Aura has launched what it claims to be its first E Ink digital photo frame. The Aura Ink, as the photo frame is named, is based on the E Ink Spectra 6 display technology. It has inherent support for six colors – white, black, red, yellow, green, and blue. Priced at $499, the Ink frame comes with a 1600 × 1200 resolution, 13.3-inch color e-paper display. One of the USPs of the Ink frame is its ultra-thin build. In fact, at around 0.6 inches, the company is claiming it to be the thinnest around.
A huge advantage of the Aura Ink photo frame is its cordless design, which means it can be placed just about anywhere you want. Given that the E Ink display is extremely power-efficient (it consumes power only when the image changes, while being able to display an image without consuming any power), the E Ink frame can last for up to 3 months on a single charge of the built-in battery. By default, the E Ink frame changes its image once every day, at night. However, you can change it up to 6 times every day. The limitation is there to help save battery power.
The company, though, isn’t revealing what the battery size is, but its ability to last several months on a single charge shouldn’t be any reason for inconvenience. Once the battery gets discharged, the frame will have to be pulled down, plugged into a power source, recharged via USB-C (included in the package), and put back up again. The frame supports both wall-mounting as well as tabletop placement.
With E Ink being effectively reflective in nature, the Aura Ink frame comes with a front light feature, much like Kindle and most other e-reader devices out there. This allows for enough illumination of the display to ensure excellent readability even in dark conditions. There are also motion and ambient light sensors included, which turn off the front light when it’s bright or when nobody is in the room. The battery can be optimized by turning off the front light via the accompanying mobile application. Users can set their own schedule as per their preference to help conserve battery power.
“It’s a very subtle light compared to an LCD. It’s maybe a sixth of the brightness of an LCD,” Eric Jensen, Aura co-founder and CTO, told TechCrunch in an interview. “People often don’t even notice it has a light until they’re in a dark room and it turns off,” Jensen adds.
However, with support for just six colors, the Spectra 6-based Ink frame might not be as capable as LCD in rendering full color images. The company, though, stated that they have added a proprietary dithering algorithm (error diffusion) to simulate many more tones. This sort of covers some of the color limitations of the Spectra 6 e-paper display.
“We had to go back to the ancient dithering algorithms from like newspaper technology, where you had to figure out how to blend these dots to simulate other colors,” said Jensen.
The Aura Ink frame is available to order right away. The package includes wall-mounting hardware, a stand, and a charging cord, along with the frame itself. The frame can be mounted in both landscape and portrait orientations. Images shown can be changed manually using the button controls provided on the frame itself. Otherwise, the images can change automatically as per a set schedule as well.
Check the Aura website for more details, including purchasing information.
