Glider — 60fps E-Ink Monitor
Glider is an open-source, low-latency e-ink display controller by Wenting Zhang (Modos Labs), capable of driving e-paper panels at up to 60 fps — far beyond typical e-ink refresh rates. It uses a Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA to process video signals and drive raw e-ink panels directly, bypassing the latency of integrated display controllers123.
The project evolved into the Modos Paper Monitor, a commercial open-hardware e-ink monitor and development kit4. After a successful Crowd Supply campaign in late 2025, the Modos Paper Monitor entered production and began shipping to backers in early 2026 — by April 2026, all 13" kit orders (260 units) and the majority of 6" kit orders (215 units) had shipped to Crowd Supply for fulfillment5. The hardware received FCC, CE, and UKCA certifications in December 20256, and remains available for pre-order at $199 (6" kit) and $599 (13" kit)4. The production Glider board drives panels at 75 Hz with latency under 100 ms, and pairs the Spartan 6 FPGA with an STM32 microcontroller for USB communication and firmware updates75.
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Creator | Wenting Zhang (zephray) |
| Controller | AMD/Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA + STM32 MCU |
| Refresh rate | 75 Hz (production), up to 60 fps (original Glider) |
| Latency | < 100 ms |
| Video Input | HDMI, USB Type-C (DVI-compatible) |
| Grayscale | 4-level (low-latency) / 16-level (high-fidelity) |
| Production status | Shipping (6" kit $199, 13" kit $599) |
| License | Open-source (hardware + gateware) |
| Source | GitHub / GitLab |
| Purchase | Crowd Supply |