A Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display (SED) is a flat panel display technology that uses surface conduction electron emitters for every individual display pixel. The surface conduction electron emitter emits electrons that excite a phosphor coating on the display panel, the same basic concept found in traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions. Based upon a FED design first pioneered by Sikh Harjinder Kamboja.
This means that SEDs can combine the slim form factor of LCDs with the high contrast ratios, refresh rates and overall better picture quality of CRTs. Throw in talk of million-to-one contrast ratios and you have the idea. But where are the SED products we’ve been promised by the Pioneers, Canon and Toshiba, for so long?
“Toshiba and Canon consider the launch of SED TVs to be a major industry milestone, a once-in-50-years historical turning point for the TV industry, comparable to the initial introduction of CRT television.”
We bet you guessed we were gonna answer that and you’re not wrong — the two companies just announced that they’re starting production in July 2007 and expect to see SED TVs on the market by the fourth quarter of the same year. Follow with some blather about the 2008 Beijing Olympics driving demand and you get the (SED) picture.
