Construction of a mass production line for SED (surface conduction electron emitter display) flat-panel televisions will be started by Canon and Toshiba by the end of this year according to a report in Japanese financial daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The production line at Toshiba’s Himeji factory in Hyogo Prefecture is expected to require and investment of 180 billion yen from the partners. Their aim is to be able to mass-market the products in time for the shopping season for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

SED is a new flat panel display technology which uses the same principal as in a traditional cathode ray tube television (CRT) of electrons exciting a phosphor coating. However, with SED there is a surface conduction electron emitter for every individual display pixel. Unlike CRTs, SED televisions have a very slim form factor similar to plasma and LCD televisions yet share the advantages of high brightness, high contrast ratios, response times and excellent picture quality. SED features high-resolution images with less power consumption than plasma and LCD displays. Toshiba’s display at this years Consumer Electronics Show (CES) featured an SED theater with 36 inch prototype on display.

• Some performance figures which have been quoted are:
• Response time : inferior to 1 ms
• Contrast ratio : 100,000:1 (brightness is of 400 cd/m²)
• Viewing angles : complete, 180° in each directions.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun report Canon Chairman Fujio Mitarai admitted “we have not yet established the manufacturing technology for mass-producing SEDs at low cost.” In an interview with Kyodo News earlier, Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida also stated that SED technologies are complicated. One must assume that lowering of production costs and the clearing of any lingering SED technology difficulties will take place during the design and construction of the new production facility.

Different Approach to a Potential Competitor

The approach by Toshiba and Canon seems less conservative than that taken by another new breakthrough, CRT like, flat panel display technology company, iFire. To quote iFire President, Nick Khoury, “As an emissive display technology, TDEL will offer a viewing experience that is much closer to the CRT and superior to other flat panel TV technologies. In addition to better picture quality and a thinner, lighter form factor, TDEL offers lower capital investment and has a potential 30 to 40 percent manufacturing cost advantage compared to other technologies, which will translate into more affordable consumer products.”

iFire is well advanced with its program to commercial production for its Thick Film Dielectric Electroluminescent (TDEL) technology with an operational pilot production facility producing engineering samples of high-definition 34-inch flat panel display modules. Through pilot production, iFire intends to complete development of baseline processes for manufacture of its displays and focus on continual improvements to both performance and manufacturing efficiency. TDEL displays produced in the pilot facility will be shared with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and potential manufacturing partners for their evaluation. iFire has entered technology collaboration agreements with Japan’s Sanyo Electric Company, Ltd. and Dai Nippon Printing Company Ltd. focused on the advancement of TDEL technology.

Following pilot manufacturing, iFire expects to begin commercial volume production with initial planning work for a volume facility underway.

Even comparing performance figures available at this early stage it does look like a competition in the making: