CrowdSupply is great - I ran a successful project through them. And I would definitely recommend anyone doing some hardware taking a look.
There are a couple of things to be aware of - everything is shipped to the US and then distributed from there (using Mouser US).
From the project point of view this means, depending on where things are manufactured) tariffs can come into play. The terms of shipping to mouser are delivery duty paid - so it’s the shipper who pays.
For backers it does mean people outside of US can pay quite high shipping costs.
The other thing from a project point of view is that mouser is a distributor. They want a reasonable (around 40%) margin on the things they ship.
With CrowdSupply there are two sets of orders:
Orders placed during the campaign - the project gets the full money (minus fees etc…)
Orders placed after the campaign and any additional bulk orders - the project gets the wholesale price.
I wanted an e-ink screen I could just plug-in. Versatile, big and cheap.
Connection is via a VGA or HDMI. Works like an appliance. All automated. Wireless.
Specifications: 1024x768, 6fps, lag: ~1.2s, Connection: VGA or HDMI
Specifications Single Screen: 1024x768, 5fps, lag: ~1.2s, Connection: VGA or HDMI
I bought it two years ago for over $1800, and I have to say, it was worth every single dollar.
I can read on it, work on it, (kind of) watch youtube videos on it, play (some) RTS game on it. And mine only had 33hz refresh rate, not the latest 60hz.
When I tried (and returned) one of their monitors, it was absolutely horrific with ghosting. This was perhaps 5 years ago.
There was no manual, and it had a closed source application to time or force refresh. Of course, being closed source it wouldn't work on a Pi (arm64), nor did I feel comfortable about unknown code, or it working in a few years on a newer version of Linux.
It was all exceptionally poorly done. Amazon says it was a Dasung E-Ink Paperlike 3 HD Front-Light and Touch 13.3" Monitor.
If the app had been OSS, or it had an open API via the cable, I could have scripted an auto-refresh upon scrolling in vi or some such. Or just hacked into something seeing change scope under X. Point is, I could have made it work for me.
The default modes were terrible.
I hope things are better, but no way will I install some weird closed source client.
I have a fairly new tablet, and it handles refresh incredibly well, but I'm sure that's with strong integration into the display stack. Which is fine, of course, but that doesn't help me with coding.
EDIT: one of the things which makes some of these e-ink tablets incredible for refresh, is partial, very well done sectional refresh. So if a small part of the screen changes, BAM!, it's refreshed instantly for ghosting.
Again, I suspect this is tied into the display stack. The monitors I've seen don't seem anywhere as good. I'd love to to be wrong on newer models.
Page does mention Linux but there’s a separate Mac variant (which also needs an app) and a warning never to plug a Mac on the standard variant. What about people who use both?
I’d really like a Linux laptop with an e-ink screen. I’m well aware of the downsides.
It seems Android tablet with a keyboard or Windows laptop with double screen exist but to live with the limitations of such a screen, nothing would top having full control of the OS interface.
incredible, isn't it, that no single usable e-paper device is being sold. like no Mac with e-ink, no Surface with e-ink, no ASUS with e-ink, even though this is the best thing an operator can do to his tired eyes.
I'd wager that the whole modus operandi for desktop environments is not made with e-ink in mind.
E-ink fits in a situation where only a few updates are ever required, and completely breaks down for anything requiring higher framerates.
The market might just not be big enough to warrant creating a product.
> the whole modus operandi for desktop environments is not made with e-ink in mind
It used-to be in the DOS and terminal days, and it wouldn't take much to get us back there. Shut off all the eye-candy transition effects. Make your web browser, PDF viewer, etc., always scroll a full page at a time, instead of scrolling 1mm when you click on the button or use the mouse wheel. Just those few changes and you'll have something that'll work pretty well.
It could be sold without any dedicated software, and let the community come up with the interface. Just an LVDS display that fits a widely available Thinkpad would do it.
CWM or any light WM could perfectly fit. Once you either use terminal tools or ancient Motif applications (or QT with no animations at all), everything looks usable. Forget Gnome 4 or Plasma with all the bells and wistles on.
I have one of these. It's only 'ok'. There is significant ghosting and it's not very good when the scene is dark, but it's much better than my BOOX tablet. I just got it so I'm still experimenting with different uses.
