E Ink displays can be found in pretty much every e-reader you’ve ever heard of, most notably in Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s NOOK (though not, of course, the Kindle Fire or the NOOK Tablet). The display works by moving charged, pigmented pellets around inside the display. The pellets are suspended between two electrodes (one transparent) and are arranged into words and images by charging the electrodes in a particular pattern. The new Triton display works in exactly the same way, except it is overlayed with a filter that colorizes the images. Here’s a video from E Ink showing how the technology works:

Just as with previous E Ink displays, the Triton screen is easy to read in bright sunlight, and draws a minimal amount of power, allowing for the same remarkable battery life enjoyed by the NOOK, Kindle, and other E Ink readers. The technology behind Triton is slightly more complicated, however, which will likely lead to an increase in device price.

Requests for comment sent to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and E Ink about when we might expect to see the Triton display in the Kindle and the NOOK have not yet been answered. Considering that a color display has been pretty much at the top of every e-reader user’s wish list for several years now, it’s likely to be sooner than later.

Digital Trends caught up with E Ink at CES, and got a look the display in action. The video is embedded below. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments.

The Telegraph claims that multiple users have reported their devices going wonky after passing through the X-ray scanners at airports. One such user said that after his Kindle took a ride through a scanner in Madrid, the display was permanently affected. He said that he was using the e-reader to read a book just before this, so it has to be the scanner.

Could X-rays be damaging Amazon’s Kindle e-ink displays?

According to a Cambridge professor quoted in the report, probably not. He says that a build up of static electricity could actually be what’s messing with the Kindles. He says that the low level of radiation used in airport scanners is unlikely to be able to cause the type of damage that people are reporting.

Here’s what Professer Daping Chu had to say:

But you can get a build up of static inside these machines, caused by the rubber belt rubbing. If that charge were to pass through a Kindle, it’s conceivable that it could damage the screen. A static charge from an airport scanner could be 100 volts or more. That could permanently stick the particles to the screen.

It shouldn’t surprise you that Amazon has denied these allegations. They claim that the X-ray scanner machines pose no threat to their e-readers.

Exposing your Kindle to an X-ray machine, such as those used by airport security, should not cause and problems with it. Many Kindle users travel by air, and their Kindles are screened by airport security every day without issue.

That’s true. This is the first we’ve really heard of anything like this and the e-ink displays have been in use for quite some time. It’s possible that people’s bags could protect the devices. Maybe the people reporting problems put their Kindle directly on the belt.

The users claim that Amazon is quietly replacing the Kindles that are being damaged.

Could there be a Kindle-killer out there in one of the most popular places to take a Kindle? It looks like it’s at least a possibility. One would think that if this were 100% accurate, there would be more stories about this happening than we’d know what to do with. But if I had a Kindle, I’d probably proceed with caution next time I’m flying.

Has anything like this happened to you? Let us know in the comments.

People familiar with Amazon’s Kindle electronic book reader will see something familiar when Esquire rolls off the presses with its October issue.

Through a deal with E Ink, and the participation of Ford Motors, Esquire’s 75th Anniversary stands to arrive with a paper cover, powered by a battery, featuring the kind of technology once imagined only in Jetsons cartoons. E Ink’s technology is used in Amazon’s Kindle and other e-book readers.

E Ink said Esquire and its publisher, Hearst, approached the company in the summer of 2007 to work on an electronic paper concept that would be suitable for a print magazine. The new opportunity needed to overcome several challenges, but is now on schedule for debut.

Ford will be the big beneficiary of the buzz behind Esquire’s printing and E Ink’s technology. The auto maker plans to debut its Flex Crossover inside the whiz-bang electronic paper cover of Esquire, in a double-page advertisement.

Esquire plans to take a forward look at the 21st Century from the platform of their electronic paper magazine. Among the ideas we wonder if they will consider, beyond yet another Angelina Jolie cover: making e-paper capable of receiving and displaying Internet content delivered wirelessly.