Etulipa’s next-gen electrowetting displays shine in full color

It was some 20 years ago that Dutch tech giant Philips was developing a new electrowetting technology in the labs of Philips Research. Making use of the surface tension of liquids, electrowetting utilizes low voltage to control the liquid. By combining several cells filled with a transparent polar liquid and a colored oil that covers a hydrophobic surface, the application of the voltage then causes the oil to contract into a small droplet so that light can pass through the cell. This creates an optical switch, which when connected to a computer, can be opened and closed on demand creating displays capable of showing text, art, photos or even video.

However, after a few years of development, and with no real direction or ambition within the larger Philips roadmap, a group of engineers, including business development officer Hans Feil were ready to take the technology and spin out as a startup focused on further growing the technology. “By 2006, we had spun out of Philips and founded Liquavista and got to work diving deeper into the technology than ever before. At that time, the company had a real focus on electrowetting displays for application in mobile technologies. This, of course, was when Nokia was supreme in that market well before iPhones and smartphones.”