Canon and Toshiba joined together to produce SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) TVs by early 2008, starting with a 55-inch model capable of 1080p.

The delay is in part the result of concerns that falling LCD and plasma price drops would hurt SED’s chance for success in the market, as initial costs may price the new format higher than existing designs.

The  technology combines advantages of both CRT televisions and LCDs. As with the earlier tube technology, SED fires electrons at the screen in rapid succession. Instead of relying on light redirected by a single gun, however, SED uses thousands of miniature emitters that strike the screen directly, resembling the pixel-by-pixel image created by an LCD.

The result is a display which is both extremely thin and sharp yet perfectly suited to games and movies: the current prototype is capable of an impressive 50,000:1 contrast ratio and a 1ms response time, far exceeding current flat-panel screens.

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