InkPoster uses an electronic paper display to bring art into your home

I’m not a fan of those TVs Sold in the circumference of the picture frame Which companies tell you are good for displaying art in your homes. There’s something off-putting about using a backlit powered display for things you’re meant to stare at for a long time. Can you really appreciate Turner? Norham Castle sunrise If you experience eye strain after five minutes or so? Perhaps the cure for my callousness can be found in Pocket book The new InkPoster device. It uses a large color e-paper display to do the same job, giving your eyes a better chance of seeing brushstrokes up close and personal.

InkPoster is a series of colorful e-paper displays equipped with battery packs that can be hung in your home for up to a year on a single charge. There is no power cable, and it can be installed in portrait or landscape orientation, depending on your taste. You’ll be able to access a library of curated artwork, assembled by a team of Professional Art Consultants, and choose what you want to see within the companion InkPoster app. You’ll also be able to use it as a regular old digital photo frame, which is perfect for when you want to pull a masterpiece off the internet and display it instead.

There are three screen sizes based on two different technologies, Spectra 6 and Sharp’s IGZO. The first is found on the 13.3-inch model with a 1200 x 1600 resolution, which has a 14,000 mAh battery. There’s a 28.5-inch version with a 2160 x 3060 display that uses a mix of display technologies. Finally, there’s a 31.5-inch model with a 2560 x 1440 resolution that uses Spectra 6 and is designed to be a true focal point in your home. The two larger models have a 20,000mAh battery, with the same promise of a year or so of operation. However, it should be noted that the runtime depends on not changing images frequently, especially since these prototypes take a few minutes to switch between images.

Having seen these things up close, I can say that they are more promising in the real world than they are online. Colors appear much more vivid than you might expect from an e-paper display, and you can see the brush strokes in the paintings. At least, you can if you don’t stand too close – look as you would with a real painting and you’ll see just the pixels used to compile each image. It’s definitely a great way to have some high-end artwork on your walls without having to be tied to the same image forever. But you may find that there are some technical methods that work better than others.

Since these are prototypes, PocketBook isn’t yet ready to commit to pricing, but it said it will initially offer its technical app for free, with a subscription possible in the future. Likewise, we won’t talk about how much each model costs until April or May, when it’s ready for pre-order. But Enrico Muller, PocketBook’s managing director, suggested the price of the 13.3-inch model would be around 600 euros ($620), while the 31.5-inch model would retail for up to 1,700 euros. However, the 28-inch unit will be larger due to the additional technology on offer, and will therefore be priced around €2,500.