E-paper screen: display that draws no power and is managed remotely
E-paper is digital ink: an image stays on screen without drawing a single watt, and you change it remotely in a few seconds. EMITY is the first French software company in digital signage to manage these screens, from the same platform as your LCD screens.
E-paper in plain terms
What exactly is e-paper?
A fair place to start: these screens look neither like a poster nor like a television screen.
E-paper (or digital ink, e-ink) is a screen that works by reflecting light, like a printed sheet of paper. It has no backlight: no flicker, no eye strain, no glow in a dark room.
Its particularity comes down to this: once the image is displayed, it stays on screen without consuming any electricity. Power is only needed at the moment the content changes — a few seconds, once or twice a day in most uses. Hence a battery life counted in years, not in hours.
In other words: e-paper takes the best of both worlds. The calm, readable rendering of paper, the flexibility of digital.
Our difference
The first French software company to manage e-paper screens
Many manufacturers offer digital ink screens. Few software platforms can manage them alongside the rest of your fleet.
At EMITY, e-paper is not a separate range: it is one more type of screen in E-MANAGER, the web platform that already centralizes your LCD screens, your totems and your video walls. One interface, one training session, one point of contact.
In practice, that changes two things. You do not have to juggle between the label manufacturer’s tool and your digital signage tool. And the day you add another screen brand, you do not change platform.
- ✓Your e-paper and LCD screens in the same dashboard
- ✓Multi-manufacturer compatibility: SoluM, Samsung, and the next ones
- ✓The same content, the same screen groups, the same access rights
- ✓A fleet that goes from 1 to 1,000 screens without changing tools
Your benefits
Six reasons to adopt e-paper
What digital ink changes in practice, once the screens are in place.
Negligible power consumption
0 W to keep an image on screen. The electricity bill does not move when your fleet grows, and a power cut does not wipe the display.
Readable even in full sunlight
Like a printed poster, only better: sunlight makes the screen more readable, not less. That is what makes e-paper comfortable in a shop window and outdoors.
No charging, no cabling
Several years of battery life depending on the model, and a wireless link for updates. You put the screen where the information needs to be, not where there is a power socket.
No more trips out to the field
A promotion changes? You update it in a few seconds, on one screen or on a thousand, from your browser — with no printing and nobody sent out.
Color, from 2 to 32 inches
3, 4 or 6 colors depending on the model, single or double sided. From a shelf label to large-format signage, you choose the format for each location.
Screens you can move
With no cable to run, an e-paper screen follows your layout changes. The day an aisle moves or the hall changes, the display follows with no building work.
The most widespread use case
The electronic shelf label is e-paper
If you are looking for an « electronic label » or a « shelf-edge label », what you are really looking for is a small e-paper screen. Here is what sets them apart.
An electronic shelf label (also known as an ESL, for electronic shelf label) is an e-paper screen of 2 to 7 inches, clipped onto the shelf rail. It shows a price, a reference, a barcode, a promotional message — and is updated from the same interface as your large screens.
The point is not only to avoid printing. Above all, the price shown on the shelf always stays consistent with your checkout system: no more gap between the label that was forgotten and the price actually charged.
The same principle applies outside retail: labelling locations in a warehouse, identifying equipment, marking bins in a workshop.
- ✓From 2 inches (shelf) to 32 inches (signage)
- ✓Single or double sided, casings in various shades
- ✓A whole aisle updated in a single operation
In the field
Three settings where e-paper has the edge
Digital ink is at ease anywhere information changes regularly, but not every second.
How it works
Three steps, from E-MANAGER
No technical skills required: if you know how to use a browser, you know how to manage an e-paper screen.
1. You connect
The screen is activated through the protocol suited to its manufacturer. E-MANAGER detects the newcomer — no local installation, no driver to configure.
2. You create
You compose your visual in the drag-and-drop editor, or start from a ready-made template. Canva and Adobe Express are integrated if your designs already live there.
3. You publish
You send the content to one screen, a group or the whole fleet. The update goes out remotely: the screen refreshes in a few seconds, then goes back to sleep.
Sector by sector
E-paper adapts to your line of work
Digital ink is at ease anywhere information changes fast and has to stay readable without supervision.
Retail & stores
Shelf price labels, promotions, shop window communication, simultaneous updates across the whole store network.
Hospitality & food service
Table and counter menus, the dish of the day, an outdoor menu board — readable in full sunlight and changed from a smartphone.
Business & corporate
Legal notices, visitor badges, availability of meeting rooms and shared desks, internal communication.
Automotive
Vehicle cards in the dealership, workshop signage, digitized customer and workshop schedules.
Real estate
Listings in the agency window, property sheets visible day and night, daily updates in a few seconds.
Banking & insurance
Visitor information in the branch, commercial display, advisor office signage.
Transport & logistics
Timetables and stops, warehouse zoning, dock signage, labelling of storage locations.
Museums & exhibitions
Artwork labels, floor plans, event signage — with no cable to run through the rooms.
Going further
The uses that often come with e-paper
E-paper rarely comes alone: it complements a display setup that is already in place.
The comparison
E-paper, LCD screen or paper poster: what changes
All three display information. They behave nothing alike from day to day.
| Criterion | E-paper screen | LCD screen | Paper poster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power consumption | 0 W on a static image | 30 to 60 W continuously | Depends on how the medium is lit |
| Battery life | Up to several years | Mains power required | Not applicable |
| Cost of an update | A few seconds, remotely | A few seconds, remotely | Printing, finishing and putting it up again |
| Readability in full sunlight | Excellent, like paper | Reduced by reflections | Good |
| Cabling constraint | No permanent connection | Power and network required | Not applicable |
| Animated content (video) | No: still images | Yes | No |
| Display lifetime | More than a million refreshes | 5 to 7 years (backlight) | Single use |
Orders of magnitude observed on the ranges we manage; exact values depend on the model and on how often it is updated.
E-paper does not replace LCD everywhere: as soon as you need video or animation, the backlit screen remains the right tool. Digital ink takes over where the content changes rarely and where restraint matters.
The hardware
SoluM and Samsung, a single control console
EMITY is compatible with the main global e-paper screen references. Whichever manufacturer you choose, everything is managed from E-MANAGER.
Do you already have a fleet of screens from another brand? Our distribution partners look into taking it over rather than replacing it.
In the offer
What you need, on the software side as on the hardware side
E-paper is not a separate product: it is a capability of the E-MANAGER platform. Here are the building blocks involved.
E-MANAGER
The web platform that centralizes your screens, your content and your scheduling. This is where the whole fleet is managed, e-paper included.
Excellence plan
The subscription that unlocks the e-paper module, all of the widgets, E-CLICK interactive display and single sign-on (SSO).
The e-paper screens
Supplied by SoluM or Samsung depending on the formats chosen, with their communication gateway. Our distribution partners integrate them on site.
Your content
Your existing visuals, or templates composed in the editor. One visual can be adapted to several screen formats without being redone.
Your calculator
Estimate what e-paper saves you
Enter your fleet parameters: the calculation compares your current printing budget with the cost of e-paper equipment. An indicative estimate, refined with you afterwards.
About us
A platform already in service, not a prototype
+7 000connected screens
+1 000customer accounts
+130distribution partners
+20countries
EMITY is a French software company, based in Montpellier and Paris since 2018, and distributed by a network of certified resellers in France and Europe.
Frequently asked questions
