This doesn't look too good at this point:

Toshiba, Canon delay SED TV launch to Q4 2007 (http://today.reuters.com/business/newsArticle.aspx?type=technology&storyID=nT343273)

SED has been delayed until Q4 2007 so we won't see it in NA until at least 2008. The reason given is that Plasma/LCD prices have dropped so quickly that they need to find ways to lower production costs. I hope they realize that prices will continue to drop otherwise SED may never get out of the gate.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060308/kyodo/d8g7a01g0.html

I smell vaporware.

Argh! SED was the last, best hope!

By the time they will be on market with a 20000 $ 50 " screen, the same size 1080 LCD will cost 2000 $. Not a very bright future I suppose. I don't even think their first gen screens are 1080. A nice technology if it would be available 5-6 years ago.

If they don't think they can produce and be competitive now, its hard to figure out what a delay of 18 months is going to give them since by that time LCD and plasma should be even better and cheaper.

Bdub, you may be right!

Let's just compare with LCD (direct view). The current generation (7 th for most manufacturers) are reaching 46" and full 1920x1080 resolution with an 8 ms response time ( this is still slower than plasma or SED but not bad at all). The contrast is improving, there are 2 technologies, one the better but most expensive is the LED backlight, and the second, cheaper is the one applied in the new line of Bravia ("colour-range extending backlight, the WCG CCFL (Wide Colour Gamut Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) which used phosphors developed for the company's Trinitron CRTs.The result: enhanced reds and greens that "brings what you see closer to the true colours of nature than ever before", Sony claimed. The V series' screens have a 1300:1 contrast ratio, 8ms response time and a 178° viewing angle")
In 2 years this kind of technology will be common, and the screens will reach 50-55" with a response time of 4 ms or even lower than this).If I remember well SED has 2 ms response.
Plus they will have "no burn in " effect (unless SED), and will be cheaper for sure (everybody's guess how much cheaper). Compare this with a first generation technology SED ( which mean expensive and most likely with not all bugs fixed). Even on an equal price, which is not going to happen , I would not jump and buy a SED until at least a year or two after introduction when I can get some feedback from others. I suppose most would do the same. By that time LCD will be on the 9 th or 10 th generation screens...:)

Not only LCD. DLP has also improved getting rid of the color wheel etc. Plasma has improved contrast ratio and price point etc. The only real way to get production costs down is to sell units which they are not doing. Sounds like we and not going to see this at all and will just have to see who wins the LCD/DLP/Plasma wars.

Too bad. It sounds like the technology had great promise but arrived just a little too late. Their initial price point will be too high now especially with the other technologies reducing theirs.The advances in the other fields continues and the prices will continue to drop. I fail to see how they will gain any advantage by delaying production unless there are bugs they need to work out but have not told anybody about. In any case the other units will have improved by that time in both technology and price. I think we are looking at the best TV that never was.

I am glad I bought my CRT RP when I did in January. One of my buds is looking for one now and cannot find one anywhere by any of the big names. The ones I looked at a couple of month ago are gone.

By the time they will be on market with a 20000 $ 50 " screen, the same size 1080 LCD will cost 2000 $. Not a very bright future I suppose. I don't even think their first gen screens are 1080.
At CES, Toshiba and Canon reps said the first available SED televisions would be 55" with a native 1080x1920 resolution.

Just as a confirmation of what we discussed earlier:

"
CeBIT Sony did it at CES in Las Vegas, and now it's Samsung's turn at CeBIT in Hannover. Yes, we're talking monster 82in LCD TVs. Alas, it was outscaled by LG, which is touting a 100in LCD, but don't forget that Panasonic's 103in plasma screen beats them all.
Samsung can at least claim its 82in whopper has a novel LED backlight that, it claims, improves the screen's colour and helps deliver the display's 7000:1 contrast ratio. LG's 100-incher, by contrast, uses regular backlight technology. It measure 2.2 x 1.2m, sports a 5ms response time and a 3000:1 contrast ratio - so you can see why Samsung's keen on its LED backlight.
...

