem is that e-ink displays only work in black and white. Until now that is.

Shown off at CES, E Ink Holdings has developed a new colour changing display based on the tech it originally developed for use in devices like the Kindle and the Pebble smartwatch. It’s called Prsim, but before you start getting excited you should know it won’t be appearing in your e-reader anytime soon.

Instead Prism is designed to be used by interior designers and architects so that they can offer spaces that can change colour and mood easily and quickly. So if you were to ever get tired of beige paint, you could just change it to blue with a little bit of fiddling. Heck, one day you might be able to programme it to display an ever-changing slideshow of images.

The advantages are that it doesn’t require much power, and it has a reflective surface designed to make it look like the wall has actually been painted.

E Ink Holdings hasn’t stated why the new colour displays aren’t available on mobile devices just yet, but rumour has it that it may have something to do with issues installing the tech on a much smaller scale. Regardless, it’s great that e-ink is evolving. Plus if it manages to improve our lives away from the gadgets then that’s all the better for us.

This week we’re bringing you all the latest news, videos and gossip from CES 2015 in Las Vegas. Check out the CES 2015 page to keep up to date and subscribe to our YouTube channel to see hands-on news with our editor Holly Brockwell from the show floor.