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Third way ? SED seeks to trump PDPs and LCDs in the war of the acronyms

27/01/2006 - 11:07:01

Third way ? SED seeks to trump PDPs and LCDs in the war of the acronyms
Flat panel displays in the home and also in offices are becoming increasingly popular. As a result of falling prices, demand is surging for the kinds of screen sizes that would once have been the reserve of the very wealthy. What this means for leading television manufacturers is that the flat panel market is now the place to be.

Cathode ray tube (CRT) television sets, for years the standard for TVs around the world, appear to be on the wane. Consumers are hooked on the improved picture quality and the more convenient size of flat panel displays. Leading retailers are considering ditching CRTs altogether in favour of the more expensive but superior LCDs or plasma screens.

So the battle is on for control of this big screen market, with PDPs (plasma display panels) and LCDs going head-to-head. Plasma screens use charged gas to display images that are said to be brighter than LCD screens, which blocks light to control the emissions of each pixel. While the picture may be brighter on plasma screens, LCDs use less power. They also have a longer life expectancy than plasma displays, which has helped give LCDs the edge so far.

Some of the problems associated with plasma displays were illustrated just this week with reports from Australia suggesting that some sports fans had noticed the logo of their favourite channel permanently fused in the top corner of the screen. It is thought that watching the same channel for long periods of time could leave a lasting impression on the display, which is no laughing matter considering how much they cost.

Some top manufacturers have already thrown their weight behind LCDs. Last year, Sony said that it would stop making plasma screens and focus on the rival technology. The company has also entered into a joint venture with Samsung, building a facility in South Korea that will produce 60,000 LCD panels a month. Work was finished on the factory in Tangjung earlier this month.

Japan, which is a key market for all consumer electronics products, also appears to have embraced LCDs. In 2005, LCD TVs outsold CRT sets for the first time. According to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) there were more than four million LCD televisions shipped domestically last year, dwarfing the 468,000 plasma screens.

But while LCD might be winning its battle with plasma technology, it could be about to face a fresh challenge for control of the flat panel display market. Surface-conduction electronic-emitter display, which unsurprisingly goes by its acronym, SED, might be about to blow LCDs out of the water. The technology works by sandwiching two glass plates together, with a vacuum in between. Beads of the precious metal palladium are dotted on the inner plate and a matrix of coloured phosphor dots and a transparent electrode are attached to the outer plate.

Its proponents claim that SED screens will be cheaper to make, use less power and offer an even better picture than both LCDs and plasma screens. Electronics giants Toshiba and Canon are certainly keen on the technology and are working together to bring flat panel screens to market using SED. In fact Canon has bet the farm on its success investing a reported $1.8 billion in its development. Fujio Mitarai, Canon's chief executive, believes SED screens will one day take centre stage in a new, connected digital home.

"SED displays will serve as an image and information window in living rooms, linked through a wireless connection with digital cameras, digital video camcorders, printers, and other imaging devices," he said in a recent interview with Fortune magazine.

If Mr Mitarai is right then not only will Canon grab a share of the flat panel display market, but the recent success of LCDs will be short-lived.track

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