
Sydney’s solar-powered e-paper traffic signs report zero failures since 2013 - Ursa83
https://www.visionect.com/blog/epaper-reports-zero-failure/
======
Quequau
I would love to have an unadorned A3 or larger e-Ink device to mount on the
wall next to my front door for a smart calendar/weather/to-do.

I also really, really want an A4 sized eReader but for reasons completely
beyond me the only manufacturer of such a device is Sony and not only are they
ridiculously overpriced they've got bizarre anti-consumer constraint to basic
functionality as well.

~~~
jlebrech
Yeah i'd love to have giant epaper screens for use in a coder's workstation
where emphasis is only writing code and looking at terminal screens. along
with a b&w focused windowing system.

It'll be like sitting on an old school workstation again, more focus, less
distraction and still have modern underlying hardware.

~~~
nomercy400
I like my IDE's color suggestions though. Does your b&w system also have that?

~~~
frik
I use IDEA, Eclipse, VS, etc on an e-ink. Use the light-theme that comes with
your IDE (not the Dracula theme). You will see the colors as different shades
of gray (not just b&w) - it's fine, one gets used too. And color e-ink exists
just still too expensive - there were rumours that the next Kindle after v3
gets a color e-ink (2010), but Amazon shifted the focus to Kindle Fire. The
technology is there, just the volume is too low, so color e-ink are still
expensive.

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kbart
This article is jut an ad. What I'd really like to know:

\- What is total cost and what maintenance is required (annually) and how does
it compare to the traditional road signs?

\- What about visibility (I assume, it doesn't have reflective property as
traditional road sign paint)? At night? At rain? At other extreme weather
conditions?

\- What connection is used and how secure is it (I assume, it's controlled
remotely)?

\- What protections does it have against vandalism and theft?

~~~
Ursa83
This might explain things a bit more: www.visionect.com/blog/worlds-first-
epaper-traffic-signs In short, the signs are paperlike, with a 180-degree
viewing angle and no glare, but they do have a frontlight. They connect via 3G
and have tamper detection.

~~~
the8472
I think he meant retro-reflective properties of normal roadsigns. Merely being
paper-like is not the same.

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JohnJamesRambo
The contrast on those looks really bad compared to the normal ultra high
contrast color schemes used in road signs. I'm not sure that reliability is
more important than visibility.

~~~
luka-birsa
What is really important is the value that is provided to the city and end
users - you get up to deliver information to your commuters in real time. This
is hard/impossible to do if you need to deploy LCD signs that require massive
roadworks to connect to power.

The fact that they don't break down is just a further testament to e-paper's
versatility - we'll see more and more applications using e-paper in digital
signage. There's a lot of examples what our customers are building on our
blog, like smart citizen information ([https://www.visionect.com/blog/soofa-
sign-reinventing-citysc...](https://www.visionect.com/blog/soofa-sign-
reinventing-cityscape/)) or trucks equipped with digital signs
([https://www.visionect.com/blog/electronic-paper-truck-
displa...](https://www.visionect.com/blog/electronic-paper-truck-displays/)).

~~~
radley
Couple of questions. How are they powered (solar?). If someone were to get a
ticket and protest that the sign changed after they had parked, what process
is in place to allow them to review the content record for that sign?

~~~
luka-birsa
They are powered with solar. The technology doesn't change the other problem -
they changed the signs previously by updating the content manually (replacing
the plates). I'm guessing they have this sorted out.

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afandian
Looking at the photos I'm surprised that the software isn't aware of panel
edges.

In this photo, for example, the "2" and "T" could have been shifted a little
so that they didn't cross a boundary.

[https://www.visionect.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/sydney_...](https://www.visionect.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/sydney_epaper_traffic_sign_header9-900x500.jpg)

------
noir_lord
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cURJPVA...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cURJPVAVfbwJ:blog.parknews.biz/2017/05/visionect-
powered-electronic-paper-reports-zero-
failures/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=ubuntu)

------
rprevolsek
Are there any calculations made regarding life expectancy in comparison to LCD
technologies?

~~~
Ursa83
Hi, Ursa from Visionect here, the company powering the Sydney traffic signs.
To answer your question: electronic paper technology is 99% more power
efficient than LCD (uses energy only when changing content). In many
applications, it can also prove to be as much as four times more reliable than
LCD.

~~~
dragonmum
> Hi, Ursa from Visionect here, the company powering the Sydney traffic signs.

You're also the poster of the article which is an ad from your company.

> In many applications, it can also prove to be as much as four times more
> reliable than LCD.

That's a really vague answer. Are you saying your solar powered road side
display panels are 4 times more reliable than the LCD panels used with
everything else? Could you share some data with us?

~~~
luka-birsa
Life expectancy of LCD/LEDs depends greatly on the type (consumer would die
fairly quickly in outdoor scenarios) and I'm sure one could build an LCD/LED
display that will last 4 years outdoors. It's hard to deploy such LCD/LED sign
(you require power and lots of it to be visible in sunlight) but it's
possible.

The important thing here is that this first production outdoor deployment of
EPD signs in the world works for for years without any serious problems which
confirms that e-paper is a viable technology for outdoor deployments. There
was a lot of skepticism back in 2013 if this is at all possible.

~~~
dragonmum
> It's hard to deploy such LCD/LED sign (you require power and lots of it to
> be visible in sunlight) but it's possible.

What? Most of the signboards you see on the road are LED signboards. You know
the ones we have in freezing winter or in blazing summer! So not only is it
possible, it's what's commonly done.

> The important thing here is that this first production outdoor deployment

There's very little data provided in the article, no real accurate data on
what kind of environmental conditions were experienced by the devices. Seems
like a puff piece.

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kevin_b_er
This looks like a great recipe the 'parking laws' being changed with zero
notice and your car getting towed away. No longer does the city have to send
someone out to mark where your car is currently parked as an immediate towaway
zone.

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lozf
My local bus stop has had an e-ink display showing when the next few bus
routes are due, since last summer. I don't get to use it that often, but when
I do it's often broken or stuck displaying wrong information. Just last week
it was replaced, and this morning I noticed it appeared functional, but less
accurate than Google Maps and Citymapper.

So much potential, but seems to be poorly implemented by Tfl.gov.uk

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askvictor
Site seems to be down?

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esteradezelak
site back up

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chrisbennet
How many HN id's do you have dude? I'm counting at least 3 on this thread
alone; luka-birsa, Ursa83 and esteradezelak. I get that you want to put your
ad on HN but atroturfing us isn't going to help you.

~~~
napsy
please stop deducting things, you're terrible.

