So here’s the scoop: in order to avoid some legal wranglings, Toshiba’s sold its share of the SED joint venture with Canon to Canon. But that doesn’t mean they’re out of the picture.

Toshiba will actually be manufacturing the SED displays.

Toshiba was not available to comment on the production schedule, but Atsutoshi Nishida, president of Toshiba was quoted in a December Nikkei Business report as saying the company’s SED production facility in Himeji, Japan was on schedule. In addition, in October 2006, CNET reported that SED had made some manufacturing breakthroughs that would make SED TVs competitive in the market with LCD TVs.

But that’s not the most of it. For the most of it, see the article linked below. There’s a lot more…

After all is SED and done, Toshiba not out of the picture

SED seems to be the holy grail that people are waiting for. It has the picture quality of a CRT with the thin form factor of an LCD or plasma. But it’s had a bumpy ride so far, and some people are thinking that Canon and Toshiba can’t make them cost effectively. But they’re working on it.

Canon said that it will purchase all the outstanding shares of SED Inc, and Toshiba will share all its shares in SED Inc to Canon as well. This is to avoid a patent dispute, but SED business will be transferred to Canon. But Canon still plans to sell SED displays, for now.

Canon to Make SED Joint Company with Toshiba into Wholly Owned Subsidiary

Seems SED must be having some troubles. Toshiba has sent a sob story that they won’t have any at CES 2007. This doesn’t bode well. Could be because of all the LCD and Plasma prices crashing over the holiday maybe SED can’t be a competitor in this arena.

SED, we hardly knew ye!

The SED HDTV Delayed Again

According to Tech-On!, Canon and Toshiba are showing off a 55″ SED display at “FPD International 2006″ in Pacifico Yokohama convention center. It’s a “full HD” display, with a resolution of 1920 x 1080.

The contrast ratio of this beauty is supposedly 100000:1. Um, is that even possible? I assume so. Everybody is looking forward to SED displays coming to market, including me. But will they be cost-effective? In other words, will they be worth the high prices Canon and Toshiba are expected to charge? I dunno. Add to that the fact that they will also suffer from burnout, and that takes them off my list. With the CRT television I have now I realized that I never want to have another television that suffers from burn-in again. I wonder what Toshiba and Canon have to say about that?

55-inch SED Panel with 100000:1 Contrast Ratio Exhibited

The news have been making the rounds, and I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it hasn’t. The news is that Toshiba and Canon are working to have some SED displays rolling off the assembly line by “early 2008″. Which, well, isn’t really anything new. We’ve known this before.

But ah well. Maybe we didn’t know that the assembly line is to make 75,000 units a month. Or that the assembly line is being put together this year. Mmm. That’s about it.

In case you didn’t know, SED displays are thin like plasmas and LCDs, but use CRT-like emitters - lots of them. They shoot forth from the tiny emitters and hit a phosphor screen, just like a CRT. So therefore the picture quality is up there, just like a CRT. And my guess is that SED displays will also have burn-in, just like CRT. SIGH. I guess no display is perfect!

SED Technology Gets Official for 2008

Our buddies at HDBeat have an article saying that Panasonic is going to stop production of CRTs in 2-3 years.

Well if you have been watching this site at all you would know that the new SED/NED technology will be in consumers hands about this time. SED which is based on CRT technology, is flat and can show contrast ratios of 100,000:1 . Also since the CRT guns are “painted” onto a board, the screen has limitless potential in size.

Me thinks that Panasonic is seeing the writing on the wall.

Panasonic Taiwan to stop CRT TV production in 2-3 years - HD Beat

OK so Henning and I both hammer on the SED front a lot. We both think this will be the next big thing, even though it is a rehash of a technology we have used for years (CRT).

Now if SED delivers half what it is suppose to, it will be twice as good as anything out there now.

Forget LCD’s, DLP’s, and Plasma. They rate their contrast ratios anywhere from 800:1 to 5000:1. Well SED is speced to offer 100,000:1 contrast ratio! If you think HDTV looks like 3D now, wait till you see this! Remember, 80% of the picture is the black and white and the rest is just color.

At first SED will be priced to compete with plasma, but I believe it will drop quickly (relative term. I’m thinking 2008-2009 timeframe) to compete with DLP/LCOS, then LCD.

I didn’t even mention the viewing angle and power consumption. The only downfall is how bright it is right now, but I think that will improve markedly by the time we see it.

