SED-Television

SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) is a flat-panel, high-resolution display developed by Canon that will compete with LCD and plasma displays. SED is said to provide the picture quality of cathode-ray tube (CRT), in a flat-panel format, at about 50 percent of the power consumption of CRT displays and 33 percent of the power of plasma displays of a comparable size.

The SED consists of an array of electron emitters and a layer of phosphor, separated by a small space from which all the air has been evacuated. There is a dedicated electron emitter for each pixel in the display. The SED requires no electron-beam focusing, and operates at a much lower voltage than a CRT. The brightness and contrast compare favorably with high-end CRTs. Prototype electron emitters have been developed with diameters of a few nanometers (billionths of a meter), which could yield improved resolution.