Aura’s New, Improved E-Paper Picture Frame Looks Like a Printed Photo
Just over a year ago, Aura unveiled its first cord-free e-paper digital picture frame, the 13.3-inch Aura Ink. The company has now introduced the Aura Ink 10″, a smaller e-ink digital frame that builds upon the success and technology of the original Aura Ink 13″.
The Aura Ink 10″ is not only smaller, but it also promises to display more colors, feature higher pixel density, and sport an “elevated” monochromatic design that Aura says works well in more environments and settings.
“10 years ago, we introduced our first digital frame with a simple goal: to help people feel closer to the ones they love,” says Abdur Chowdhury, CEO and co-founder of Aura. “Our customers love our frames, but we know some people want something different for their homes, without cords or a bright screen. What looks and feels like a simple, printed photograph is made possible by some of the most advanced e-paper technology. Ink brings us closer to a future where more of our digital photos live throughout our homes.”
Like the Aura Ink 13″, the Ink 10″ uses an e-paper screen design with E Ink, which works fundamentally differently than a more traditional LCD, like the displays in many of Aura’s other digital photo frames. Instead of using illuminated pixels, e-paper uses electric charges to change the color of ink in the display. Aura’s proprietary dithering algorithms arrange and charge different ink pixels to create the appearance of a full-color image.
It doesn’t have a backlight, so it looks more like a traditional printed photograph. There is an integrated front light that promises to remain subtle, providing gentle illumination when needed and turning off during the daytime or at night when nobody is around. The frame has built-in motion sensors.
The Ink 10″ is among the first frames on the market to sport E Ink Spectra 6, a new nine-color E Ink system. It includes six core base colors: black, white, red, yellow, blue, and green, plus three custom base colors: off-white, mustard yellow, and orange. Aura says it tuned these three new colors to fill gaps in the original color palette. These new colors are said to work better for showing photos of people in particular.
“The result is more even colors on faces, richer detail in textures like grass, and more natural transitions in gradients like a sky at sunset,” Aura says.
The Aura Ink 10″ has 200 pixels per inch (PPI), up from 150 on the Aura Ink 13″. As for colors, while the Aura Ink 13″ has the same six-color ink system as the new Ink 10″, it lacks the additional three custom colors.
“Ink 10″ keeps what people enjoy about e-paper, like no cord and the calm look of a printed photo,” adds Eric Jensen, CTO and co-founder of Aura. “We focused on making family photos look better. The simplest way to put it is less grain and smoother color.”
“Aura knows what people expect from a digital picture frame, and that’s anchored our work together to bring e-paper into the home,” says JM Hung, President of E Ink Holdings. “By pairing that insight with E Ink’s expanded color system, Ink 10″ produces photos that more accurately reflect the colors around us.”
The Aura Ink 10″ works alongside Aura’s smartphone app and has intelligent features to conserve power. By default, it displays one photo per day, but can be set to refresh more often, up to a dozen times a day. E-paper screens like this take a bit of time to refresh, so new images cannot appear instantaneously. The digital frame can last up to three months on a single charge and does not require constant power or a cord.
Pricing and Availability
The Aura Ink 10″ is available now for $349. It joins the Ink 13″, which is $499. Aura continues to sell its traditional HD LCD digital photo frames as well, of course, which start at $149.
Image creditsAura
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