The first "wafer thin" display using electronic ink was rolled out at a JCPenney store on Monday.
The 3mm-thick electronic display measuring 6 feet x 4 feet, which can be updated and changed every 10 seconds, was hung in the sports department at a store in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Featuring a built-in wireless pager, the 9-pound sign can be updated through a wireless Internet connection.
The sign will provide shoppers with up-to-the-minute information about special offers, sale prices, and will also contain traditional advertising, according its creators, E Ink of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Based on research from MIT, electronic ink rivals LCD display technology and may eventually lead to thin, flexible books, magazines, and newspapers in which content is updated electronically by a wireless connection.
More immediately, the technology may lead to much less expensive high-contrast, high-resolution displays for portable computers and handheld devices.
Advocates say electronic ink displays offer the same contrast ratio as traditional ink and paper and can be seen from any angle, making them easier to look at than LCDs.
In a statement, E Ink said that the sign consumes less energy than an ordinary light bulb and that additional displays will be rolling out at JCPenney stores in Chicago and Dallas.
E Ink is one of several companies working on thin, flexible displays. The Xerox PARC has been working on a similar technology for more than 20 years.
