I said SED, not STD… and it looks like 2005 can’t come quick enough for us display freaks be it for performance graphics/gaming computers or lush home cinema setups. I last rambled on about this just before Christmas last year and EETimes have some fresh news that Canon and Toshiba have dropped the bombshell regarding their long rumoured joint venture:
Canon and Toshiba will begin operating a long-rumored joint venture company next month to develop and produce next-generation flat-screen SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) panels for large-screen, flat-panel TVs.
The joint venture, to be called SED Inc., will require ¥1 billion ($9 million) in funding, split roughly 50-50 between both Canon and Toshiba. SED will be located in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa and be headed by Shunichi Uzawa, currently director and group executive of SED Development for Canon.
Expected to initially employ 300 workers, the plant will begin producing SED technology panels in early 2005, with a new plant constructed to allow mass production.
This new technology should make HDTV panels ranging from 100cm (42″) to 250cm (100″) diagonal quite feesible and not needing to remortgage the house just to finance one. Their colour rendition and pixel switching speed will be as good as the best traditional CRTs have to offer and have the slim form factor as per current Plasma and LCD, allowing it to be hung on a wall; yet best of all beat all three in terms of power consumption by a factor of two to three. A good thing for us energy conscious Europeans. ;)
Not too sure if these forthcoming panels will be of the 720p, 1080i, or possibly even 1080p variety. If it’s the latter, the glorious 1920 × 1080 resolution will make quite a formidable computer display as well.
Half-Life² anyone? :D