It's specifically says no Linux support. It seems to me that excludes a large portion of tinkerers and those willing to accept the downsides of bleeding edge technologies, which is probably also their target market. Such as me.
I don't really want an e-ink "monitor" as that does not really play into the advantages of an e-ink display. By the time the e-ink display is uprated enough to act as a monitor It feels like a lot of the advantages of e-ink are lost and the display server does not really downrate enough to utilize e-ink's strength.
But an e-ink "terminal" would be nice, not an actual tty but something more like a tablet form factor that has a few buttons, little to no internal smarts and you can push images to it.
Since Boox runs android, you can also run a shell on it using termius and simply ssh to a host device instead of setting up vnc, if you have a terminal based workflow.
It's text on the E-ink screen mostly, be it in the browser, a plain text file, Logseq, Obsidian etc.
But sometimes simple writing can be done too. I wouldn't suggest writing code because of the high latency.
Most of my work is reading rather than writing so when I want to read something I use the E-ink screen.
I've tried this setup (and a different setup using a capture card) with a BOOX Note Max but the input latency is just too high to be usable, even for simple cli work.
Are the dedicated eink monitors (like Dasung) better in this regard?
I've been using this solution for about 4 days now.
It's not meant to be used as your main monitor.
I use it only when I want to read something I or someone else has written.
I think it's also good for simple writing too.
But if I try to use it as my main monitor, browsing the web, writing code, etc. it will become a real headache because of the latency.
One huge plus is that it isn't *just a monitor*. because of the VNC connection, I just pick up my tablet and roam around the office while reading something, even making tiny edits, It can be also used as a great drawpad. I use it to explain things to my coworkers, since drawing freehand diagrams, shapes and text isn't very easy with a mouse.
I use the Boox 10.3 for reading emails, text-based sites like this, and manga. Its bliss and has replaced 80% of my ipad. The experience of using it outside completely trounces normal screens.
As soon as they make larger, better 60hz panels I will 100% switch all my monitors over. I think making videos look worse is a positive. We don't need doomscrolling. We don't need 60fps react buttons with smooth gradients. We don't need to HDR the entire web. I primarily use text based sites anyways, so eink is perfect for me.
I've seen a couple minor, older-hardware cases when they've been powered off with something on the screen for years, but that's about it. in theory they can also "burn in" by not clearing the display occasionally (afaict it has something to do with accumulating charge) but most or all of those should clear eventually after cycling a bunch (afaict, though it can definitely persist to a minor degree for dozens of full refresh cycles). extreme ghosting, basically.
I backed this project: https://www.crowdsupply.com/modos-tech/modos-paper-monitor on Crowd Supply to see how close they can come to a "monitor" experience with an e-paper display.
Ooh, crowdsupply looks interesting. This is my first time seeing it.
CrowdSupply is great - I ran a successful project through them. And I would definitely recommend anyone doing some hardware taking a look.
There are a couple of things to be aware of - everything is shipped to the US and then distributed from there (using Mouser US).
From the project point of view this means, depending on where things are manufactured) tariffs can come into play. The terms of shipping to mouser are delivery duty paid - so it’s the shipper who pays.
For backers it does mean people outside of US can pay quite high shipping costs.
The other thing from a project point of view is that mouser is a distributor. They want a reasonable (around 40%) margin on the things they ship.
With CrowdSupply there are two sets of orders:
Orders placed during the campaign - the project gets the full money (minus fees etc…)
Orders placed after the campaign and any additional bulk orders - the project gets the wholesale price.
I wrote a fairly detailed write up of it here: https://www.atomic14.com/2025/07/21/crowd-funding-retro
Same here. I saw a demo in Fosdem which was pretty smooth.
I hacked together a HDMI e-ink monitor https://barwap.com/projects/okmonitor/
I wanted an e-ink screen I could just plug-in. Versatile, big and cheap. Connection is via a VGA or HDMI. Works like an appliance. All automated. Wireless.
Specifications: 1024x768, 6fps, lag: ~1.2s, Connection: VGA or HDMI Specifications Single Screen: 1024x768, 5fps, lag: ~1.2s, Connection: VGA or HDMI
Dasung 253 is a 25.3 inch eink display.
https://shop.dasung.com/products/dasung-25-3-e-ink-monitor-p...
I bought it two years ago for over $1800, and I have to say, it was worth every single dollar.
