Gadget Review: 6-Colour ePaper Name Badge

The good folks at SmartDisplayer Technology Co have sent me a six colour eInk badge to play about with.

Here's a quick video and then a walk-through of its features.

You can also view SmartDisplayer's official video.

The Badge

It is a single block of plastic. There are no seams, screws, or rough edges. The ePaper appear right on the surface of the badge, there's no recessing or anything to indicate that this is a high-tech gadget. It uses their "cold lamination" technology which creates an impeccable matt finish.

The display area is 56.4mm x 84.6mm - which is pretty close to the size of a standard credit card - for a resolution of 180PPI.

The eInk

This uses E-Ink Spectra 6 technology. With only 6 colours to play about with there's a lot of dithering needed to make a picture look presentable. Those 6 colours are:

#000 Black
#F00 Red
#0F0 Green
#00F Blue
#FF0 Yellow
#FFF White

I used a standard Monitor Calibration Image, dithered it using the supplied software, and flashed it to the card. I then scanned in the card so you can see exactly how faithful the image reproduction is.

On the left, the eInk. On the right, the original image.

That's pretty bloody good!

Using Bruce Lindbloom's RGB Reference image is also a good way to test a range of colours.

Not bad for red, green, blue, yellow, white, black, eh?

It's hard to find a good test-card with a variety of skin-tones (there's a creepy Getty one with naked women), so I used the Murideo Portrait Reference Photograph. The original:

Telegenic American Youth with a variety of skin tones.

On eInk:

And here's another one:

The Card Writer

For Linux nerds, the USB writer showed up as: 1fc9:0102 NXP Semiconductors IT-102MU Reader.

There's almost no information about it other than a brief discussion on an OpenBSD mailing list, and a mention on the CCID database. Apparently it will work as on ChromeOS. It makes a hideous beeping sound when the card is inserted.

Once the card is inserted, two LEDs light up.

Blue and green LEDs shining through white plastic.

The green one quickly vanishes, but the blue one pulses until the card is removed from the reader.

Detailed lsusb Output

Bus 005 Device 084: ID 1fc9:0102 NXP Semiconductors IT-102MU Reader
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x1fc9 NXP Semiconductors
  idProduct          0x0102 
  bcdDevice            1.12
  iManufacturer           1 InfoThink
  iProduct                2 IT-102MU Reader
  iSerial                 3 1.00
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x005d
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           3
      bInterfaceClass        11 Chip/SmartCard
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
      ChipCard Interface Descriptor:
        bLength                54
        bDescriptorType        33
        bcdCCID              1.10  (Warning: Only accurate for version 1.0)
        nMaxSlotIndex           0
        bVoltageSupport         7  5.0V 3.0V 1.8V 
        dwProtocols             3  T=0 T=1
        dwDefaultClock       3685
        dwMaxiumumClock     14320
        bNumClockSupported      0
        dwDataRate           9909 bps
        dwMaxDataRate      848000 bps
        bNumDataRatesSupp.      0
        dwMaxIFSD             254
        dwSyncProtocols  00000000 
        dwMechanical     00000000 
        dwFeatures       000404BE
          Auto configuration based on ATR
          Auto activation on insert
          Auto voltage selection
          Auto clock change
          Auto baud rate change
          Auto PPS made by CCID
          Auto IFSD exchange
          Short and extended APDU level exchange
        dwMaxCCIDMsgLen       271
        bClassGetResponse    echo
        bClassEnvelope       echo
        wlcdLayout           none
        bPINSupport             0 
        bMaxCCIDBusySlots       1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               4

The Software

It is Windows-only software, and it is bare-bones. You can load an image, select if you want it dithered or not, and then download it to the badge. That's it. No image editing; it just resizes everything to 400x600. There's no badge design software or QR generator. And, to be honest, I think that's fine. You're better off designing your badges in dedicated software.

Unsurprisingly, the app wouldn't run under WINE in Linux. I used Oracle's VirtualBox. Note, the included software requires you to install Microsoft's .Net Windows Desktop Runtime 6 and the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Version.

VirtualBox initially refused to see the USB peripheral. I had to unplug the reader, create a USB filter using 1fc9:0102, start the VM, and only then plug in the USB reader. Then it worked. Bit of a faff!

Pricing

I've got good news and bad news!

First, the bad. SmartDisplayer Technology Co are B2B sellers. They'll sell you a single badge for US$70 + shipping. If you're buying more than a thousand, the price drops to $65. The NFC reader is $120.

In terms of badge pricing, I think that's pretty fair. If you want to buy a demokit of just the screen, that'll cost you US$99 direct from eInk. So $70 full assembled is a bargain.

The good news? They'll shortly be bringing out a USB-C badge which doesn't require the NFC reader. The badge itself will be slightly smaller (and a little thicker). That should make it easier to update the badge on the fly - but possibly not as convenient if you're programming hundreds of them.

Graphic showing the new badge is slightly thicker, but shorter.

If you're buying in bulk, they will also do custom printing on the badge, and can replace the plastic with wood.

For more information, or to place an order, contact SmartDisplayer.

Verdict

If you want a fun lanyard which is easy to change, and can reproduce a decent range of colours, this is excellent. Ideally it would be easy to flash with a phone, but the supplied software is adequate.

The USB writer is a little bit clunky, but it holds the badge in place while data and power are transmitted.

I'm astonished by just how flat this badge is. SmartDisplayer cold-lamination process is incredible. The image is on the badge, not under it.

It looks stunning - a real premium product and the price reflects that.

As a personal gadget, I think it is great. But for other uses, I'm not so sure. Are you really going to be handing out $65 lanyards to all of your event attendees? Perhaps at a very expensive conference! But even then, you might want to take a deposit.

Anyone with a suitable reader can reflash a badge; there's no way to lock these. So they're not ideal for security.

If you attend lots of conferences, and are perpetually annoyed by ugly conference badges which misspell your name or don't have a personal QR code, these are a great (albeit pricey) gadget.

Thanks to SmartDisplayer for the review unit. Next time you see me at an event - please snap a photo of my badge!

Verdict

Product website