The company, founded in September 1999, lists initial applications for its BiNem technology as low power displays on which images and text, once written, can be displayed indefinitely without consuming any additional power; so called e-paper displays, which offer good readability and wide viewing angle on a white background; and plastic flexible displays potentially for inclusion in smart cards.

Nemoptic (Magny les Hameaux, France) says the BiNem Display HVGA (320x480) kit, retailing for Euros 300 (about $ 390), could be a low cost option for applications such as electronic shelf labels, Point-Of-Sale displays, e-books, e-newspapers, PCs, e-dictionaries, industrial sensors, and mobile phones.

The kit features a 4.8-in, 120dpi resolution black and white display mounted directly on a one-piece board. The company says the display offers the highest contrast ratio on the market (greater than 10 at 120dpi), excellent readability in reflective mode at all angles, as well as fast-refresh rates.

There is a hardware interface in the form of a flat cable and a software interface that Nemoptic suggests can adapt to most existing processors.

"Nemoptic's BiNem Display HVGA prototyping kit enables electronic engineers to get a real test drive of our technology on all kinds of e-paper display applications, existing and new," said Thierry Emeraud, VP Sales & Marketing at Nemoptic, in a statement. "They will find it easy to create and show images on a BiNem display, since this prototyping kit can be used either in a stand alone mode or interfaced with their own development platforms."

Emeraud adds the kit is one-eighth of the price of comparable LCD prototype kits. "We have made significant progress in refining the industrial processes of our BiNem technology, which is enabling us to move steadily into manufacturing," added Jacques Noels, CEO at Nemoptic. He said the e-paper displays are designed to be made in different dimensions that are cost-effective to make.

As well as the BK2301 prototyping kit referenced above, Nemoptic is readying two other models featuring different BiNem display designs: BK2101 (3.06 inches diagonal; 64x240 resolution) and BK2201 (2.7 inches; sub QVGA).

Nemoptic has raised just over Euros 35 million in funding and last year agreed to license Swedish company LC-TEC Displays (Borlaenge, Sweden) to develop the BiNem technology and manufacture products at a factory in Sweden.

There has been a glut of developments over the past few weeks about flexible displays targeting e-readers and mobile phones. See selected references below.