I can read on it, work on it, (kind of) watch youtube videos on it, play (some) RTS game on it. And mine only had 33hz refresh rate, not the latest 60hz.
Does it support linux based systems?
When I tried (and returned) one of their monitors, it was absolutely horrific with ghosting. This was perhaps 5 years ago.
There was no manual, and it had a closed source application to time or force refresh. Of course, being closed source it wouldn't work on a Pi (arm64), nor did I feel comfortable about unknown code, or it working in a few years on a newer version of Linux.
It was all exceptionally poorly done. Amazon says it was a Dasung E-Ink Paperlike 3 HD Front-Light and Touch 13.3" Monitor.
If the app had been OSS, or it had an open API via the cable, I could have scripted an auto-refresh upon scrolling in vi or some such. Or just hacked into something seeing change scope under X. Point is, I could have made it work for me.
The default modes were terrible.
I hope things are better, but no way will I install some weird closed source client.
I have a fairly new tablet, and it handles refresh incredibly well, but I'm sure that's with strong integration into the display stack. Which is fine, of course, but that doesn't help me with coding.
EDIT: one of the things which makes some of these e-ink tablets incredible for refresh, is partial, very well done sectional refresh. So if a small part of the screen changes, BAM!, it's refreshed instantly for ghosting.
Again, I suspect this is tied into the display stack. The monitors I've seen don't seem anywhere as good. I'd love to to be wrong on newer models.
Page does mention Linux but there’s a separate Mac variant (which also needs an app) and a warning never to plug a Mac on the standard variant. What about people who use both?
the version you linked is a monochrome one, right? Don't you find it difficult to read and work on it without color?
I want one of those but I keep waiting for the price to drop significantly. Seems like it'll take forever.
I’d really like a Linux laptop with an e-ink screen. I’m well aware of the downsides.
It seems Android tablet with a keyboard or Windows laptop with double screen exist but to live with the limitations of such a screen, nothing would top having full control of the OS interface.
incredible, isn't it, that no single usable e-paper device is being sold. like no Mac with e-ink, no Surface with e-ink, no ASUS with e-ink, even though this is the best thing an operator can do to his tired eyes.
I think PineNote qualifies by now?
https://pine64.org/devices/pinenote/
Also https://usetrmnl.com/
I'd wager that the whole modus operandi for desktop environments is not made with e-ink in mind. E-ink fits in a situation where only a few updates are ever required, and completely breaks down for anything requiring higher framerates.
The market might just not be big enough to warrant creating a product.
> the whole modus operandi for desktop environments is not made with e-ink in mind
It used-to be in the DOS and terminal days, and it wouldn't take much to get us back there. Shut off all the eye-candy transition effects. Make your web browser, PDF viewer, etc., always scroll a full page at a time, instead of scrolling 1mm when you click on the button or use the mouse wheel. Just those few changes and you'll have something that'll work pretty well.
It could be sold without any dedicated software, and let the community come up with the interface. Just an LVDS display that fits a widely available Thinkpad would do it.
But it was. 90s laptops had a refresh rate comparable to e-ink. That's why the windows mouse cursor can be configured to leave a trace.
CWM or any light WM could perfectly fit. Once you either use terminal tools or ancient Motif applications (or QT with no animations at all), everything looks usable. Forget Gnome 4 or Plasma with all the bells and wistles on.
https://shop.dasung.com/products/dasung-paperlike-103-the-wo...
This is that product. A 60 Hz eink monitor, for $340.
I have one of these. It's only 'ok'. There is significant ghosting and it's not very good when the scene is dark, but it's much better than my BOOX tablet. I just got it so I'm still experimenting with different uses.
Here's a clip of it playing video: https://youtu.be/povlk3hKTVA
I had no idea such a thing existed, thanks - did you need to install anything to get it working or does it just plug and go like a normal monitor?
Wow that’s far more impressive than I expected. I want a laptop with this for programming…
On the product page "Linux is not supported"... What a bummer!
It's specifically says no Linux support. It seems to me that excludes a large portion of tinkerers and those willing to accept the downsides of bleeding edge technologies, which is probably also their target market. Such as me.
I love when a blog post starts with demonstration of end result.
I don't really want an e-ink "monitor" as that does not really play into the advantages of an e-ink display. By the time the e-ink display is uprated enough to act as a monitor It feels like a lot of the advantages of e-ink are lost and the display server does not really downrate enough to utilize e-ink's strength.
