Sharp Memory Display — per-pixel memory LCD for low-power hardware

This is a Sharp memory display. At first glance, it looks just like another tiny LCD, but it's actually a completely different kind of screen. A normal LCD has to constantly refresh the image, redrawing the entire display over and over again even if nothing changes. That's fine for phones and monitors, but it wastes a surprising amount of power. Our Sharp memory display works differently. Every pixel stores its own state, so once you draw something, it simply stays there. It's very similar to an e-paper screen. The display only needs a tiny maintenance signal in the background which makes it incredibly power efficient. Another thing I love is that it's reflective instead of backlit. So the brighter it is outside, the easier it is to read. Playdate, for example, uses a Sharp memory display and can run it up to 50 frames per second. That makes it a really interesting middle ground. You can get fast updates like a normal LCD, excellent outdoor visibility like e-paper, and low power consumption whenever the image is mostly static. It's a really clever display.