Toshiba's SED TV drops out of CES
Toshiba's long awaited SED TV will not be appearing at the Consumer Electronics Show after all.
SED TV, which stands for surface conduction electron emission display, will provide a better picture than LCD or plasma TVs, say Toshiba and its partner Canon. Toshiba also claims that they have managed to cut the manufacturing costs so that the TVs won't cost much more than similarly sized LCDs or plasmas.
SED TV amazes trade show model
(Credit: Michael Kanellos)Toshiba was going to show off a 55-inch SED TV at CES in January, but then sent a note out on Friday saying they won't be doing that after all. A Toshiba spokeswoman declined to explain the reason for the cancellation but a note sent to people with appointments to see the SED TV at CES said it wasn't due to technical issues. The cancellation may be the result of an ongoing lawsuit over SED between Nano Proprietary and Canon, said a source close to Nano Proprietary.
The two companies have shown off various SED prototypes at CES, Ceatec, a large Japanese trade show, and other conferences. This picture comes from Ceatec in October. The company showed off the 55-inch TV, which is similar to the one that will hit shelves, for the first time in October at Ceatec. At most of these shows, the SED exhibit attracts large crowds.
The TVs have been stung by a series of delays. Toshiba and Canon started working together on SED in 1999 and said that the first TVs would hit retail shelves in 2005. In October, Toshiba pushed out the release again, and said the first SED TVs, a 55-inch TV, would come out in late 2007.
As dissapointed as I was in not seeing the SED technology this year at CES - I was lucky enough to see both of the exhibits at the Canon and Toshiba booths last year (CES).
I too am ready to "buy" and hope the SED TV's come soon. I can attest to it's "wow" factor: response time is 1 millisecond, and it has the best contrast ratio I have ever seen. It had unbelieveable quality in displaying black and grey scale definition as well as color depth and detail.
The demonstration was on 42" displays and I was able to stand within 2 feet of one. (I can only hope that a 55" will be the size that is introduced). The SED TV was able to keep small print in complete focus as it moved through the screen (Wine bottle label) and it's ability to keep such fine detail in complete focus while moving made the screen appear very 3-D like in appearance.
No matter what I say about the SED TV's will be able to convey what a great picture it displayed. It simply must be "SEEN" to be believed. I know there are a lot of other improvements in the flat screen technolgy that addresses many of the 'shortfalls' (ghosting, etc) and the same goes for DLP technology as well (laser, LED, etc). But I still want to 'hang my hat' on the SED TV. So: Canon, Toshiba, or whomever - get your stuff together and get it out to the "consumers"!