iFixit

We remove the motherboard and are amazed as a bright aura of GlowLight magic emits from the innards of the device (aura not pictured).

Though the device has proven very simple to take apart, we do note that all of the components are held on with a lot of adhesive. We have not had to use a heat gun yet, but we tread carefully as we remove the heavily adhered motherboard from the frame.

While devices often implore us not to dig into them, the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight keeps on smiling, even with its battery and motherboard removed, thanks to its E Ink technology.

The prominent chips on the front side of the motherboard include:

• Texas Instruments HP4067 High Speed CMOS 16 Channel Analog Multiplexer/Demultiplexer
• Samsung K4X2G323PC mobile 2Gb (or 256 MB) DRAM
• Texas Instruments OMAP 3621 BCYN 800 MHz TI processor
• Samsung KLM2G1HE3F NAND flash memory.
• Texas Instruments TPS65921B Power Management Circuit for USB and ADC.
• E-INK TPS65181
• Jorjin WG7310-2A Wi-Fi module

On the back of the motherboard we found:

• Empty space...hmmm...

Closer inspection reveals rows of emitters and receivers that make up the infrared grid touchscreen.

Time to remove the frame from the display assembly. Any guesses as to how it is secured?

If you guessed boatloads of adhesive, you were correct!

With the help of a spudger, we carefully pry the frame from the display assembly, nervously holding our breath at every creeeeek emitted from the loosening frame.

The frame is made out of magnesium, as opposed to the aluminum plate found in the non-lit Simple Touch. We verified this magnesium claim the hard way, apparently not having learned our lesson from last time.

After removing the frame, we are finally ready to take out the display assembly. We start by, surprisingly, removing more adhesive holding the display cable in place.

To separate the display assembly from the front case, we slide a plastic opening tool around its outer perimeter to release yet another full set of tape strips.

While we understand the timeless idea of using gobs of tape to keep things together, we are beginning to wonder if there is a conspiracy with a tape manufacturer going on here…

We pry the plastic display bezel from the display assembly with our plastic opening tool .

The bezel is secured by a layer of tape (surprising right?) and seems to be composed out of a green translucent plastic.

And guess what - we found something interesting inside this device! No, seriously! We'll analyze it…WITH SCIENCE!

It's time for another Science with iFixit!

Fireflies and glowsticks are one thing, but GlowLight is a different technology. The chief claim of GlowLight is that it evenly distributes the light across the whole screen.

Although there has been speculation as to how it actually works, the GlowLight has nothing to do with the magnesium frame inside. The interesting technology uses the display assembly itself to achieve the evenly-lit screen.

The display assembly contains the front glass and array of GlowLight LEDs, all fused together into one component.

Notice the array of eight LEDs located on top of the display assembly. These LEDs are the only light for the entire screen.

The glass over the E-ink screen takes the light from the eight LEDs and evenly distributes it across the screen.

• How, you ask?

The glass is specially designed using a fundamental principle of optics: diffraction.