Toshiba-Canon SEDs: 2006?
Category: Flatscreen TV, News, SED TV ReviewsToshiba Canon SED
(Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display)
- SED technology
- 50-inch flat-panel HDTV
- 1,920 X 1,080 resolution
- 100,000 : 1 contrast ratio
- less than 1millisecond response time
- 1/3 less power usage than plasma sets
- Truer, sharper color
It’s still not officially a product; no announcement of final pricing or availability, but on paper, SED, codeveloped with camera maker Canon, looks like a very strong product indeed.
SED is a flat-panel display technology using phosphors activated by an electron emitter, just like standard CRT tube televisions. The result is tube-level picture quality in a flat form factor. Details were sketchy, but the first model should be 50 inches in size and have full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution.The prospects: First-generation 50-inch SED sets could go on sale in early 2006, though some have said it may be again delayed until 2007 for unknown reasons - the launch of SED has been delayed again and again. Prices are sure to be very high at first, a bit higher than the biggest-screen LCDs (more than $10,000). The stakes are also high; if the technology catches on, it could well challenge LCD and plasma, which currently don’t quite approach CRT-level image quality.In addition, plasma has a lifespan issue that makes its true cost higher and its lifetime picture quality suspect. SED does not have these problems, so at anywhere near the same price point, SED should easily wipe PDP (plasma display panel) tv’s off the market.
Indeed, according to Toshiba, SED is already being positioned as a replacement for PDP (plasma display panels) display. SED TVs can produce pictures that are as bright as CRT pictures and they don’t have the slight time delay sometimes seen with LCDs and PDPs. SEDs also use up to one-third less power than PDP panels of the same size, they said.
Production at a trial line in a Toshiba factory will be steadily increased to about 3,000 sets per month during 2006 and the first TVs will be put on sale in Japan once the initial sets pass quality control tests, Keiichiro Mori, chief specialist at Toshiba Corp.’s SED Development Group, said in an interview at the Display 2005 exhibition held in Tokyo.
SED TVs will have a lifetime of about 30,000 hours, which is adequate for most customer needs but is something that Toshiba and Canon hope to improve upon, Mori said. “We want to conduct long-lifetime tests, and this takes time. We want to improve lifetime to 40,000 hours,” he said.
The companies are confident that they have mastered SED technology. But because the technology is relatively new, the companies still need to perfect mass production techniques, he said.
Last September, the companies announced they will invest 200 billion (US$1.9 billion) to form a joint venture called SED Inc. that will mass-produce the TVs. Production at SED will begin at about 15,000 units a month in 2007 and move to a maximum of about 70,000 units a month, probably later the same year, Mori said.
SED TVs will likely cost more than PDP TVs of the same size, Mori said, declining to say how much. “I am confident that when customers who want to purchase a super-sized TV see the picture, they will appreciate a certain premium,” he said.
Plans for overseas sales of the SED TVs have yet to be decided, he said.
Prices are sure to be very high at first, a bit higher than the biggest-screen LCDs (more than $10,000). The stakes are also high; if the technology catches on, it could well challenge LCD and plasma, which currently don’t quite approach CRT-level image quality.In addition, plasma has a lifespan issue that makes its true cost higher and its lifetime picture quality suspect. SED does not have these problems, so at anywhere near the same price point, SED should easily wipe PDP (plasma display panel) tv’s off the market. Indeed, according to Toshiba, SED is already being positioned as a replacement for PDP (plasma display panels) display. SED TVs can produce pictures that are as bright as CRT pictures and they don’t have the slight time delay sometimes seen with LCDs and PDPs. SEDs also use up to one-third less power than PDP panels of the same size, they said. Production at a trial line in a Toshiba factory will be steadily increased to about 3,000 sets per month during 2006 and the first TVs will be put on sale in Japan once the initial sets pass quality control tests, Keiichiro Mori, chief specialist at Toshiba Corp.’s SED Development Group, said in an interview at the Display 2005 exhibition held in Tokyo.
SED TVs will have a lifetime of about 30,000 hours, which is adequate for most customer needs but is something that Toshiba and Canon hope to improve upon, Mori said. “We want to conduct long-lifetime tests, and this takes time. We want to improve lifetime to 40,000 hours,” he said.The companies are confident that they have mastered SED technology. But because the technology is relatively new, the companies still need to perfect mass production techniques, he said.Last September, the companies announced they will invest 200 billion (US$1.9 billion) to form a joint venture called SED Inc. that will mass-produce the TVs.
Production at SED will begin at about 15,000 units a month in 2007 and move to a maximum of about 70,000 units a month, probably later the same year, Mori said. SED TVs will likely cost more than PDP TVs of the same size, Mori said, declining to say how much. “I am confident that when customers who want to purchase a super-sized TV see the picture, they will appreciate a certain premium,” he said. Plans for overseas sales of the SED TVs have yet to be decided, he added.Tags:Canon SED Info Toshiba
