this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
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I got my hands on an old e-ink price tag and want to repurpose this display.

Unfortunately, I can't really figure out, what this type of connector/bus is called. To me it looks like a standard issue ribbon cable.

There are some "universal" e-paper drivers (for example this one: https://www.ebay.de/itm/353141399922), but I have absolutely no idea, how to find out, if that's the right connector.

The device is made by Imagotag, if that helps.

Edit: I added a picture of the panel: https://feddit.de/pictrs/image/42ee4f60-231a-4c42-9a66-6c369134c49c.jpeg

None of the "markings" returned any results and the QR code couldn't be decoded by my phone.

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[–] Thorry84@feddit.nl 2 points 1 year ago

We need a picture of the entire pcb. The ribbon cable (technically a flex pcb, not a ribbon cable) is totally custom and not something you can put a signal on. The little green pcb looks like the driver, so we would need pics of that and maybe figure out where you can input some kind of signal.

These kinds of displays can be really hard te re-use. Often their driver is just a simple blob (chip on board) which would be completely custom. This can be made cheaply to order with as few as 500 units. So mass produced readers often use completely custom stuff to get down to a really low price. Unfortunately this means it's not possible te repurpose the screens later.

Spi is the norm for hobby displays because they are made to be driven easily. There is a driver chip that receives the spi signal and drives the display. With an actual product this often isn't the case and the screen gets driven directly.