SED draws on the past for flat TVs of future Hardware could become industry standard TED KRITSONIS Special to The Globe and Mail Toshiba Corp. and Canon Inc. are aiming to steamroll the flat-panel TV industry with a new technology called semiconductor electron-emitter display, otherwise known as SED. "The goal is for SED to become the industry standard," says Robert Gumiela, senior marketing director for television at Toshiba of Canada Ltd. The pair is drawing on Canon's inkjet printing technology to create electron-emitters, and Toshiba's experience in cathode-ray tube (CRT), flat-panel and semiconductor technologies. Canon has dabbled with SED technology since the 1980s, but it was only when the company began collaborating with Toshiba in 1999 that development took off. They formed a joint venture called SED Inc. in October, 2004. Now the pair is gearing up to take SED hardware to consumers. Unlike LCD and plasma flat screens that use relatively new display technology, SED takes a page from the past. It uses the collision of electrons with a phosphor-coated screen to emit light, much like CRTs have done for decades. But instead of one electron gun, SED displays have millions of tiny electron-emitters aimed at a panel behind the screen. Toshiba and Canon say one of the benefits of this approach is that the beam isn't coming from one central source, eliminating the deflection issues that limit the size of traditional CRTs. With SED screens, the emitters are close to the part of the screen they're illuminating, allowing manufacturers to build screens that are 40-plus inches in size, yet only a few centimetres thick. Moreover, the picture at a 1080i resolution is said to have as much as a 100,000-to-1 contrast ratio, which easily surpasses any big screens currently on the market. "The simplicity of the technology -- though highly sophisticated -- is utilizing so many emitters allows you to achieve a variety of colours along with the purity of black," Mr. Gumiela says. "People don't really know that from a technical standpoint, it is the grey-scale reproduction of a TV that determines how well it reproduces colour." Based on what they see as the "superior performance" of the SED screen technology, Mr. Gumiela says both companies are targeting a 30-to-35-per-cent share of the flat-panel television business by 2010, when factories are expected to be running at full production capacity. "We see SED displays serving as the hub of the modern digital imaging centre, and the perfect compliment to Canon digital cameras, camcorders and printers," says Ian Macfarlane, vice-president and general manager of the Consumer Imaging Group at Canon Canada Inc. Bob O'Donnell, vice-president of clients and displays for IDC, is less bullish. He says the companies face a "very challenging situation" in marketing the SED, because "timing is everything in this business. "It's an interesting piece of technology, but I think they missed their window of opportunity," Mr. O'Donnell says. "The challenge is that even if they have better picture quality and a better form factor, most people think that current plasmas and LCDs already have that. With prices plummeting, it's not the issue it used to be." Though few details have been announced about the SED's launch in North America, Mr. Gumiela indicates that a 36-inch model will first be released in Japan this month, followed by a possible pre-Christmas launch in Canada of a "mid-50-inch" model. Mr. Gumiela estimates pricing for the North American model will be "in excess of $10,000." Industry insiders and the public got their first look at the SED at January's Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. Despite "impressive" results, mass market acceptance will be a determining factor in the success of any new flat-panel technologies, one analyst said. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060302.TWSEDTV02/TPStory/Business