Color E Ink monitors have mostly been the domain of crowdfunded boutique brands. Asus is changing that at Computex 2026 with the ZenScreen Color ePaper MP13UC, a 13.3 inch (33.8 cm) portable display built around what looks unmistakably like an E Ink Kaleido 3 panel.
The panel runs at 3200 x 2400 with a 35 Hz refresh rate, which is fast for reflective displays. Asus pitches "Ghosting-Free" technology for smoother scrolling and dynamic content, though most E Ink screens hitting 30 Hz or higher trade some image clarity for speed. The Kaleido 3 stack tops out at 4096 colors and delivers 300 PPI for grayscale text, dropping to 150 PPI for color content, since the underlying greyscale panel sits beneath a color filter array that also makes the screen slightly dimmer than a pure black-and-white E Ink display. Full specs are in the Asus press release.
For anyone driving a mini PC or single-board computer like a Raspberry Pi, a reflective USB-C display has obvious appeal as a secondary screen for terminals, code, and long-form reading without the eye strain or power draw of a backlit panel. The category has so far been carried by smaller outfits including Dasung, BigMe, and the open hardware Modos Paper Monitor, which ships with an FPGA-based controller and publishes its hardware design. Modos has since moved to a follow-up: the Modos Flow, another 13.3-inch FPGA-based monitor that opened crowdfunding on Crowd Supply in late May 2026, starting at $619 for the monochrome version and $719 for color. The Flow publishes its firmware and schematics, adds touch and stylus input, explicitly supports Linux alongside macOS and Windows, and claims 60 Hz when both USB-C ports are in use. Asus entering the space gives buyers a mainstream retail alternative to these crowdfunded options.
The MP13UC connects over HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, or USB-C, settling the open question about which inputs the device actually carries. E Ink monitors that use standard video interfaces appear to Linux as plug-and-play displays without device-specific drivers, and the MP13UC's conventional connectivity suggests the same should apply here. Asus has not addressed Linux compatibility directly, and no community testing has surfaced yet given the device was announced just days ago.
Asus also introduced the ZenScreen AT201D, a lightweight foldable stand that holds any VESA-compatible screen up to 16 inches (40.6 cm) in landscape or portrait orientation. Pricing and a release date for the MP13UC have not been announced.
