A better way to display digital art

For years I've been mulling over an idea.  The existing ways to display digital art suck. And there was always a better way. Now, it finally seems that companies have clued on - use the technology known as e-ink, which received mainstream adoption decades ago in the Kindle reader.  I have been wanting an art frame using e-ink for years, and recently a few products have been announced.  However, I still think these can be done better and here's how.

First, back to why the existing digital art frames are crap - if you've ever owned one, you will know. They require constant power, which means messy cables or constantly changing batteries.  They are backlit, which changes the experience of the work and feels like you're looking at a fast food menu.  I think one of the reasons we crave art in this age is precisely because it's tactile and not a digital screen.  Oh and they are expensive (I think the cheapest Samsung art TV is £500 at the time of writing).

There is a pretty obvious solution to all of these problems.  Turn on a Kindle and you appreciate how pleasant an experience it is to view.  The e-ink technology used in these screens only requires (limited) power when the image is changed, is light and getting (with the introduction of competitors) cheap, and is remarkably close to resembling paper.

E-ink technology uses displays images by moving charged particles towards and away from the surface of the screen (image source)

The e-ink technology achieves this by actually physically moving small spheres of 'ink' towards and away from the surface of the screen.  It's almost like an etch-a-sketch.  Pixels on the screen appear black because the black ink has been moved close to the screen, otherwise the pixels appear white.  This is why, unlike conventional digital monitors, the screen still displays an image when the power is removed - because the particles are physically rearranged.

In the time that I've been wishing for this product to be made, several competitors have entered the market.  Ionnyk started in around December 2020 and they sell digital frames using e-ink screens primarily for photography.  They are expensive (about €1,800 for an A4 sized frame and €3,400 for their large 40x70cm frame).  At CES in January 2025, it was announced that the company who invented the e-ink technology is creating their own colour art frame product, called the InkPoster, which will range from $599 (for a 13.3" screen) to $2,400 (for a 28.5" one).  I also just noticed this Kickstarter campaign for another product called the Omniframe.

The InkPoster product looks amazing.  Being created by the E Ink company itself, in collaboration with Sharp, the electronics company, you know it will feature the most up-to-date technology.  The full colour Spectra 6 panel is impressive, given I was excited enough by the existing black and white options. However, I still think it can be done better.

I want a product that I would want to buy, so here are my suggestions:

• Fix the texture.  E-ink screens look great because they don't need back-lighting and are fairly matte in appearance (although some have a slight satin finish that still reflects ambient light).  But this isn't the texture of paper or canvas - it feels too smooth.  If you want to create more believable, emotive frames, I think a texture needs to be introduced onto the surface.  This should be fairly straightforward - apply a textured film or coat, or abrade the surface to make it look more like etching paper.  In the future, I hope there will be screens that can adjust their texture to imitate the brushstrokes of real paintings, but we're not there yet.

  
  

• Artist collaborations.  A lot of these products are developing complicated ecosystems that offer hundreds of artworks for you to chose from.  That's confusing.  I think they mistake the ability to do this, with the need to.  People buy art because they want to look at a certain image, all of the time, because of how it makes them feel.  But these digital frame products diminish the experience of any single artwork by trying to offer you hundreds.  I would take the opposite perspective.  I would work with a digitally-native artist and sell the frame with a limited run of prints only available via the frame (e.g. the art is sold as an NFT, that can be viewed on the frame).  Also offer a small curated collection of other works from that artist / similar artists, that can be accessed with the frame, but the emphasis is on a finite (not infinite) world of art.  This makes more sense to make for digital artists who, currently, are still having to sell physical prints of their work.  It feels so heretical that digital alternatives are not adopted for editions by digital artists. For example, the work of Tyler Hobbs would be perfect.

  

  One of Hobb's digital Fidenza works, which have sold for more than $1 million at auction as an NFT (Sotheby's)

  
  

• Basic logistics.  These are basic design features that I'm amazed not all products have incorporated.  Have a discrete on/off switch on the frame, so that it only draws power when the user wants to change image (which, hopefully, is very irregularly) - this ensures that there is no need for a cable, and also no need to report the 'battery life' of the frame, which is reality should be trivial.  Allow the frame to be swapped between portrait and landscape profiles, so that art with different aspect ratios can be viewed.  Ensure it's preloaded with art so that there's no awkward download and install phase.  And finally, have a couple of different, more interesting framing alternatives than just a black box frame.

I think if this is done well, the use of the frame becomes an essential part of the work itself. I would totally buy a cool digital sketch pre-loaded on an e-ink frame, which is sold as a limited edition and authenticated by NFT. Some companies have figured out how to make and sell very beautiful digital art displays (liked WENEW, see below), and I think these can be done better with e-ink technology.

Before it was acquired by Yuga Labs, WENEW were selling NFTs along with these beautifully packaged physical frames (using a standard digital screen) to view them.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in or affiliation to any of the companies or products that I discuss above, it's just an area I'm interested in and it's frustrating that it hasn't been properly developed to this point.

George