Assembly Line

How e-readers are made

An e-reader screen uses no power to hold a page, so the battery can last for weeks.

stations
6
things upstream
102
raw sources
30
steps from the ground
9

The short version

An e-reader screen is a film of microcapsules holding white and black charged particles, laid over a grid of transistors. An electric field pulls the right particles to the surface of each dot. The film is cut and fixed to the transistor grid with a protective sheet and driver, wired to a circuit board with a battery, and fitted in a case.

  1. Fill the capsules

    Microcapsules about the diameter of a human hair are filled with a clear fluid. Inside are negatively charged white particles, often titanium dioxide, and positively charged black ones.

    Goes in
    Titanium dioxide

  2. Coat the film

    The capsules are coated onto a plastic film with a clear front electrode. The film is rolled out in long sheets and cut to size.

    Goes in
    AdhesivePlastic

  3. Build the transistor grid

    A sheet of glass or plastic gets a grid of thin-film transistors, one for each dot. The grid lets the device set the voltage over each pixel separately.

    Goes in
    Glass

  4. Laminate film to grid

    The ink film is bonded onto the transistor grid and a protective sheet goes on top, with a driver chip and connector to finish the display module. A field of one polarity brings white particles up, and the other brings black.

    Goes in
    Adhesive

  5. Assemble the electronics

    A small board with a low-power processor, memory and a wireless chip is wired to the display, along with a lithium-ion battery. A front light can be added for reading in the dark.

    Goes in
    Printed circuit boardMicrochipLithium-ion cellLED

  6. Seal in the case

    The screen and board are fitted into a plastic or magnesium case, and the unit is tested for display flaws before packing.

    Goes in
    ABS plastic
End of the lineE-reader

Worth repeating

  • The Sony Librie, released in 2004, was the first e-reader to use electronic paper.
  • The Amazon Kindle sold out within five and a half hours of its release in 2007.

Back to the ground

Follow every input upstream and e-reader starts as these 30 raw sources.

Titanium oreWaterNatural gasSilica sandLimestoneAirRock saltCoalSulfurCrude oilTronaCopper oreQuartzTin oreGold oreLithium brineSpodumeneCobalt oreNickel oreManganese oreIron oreBauxiteZinc oreCornLead oreSilver oreDolomiteTimberSugarcaneSugar beet

Everything it is made of See it on the map

Open the whole family tree

Keep walking

Hammer 8 stations · 21 raw sources Hairspray 7 stations · 21 raw sources Leggings 8 stations · 11 raw sources Office chair 7 stations · 17 raw sources Orbital rocket 7 stations · 22 raw sources Solid-state drive 6 stations · 22 raw sources

Surprise meConnect this to something else

Sources

Cite this page: "How e-readers are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/e-reader

Spot a mistake on this page?