Right, said Fred, is SED TV dead?

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Tuesday, 29 May 2007

Page 1 of 2 ! Instead of resting on store shelves, SED TV is still resting in bed. Promised in 2005 to appear soon, SED TV’s next launch target is likely the Olympic Games – but could Laser TV burn into SED’s shine? Ever since Canon and Toshiba joined forces to develop SED TV (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) technology, a demonstration screen which I remember seeing at the 2004 CEATEC show in Tokyo, Japan, at the Canon stand, the promise has been of a flat panel TV technology that took the best of old fashioned CRT technology and served it up in a 21st century configuration. What they promise is TV quality as good as that delivered on an old-fashioned CRT TV, which is still better than most of the cheap plasma and LCD TVs out there, and a lower power consumption that either LCD or especially power hungry plasma TVs, or at least older models, as energy efficiency has had a lot of attention of late. Unfortunately, with this latest delay, from an already delayed date of anytime between October or December this year, neither Canon nor Toshiba have given a new date for the re-launch of the SED TV. Given that commercialization still seems to be planned, taking advantage of the boost in sales before the next Olympic Games would seem the most natural target, but this too must be in doubt, as this holiday season would have been the perfect time to introduce the technology. Unfortunately some of the delays have been related to a lawsuit from Nano Proprietary, where Nano tried to cancel Canon’s SED TV license, and then when Canon was reported to have purchased Toshiba’s interest in SED, Inc., the joint venture company co-owned by Canon and Toshiba to manufacture SED TVs, in an attempt to nullify the action by Nano Proprietary. Despite Canon’s purchase of Toshiba’s interest in SED, Inc., Toshiba still plans to sell SED TV technology when Canon launches eventually launches the technology. Whether manufacturing delays or legal battles have caused the bigger delay is unknown. So, is SED a dead technology? Laser TVs, which also promise much richer picture quality and a high colour gamut than plasma or LCD TVs are due to be launched this year, at competitive prices, while SED is still an expensive technology. For more details on SED TV, Laser TV and LCOS, the failed HDTV competitor, please read onto the conclusion on page 2 now! << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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