E Ink readies poster-size production, lines up Japanese sales partner
E Ink posters could replace printed Japanese rail ads, making updates faster and more flexible, according to E Ink and Fujifilm Imaging Systems.
Poster-size color e-paper from E Ink (元太科技) now has production dates, and a sales partner that already works with Japanese rail customers. In an Oct. 21 release, the Taiwanese company said samples of a 55-inch E Ink Marquee, its outdoor color e-paper, are due in December 2026, with mass production from March 2027. B1 poster-size versions are to follow, with mass production from January 2028. When E Ink first showed Marquee in April 2025, TechNews (科技新報) reported that the product was still in development.
The seller is Fujifilm Imaging Systems (富士フイルムイメージングシステムズ), the Tokyo company that sells Fujifilm's imaging products in Japan. It brings its rail customers and its installation and operating know-how, and the two will handle everything from sales pitches to installation and operation together, starting with Japan's railways, they said.
In its own release, Fujifilm Imaging Systems said it has long supplied rail ads, station signs and timetable displays. Screens aren't new to it. Ten of its digital bus-stop signs, with 55-inch outdoor screens, were set to start running at Tokyo's Chofu station plaza in April 2026.
Neither company names a railway customer, volumes or prices. The two said they are still evaluating products and expect to roll them out in stages next year. Their pitch: Japan's railways are short of workers, and printing, shipping and posting paper posters costs ever more. E Ink posters, they say, make updates faster and more flexible.
Marquee uses cyan, magenta, yellow and white pigments, and E Ink says it works from -20°C to 65°C (about -4°F to 149°F). It takes 5 to 7 seconds to change its image, TechNews reported in April 2025.
E Ink is already testing a different color e-paper at Tokyo Station. JR Tokai Agency (JR東海エージェンシー), an advertising company in the JR Central group, is trying out three signs using E Ink's Spectra 6 e-paper there, in a pilot that runs through March 2027. If it meets its goals, the agency plans to speed up its consideration of e-paper signs across stations, E Ink said.
Sources: 元太科技 E Ink, 富士フイルムイメージングシステムズ Fujifilm Imaging Systems [1], [2], E Ink, E Ink (Marquee product page), 科技新報 TechNews, E Ink Japan (news list)
Editor: Ian Lamont