But an e-ink "terminal" would be nice, not an actual tty but something more like a tablet form factor that has a few buttons, little to no internal smarts and you can push images to it.
Funnily you're describing https://usetrmnl.com/ which also happens to be pretty hacker friendly.
Until now, I had resisted the urge to order one
But now that they have a bigger version, with controls and a clear case...
I'm not sure that I should be thanking you for making me spend money!
this would do? https://shop.dasung.com/products/dasung-paperlike-103-the-wo...
No HDMI is really sad. This means there are probably closed source drivers. Linux is not mentioned as supported, so I suspect crapware.
PineNote?
Since Boox runs android, you can also run a shell on it using termius and simply ssh to a host device instead of setting up vnc, if you have a terminal based workflow.
Benefits aside, but the latency / refresh rate makes it not usable for practical purpose, ergonomics nightmare.
What's the cheapest eInk display one can get, like phone sized or tablet sized? I mean just for experimentation.
I'd look for an Inkplate on ebay. I got the 10 inch one for about £60 which is very good.
This is basically impossible due to **** animations everywhere.
Reading this on my eink Bigme Hibreak pro :).
So it is vim on the eink screen, mostly?
When writing a lot of LaTeX I wished I had an eink monitor. LaTeX already takes a moment to compile. I’d probably want vim on a conventional monitor.
It's text on the E-ink screen mostly, be it in the browser, a plain text file, Logseq, Obsidian etc. But sometimes simple writing can be done too. I wouldn't suggest writing code because of the high latency.
Most of my work is reading rather than writing so when I want to read something I use the E-ink screen.
I've tried this setup (and a different setup using a capture card) with a BOOX Note Max but the input latency is just too high to be usable, even for simple cli work.
Are the dedicated eink monitors (like Dasung) better in this regard?
I've been using this solution for about 4 days now. It's not meant to be used as your main monitor. I use it only when I want to read something I or someone else has written. I think it's also good for simple writing too. But if I try to use it as my main monitor, browsing the web, writing code, etc. it will become a real headache because of the latency.
One huge plus is that it isn't *just a monitor*. because of the VNC connection, I just pick up my tablet and roam around the office while reading something, even making tiny edits, It can be also used as a great drawpad. I use it to explain things to my coworkers, since drawing freehand diagrams, shapes and text isn't very easy with a mouse.
I wonder if xpra can be used for this, seems to work really nice on thin clients
The main thing I'd miss with this, versus using an actual e-ink monitor, is the ability to refresh/clear ghosting from a keyboard hotkey.
There are directly ekink monitors now.
Dasung 13k color is workable-ish even on MacOS with no tweaks.
I see btop in the video, I'd like to see a video of btop on that screen.
Any suggested eink tablet with higher refresh that this would work better for?
Many if not all of the current generation Boox devices. Choose comparison category "Refresh Time" here:
https://www.mydeepguide.com/daf-tool
Be aware that Boox runs Android apps. Many other brands do not.
I use the Boox 10.3 for reading emails, text-based sites like this, and manga. Its bliss and has replaced 80% of my ipad. The experience of using it outside completely trounces normal screens.
As soon as they make larger, better 60hz panels I will 100% switch all my monitors over. I think making videos look worse is a positive. We don't need doomscrolling. We don't need 60fps react buttons with smooth gradients. We don't need to HDR the entire web. I primarily use text based sites anyways, so eink is perfect for me.
How long will the display last like this?
I've been using an eInk screen for over 12 years - it is refreshed multiple times per day.
It is as crisp and clear as the day I got it.
Admittedly, I'm not trying to run video on it constantly and it doesn't get hot. But eInk seems remarkably durable.
from 6.7 to 42 would be my guess.
But being serious, I personally have not seen a degraded e-ink display.
I've seen a couple minor, older-hardware cases when they've been powered off with something on the screen for years, but that's about it. in theory they can also "burn in" by not clearing the display occasionally (afaict it has something to do with accumulating charge) but most or all of those should clear eventually after cycling a bunch (afaict, though it can definitely persist to a minor degree for dozens of full refresh cycles). extreme ghosting, basically.
they seem pretty durable to me.
Even in a lot of direct sunlight or leaving it out in the heat?