Canon Plans HDTV Flat-Screen Displays
Posted by Tom Spring | Thursday, September 15, 2005 5:00 PM PT
Canon this week announced plans to launch televisions based on a new flat-panel display technology called SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display).
Here at Canon Expo 2005 in New York this week, the company gave the public a first glimpse at Canon flat panel TVs that
use this SED technology.
The SED technology is based on the same technology traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs use. Just as CRT technology is based on the targeted emission of electrons from the back of a long vacuum tube against a phosphor-based fluorescent layer in a glass surface, so does SED.
However, SED technology has miniaturized those vacuum tubes and crams thousand of them inside a flat panel display about 4- to 5-inches thick. Using as many electron emitters as there are pixels on the screen, SED technology can create HDTV video quality with all the benefits of a CRT display without the hulking CRT size. Here's a diagram that explains the difference:
Canon asserts its SED displays produce brighter, sharper, and clearer video when compared to competing LCD and plasma TVs. Canon also says its future SED TVs more accurately render colors and will be more affordable and last longer than either LCD or plasma sets. Of course, right now there is no way for us to test these claims. Here's a quick picture I snapped of several of these TVs:
At the Expo, there were dozens of Canon-branded prototype 32-inch SED TVs, which showed programs in 720p resolution. Company representatives said Canon has not decided whether the company would build its own Canon-branded TVs or license the core technology to TV makers. Canon does have a pre-existing partnership with Toshiba, which reportedly is going to be making TVs sets as early as next year. Toshiba has promised SED TVs
would ship in 2005.
However, Canon officials on the show floor said SED TVs would be available for consumers in 2007. Canon reps added in that time frame, SED flat panel TVs will support full HDTV resolution at 1080p.
Enough about the on paper specs, how did the picture look compared to current DLP, plasma and LCD offerings?
it probably looked exactly the same; half these "innovations" seem designed solely to sell more units, with no improvement in quality/efficiency/etc...
LCD's are often touted as "easier on the eyes" than CRTs. Since this is essentially thousands of little CRTs crammed together, it would offer no benefit to those suffering from eyestrain.
Not necessarily, Anonymous. You wouldn't have the need for the scanning beam that causes flickering.
Sure. Just like an LCD, each pixel could be continuously getting illuminated. Potentially, the SEDs might illuminate more continuously -- the fluourescent backlights in most LCDs do also flicker somewhat.
These sets will likely look very good, but rumor is that they will also be very expensive. Flickering is dramatically reduced in progressive scan versus interlaced sets. Most experts would agree that LCD at this point, doesn't offer the color accuracy, black levels or viewing angle that CRT technology has offered in the past. The potential for screen "burn-in" will likely remain an issue with this technolgy as it has been for every technology except LCD & DLP. This is nothing new and was rarely an issue (except with video games) until networks started running stock reports and sports scores at the bottom of the screen and leaving network logos frozen on the screen.
very cool idea, but i plan on buying an HDTV this year and 2007 is way too long for me. i'm eyeing a plasma.
one thing bugs, aside from the price, how big would the TVs be? if they can't get the TVs to 42" or bigger. i doubt they would sell well to home theater enthusiasts who want bigger sizes.
if you know anything about plasma, lcd, crt or sed..is that crt has the best refresh rate same as sed. The reason sed will be a hit is that it is only as thick as a plasma but has the same picture quality as a tube based tv and will be able to get larger then crts of present. If a customer ask me for a high quality tv and size does not worry them, i would point them to crt because of the picture they offer over plasma and lcd.
Talked to friend who went to the Canon Expo.Told the heat from the plasma tv will be cut in half by the new SED's. The first production either by Toshiba or whoever will be 50's and up. They are changing their format to produce only LCD's in the 40's and down and leave the bigger sets to the SED's. I live in Lebanon and Toshiba just laid off 300 at their plant. The word is that the plasma is probably history
Talked to friend who went to the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show and saw these sets there. He said not to buy anything else til you see these. Said these had the best picture hands down.
100,000:1 contrast compared to the best plasma at maybe 6,000:1, how could anyone doubt that these will be leaps&bounds above anything we've seen?
when you have the darkest blacks & the brightest colors ever seen on display, with no flicker & the cost of production is less then plasma, how could this be bad technology. some of you might need to educate yourself in the display field before makin' a fool of oneself.
I heard it reproduces color so well you can smell it. Mmmmm brown.
SED is the hole gral of big flat tv's the picture quitaly as a CRT and size of LCD, plazma, DLP (which all stuffer from a bad quality picture) blacks showing as greys. I see a coment above how would it compard to a DLP TV, well a picture on a DLP will look sooooooo bad next to a SED. and things like viewing angel and sunlight on screen will be alot better. SED is not just a new way to sell TV it is a real leap in flat scrren TVS