Currently, most of price tags, price shelf labels, tickets, mass transportation passes and small signage are printed on paper. The disadvantage of displaying information on paper obviously is the consumption of paper, which not only is an environmental issue, but also a cost concern as the paper with information printed on must be discarded or recycled when the information needs to be updated. In addition, for certain time-sensitive systems, such as a pricing label or tag system, using paper to display information is labor intensive and often causes time delays and errors.
The concept of an electronic display device may be applied to these products. However, the high cost associated with an electronic display device prevents it from being widely used, especially for signs, labels, tickets and price tags which have to be regularly updated.