"

full here: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/10/cebit_monster_tvs/

So LCD are reaching 82 in with a 7000:1 contrast ratio and 5 ms response time.Where does SED stands ( 18 months from now...) ? And I bet you if they would go and sell it 18 months from now the first SED (55 ") will cost the same as the 82" LCD.

I heard from a Discovery program last night that a new technology using a film spread across windows and such are in the works. :o New technologies are moving too quickly in my opinion.:rolleyes:

CES 2006: Toshiba's Plasma/LCD Killer

Whoa! Imagine a flat-panel TV that one-ups CRT in all-around quality. SED is here and there's no going back.

by Matt Casamassina

January 5, 2006 - We use plasma sets and we use LCDs. We like them. They're stylish. And their respective picture qualities have gotten better and better over the years. Not quite up to the black levels or the response times of standard CRT setups, sure, but nevertheless pretty damned good. The new plasmas from Pioneer and Panasonic are particularly impressive. And yet, a new technology from Toshiba promises to do the unthinkable and combine the best of CRT with the best of flat-panel displays. If we hadn't seen this impressive new tech for ourselves at CES 2006, we'd be quick to shrug it off, but having beheld it, we're here to confidently state that plasma and LCD better watch out.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/679/679235p1.html

From: The Digital Home February, 2006.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/1052/98/

"If I ever go searching for my heart's content, I'll never look farther than my own back yard." --- Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

Boy am I red. Here are a few threads on SED. It makes LCD look dead. :)

Canon's Flatscreen SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=15792)

SED News (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=19533)

SED has be "coming" for at least two or three years now.

I merged some threads since at this point SED does NOT appear to be the killer technology it was thought to be several years ago.

At this point the reason is economics and NOT picture quality.

To date, Toshiba and Canon have been unable to find a way to produce it for a reasonable price.

In early March, just after this article was originally written, a Toshiba Canada spokesperson was quoted as saying that a mid 50" SED display would retail for more than $10,000 Canadian. (http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/1052/98/)

Ten thousand for a 50" SED vs. about $3,000 to $4,000 for a plasma (and probably less by 2007) just does not make SED very compelling.

Agree with hugh. Plasma and LCD are dropping at least 30 % a year in price, and are getting bigger and better. End of this year, beggining of the next is when consumer level LCD screens from a few manufacturers will come in 52" (I don't speeak about the top level, very expensive 65" and higher, which were already available for some time).

I expect also that starting next year , maybe in summer we will start seeing more and more LCD with LED backlight, as the norm which will improve a lot the color reproduction and black levels. Already the LED backlight start replacing the bulb on a few consymer level DLP screens.An LED backlight gives something of 115-140 % NTSC color gamut on current models, for example.

If SED does not get lower in price ( at most 20 % higher than LCD and/or plasma) they will never get into production.

Looks like Toshiba and Canon are committed to making this happen. They are currently showing the latest 55" SED TVs at CEATEC Japan.

http://news.com.com/Toshiba+unveils+sizes%2C+cost+goals+for+SED+TVs/2100-1041_3-6122031.html?tag=nefd.top

Here are the specs for the 55" TV.

Contrast Ratio 50,000:1
Response time 1ms
Power Consumption <LCD
Half-life 30,000 hours

Bottom line is that if you want to eat with class, you have to sell to the masses. The following was a quote from a Canadian importer of electronics I once knew. SED, Blu Ray, HD DVD are all still a long way off for us in the masses. I watched tonight X-Men The Last Stand on my my Hitachi Plasma, Toshiba DR4 recorder (no upscaling) at 480 P, with my 5 year old Yamaha Receiver and Mirage speakers (also 5 years old) and sub and it was darn good. I will not be buying any new technologies at huge prices.

Even according to that article, it's at least another two years for SED in North Amercica and since these guys always hype dates, it more likely to be three.

That's an eternity in this industry!