So could this replace my Runco projector by 2010? Time will tell….

SED The Next Big TV Technology

For those of you starving for SED news, here’s the tiniest little morsel. According to a Toshiba blurprint for SED, it looks like full production of SED TV sets won’t happen until early 2008. But for those of you on the lookout for a SED display, you might be able to grab one in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Toshiba Corp. has unveiled its blueprint for SED (surface conduction electron-emitter display) rollout in an announcement of the mid-to-long-term business plan until 2008.

Because SED features lower material costs than LCD, the manufacturing costs, depreciated by facility costs, can be reduced. The company is currently swinging into action to prepare full mass production.

The company plans to start the initial mass production of SED panels at the conventional plant in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa prefecture, in July 2007, with the size of 55-inch, and then bring the world’s first SED TVs to the market from the fourth quarter of 2007. Full production in volume will be performed in the Himeji line from early 2008, and the sales of SED TV sets will target the Beijing Olympics in 2008, according to the company.

SED is a technology many of us are watching with avid interest. My big reservation is that it still uses phosphors, like CRT and plasma, and is therefore subject to burn-in.

Toshiba to Launch SED TV in 4Q 2007

It seems that Mitsubishi is dipping their toes into laser. Michael Fremer from Ultimate AV doesn’t love what he sees yet, but these were just prototypes to start getting the hype up.

Will we see laser HDTV’s in the near future?

Brighter. Colored lasers so possibly no color wheel required. Low or no heat. Longer lasting. As Dvorak puts it:

Like an LED-driven display, the Laser HDTV uses less power and delivers a greater color gamut (in this case, up to 1.8 times greater than an LCD TV). In addition, although it may not be flat, it’s not nearly as deep as a CRT and uses far less power than a plasma

The other future technology on the block is SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display). Say that 10 times real fast. In essence it is a souped up version of CRT. CRT has a big advantage to all of the current technologies out there (DLP, LCD, LCOS etc…). Contrast. Depending on what you read, you can see contrast ratios for CRT from 20,000:1 to 50,000:1. SED claims to hopefully deliver:

* Response Time: Less than 1ms
* Contrast Ratio: 100,000:1
* Viewing Angle: 180° in each direction (full hemisphere)
* Power Consumption: Less than LCDs, highly efficient
* SED is also expected to fully support all HDTV video modes (1080i, 720p, etc.)

100,000:1? That would be something to see. Some units were on display at CES this year, but only yielded a 10,000:1 ratio. only.

Anyway look for more on on SED later this summer and fall, and laser technologies most likely at CES ‘07.

Ultimate AV: There’s No Business Like The TV Business

GotFrag Hardware - Hardware Home News Story - SED: The Next Big Thing

Want a launch date for SED? With the latest delay, the new timeline puts SED mass production at July 2007 and SED launch in Q4 2007.

Toshiba Corp. and Canon Inc. today announced that they will start the first stage of mass production of surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) panels in July 2007 and launch SED TVs in Q4 2007.

The companies said SED is the next step in flat-panel display technology that combines the slimness of LCDs with the high contrast and gradation ratios, low power consumption and overall better picture quality of cathode ray TVs.

Electronic News - Toshiba, Canon Gearing Up for Next-Gen LCD TV Production

Unfortunately for all us SED watchers out there, the SED launch is being delayed to Q4 2007. The reason? Alternative technologies like LCD and plasma are just so much more affordable to consumers than SED would be. Well, that’s my paraphrase of the phrase “will delay [SED] by more than a year to improve cost competitiveness, casting a shadow over the product’s commercial feasibility”.

SED panels are flat like LCD’s and plasmas, but use CRT-like technology to produce the image. Each pixel has its own little electron emitter, and when the electron hits the phosphor for the pixel, it glows, just like a CRT. But a CRT just has one electron emitter, unlike the thousands an SED display would have.

Reuters - Toshiba, Canon delay SED TV launch to Q4 2007

HD Beat is reporting that we won’t be seeing SED televisions until 2007. However, my memory (fallible as it is) informs me that they weren’t going to start mass production until 2007 anyway. So I never really expected to see SED displays.

A friend of mine is just finishing his basement and plans to put a home theater there. He’s been wondering what kind of display to put up, and yesterday said that he was leaning towards an LCD or plasma. Now I have to convince him to wait for SED. It’s just so sexy!

HD Beat - Toshiba delaying SED sets until 2007?