Japanese firm Matsushita Electric Industrial will reportedly sell a low-cost electronic book for buyers that can last up to six months on two AA-sized batteries.

Normal liquid-crystal displays flicker or refresh the screen about 60 times a second, with each refresh requiring power.

Matsushita's LCD screen needs only one refresh, when the page is "turned." Thereafter, the image is locked and no more power is required, according to a report in the Japanese daily Nikkei Electronics Asia Online.

The LCD panel is something of a mystery, according to Nikkei. Apparently, it comes from neither electronics maker Matsushita nor its affiliate, Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology.

It does have limitations, however. It can't really do grayscale, and instead displays blue text and images against a white background, according to the report.

When the magazine-sized device--called Sigma e-book--is opened, two 1024-by-768-pixel displays, measuring 7.2 inches each, are seen side-by-side. It weighs about one pound.

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