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Laser TVs launching Christmas 2007
Remember that laser-powered projection TV announced by Mitsubishi earlier this year? Well, another prototype was turned out again today in Australia only this time, by Arasor, the Australian company that will manufacture the unique optoelectronic chip central to the laser projection device developed by Silicon Valley-based Novalux. The new sets are touted to be half the price, twice as good, and use a quarter of the electricity of conventional plasma and LCD TVs and be half the weight and depth of modern plasmas. That "twice as good" statement comes from the tech's ability to up the color content from 30-35% of what the eye can see to 90% for a "lifelike image" on the display. Set to launch in time for the 2007 holidays under Samsung and Mitsubishi brands (among others), Novalux's top-dog, Jean-Michel Pelaprat, went so far as to predict that laser television would come to dominate the market above 40-inches, displacing plasmas altogether. Hmm, well, possibly on a long enough timeline. However, with mass produced SED TVs coming in 2008 and big-azz "Full-HD" LCDs and high-contrast plasma panels on the horizon, don't count on manufactures turning their backs on those massive investments in LCD and plasma technology just yet kid.[Thanks, David W. and everyone who sent this in]
55-inch SED HDTVs on the way in '08
Canon & Toshiba brought SED out at CEATEC 2006 to show that this CRT in a flat panel's body will finally be hitting shelves in limited quantities by late 2007, and entering mass production in 2008. Leading the charge will be these 1080p 55-inch models with 450 nits of brightness, 50,000:1 contrast ratio (yes, you read that right), stunning 1ms response time...and no price tag yet. Part of the delay for SED has been so Canon and Toshiba can improve cost effectiveness to accompany the incredible specs, but with Samsung, Sharp and Sony releasing "Full HD" LCDs in the 50-inch range for around 5 large this fall, the market in 2008 could be tough to crack.[Via Reuters]
Complete CEDIA coverage
Just In case you missed our CEDIA coverage the last few days, here is run-down for your reading pleasure.General info HDBeat @ CEDIA 2006 Irony @ CEDIA Sony @ CEDIA - Booth Tour THX @ CEDIA - THX certification for video displays HD DVD @ CEDIA - Promotional Tour Panasonic @ CEDIA - A little touch of room in the middle of CEDIA HDNet @ CEDIA - Filming high-def in high-def SED @ CEDIA - MIA Hitachi @ CEDIA - Jean-Paul Goude done big HDTVs Fujitsu @ CEDIA - Aviamo 1080p plasmas Samsung @ CEDIA - LED-powered DLP Pioneer @ CEDIA - History of Pioneer plasmas Hitachi @ CEDIA - Worst looking rear-projection at the show? SunBrightTV @ CEDIA - live and in person Sony @ CEDIA - Take a close look at the SXRD NuVision @ CEDIA - LED-powered DLP - 52LEDLP Global Outdoor Concepts @ CEDIA - Outdoor LCDs Sony @ CEDIA - 52-inch 1080p XBR2 & XBR3 Bravia lines Runco @ CEDIA - plasmas that don't forget Hitachi @ CEDIA - 42-inch 1080p plasma Samsung @ CEDIA - 10-inch deep Slim DLPs on display Sharp announces 42-inch 1080p Aquos LCD US availability, pricing - UPDATE Pioneer @ CEDIA - New PureVision Elite plasmas on display Sony @ CEDIA - 52-inch 1080p, 40- & 32-inch 720p BRAVIA LCDs Planar @ CEDIA - Three new 1080p LCDs Complete listing after the jump.
Mass market SED HDTVs by 2008?
Yeah, we know that Toshiba and Canon promised us a complete line-up of SED TVs by March of this year, and we don't quite buy their "drop in LCD / Plasma prices caused the delay" excuse, but we'll let them off the hook just this once. According to the slacking partner companies, we should expect to see mass-market availability of SED HDTVs by 2008, just in time for the next major sports event / HDTV-push: the Beijing Olympics. The make or break factor for SED is how much it's going to cost consumers, so it's not encouraging to hear Canon chairman Fujio Mitarai say "we have not yet established the manufacturing technology for mass-producing SEDs at low cost." With the price of Plasmas and LCDs dropping all the time, they better figure out how to make SED TVs cheap, otherwise they run the risk of the benefits of SED -- CRT performance in an LCD sized package -- becoming irrelevant to the average consumer.[Via HDBeat]
SED production lines to be built as soon as this year
Remember SED HDTVs? You know, the type that takes all the benefits of CRT technology and crams 'em into a flat-screen package. We are sure that most of you had already given up and moved on like after that chick stood you up at the senior prom. Should have waited a little longer though cowboy as Canon and Toshiba have plans that may include building the production lines before years end. This seems right on track with the strategy to have the sets available for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If they start building the production lines now and get the initial batch of TVs to the market 6 - 9 months later, that puts 'em on track for the 2007 holiday shopping season and 2008 Olympics. So don't despair big guy. The gorgeous SEDs is just going to make you wait a bit longer, but she is going to knock the socks of all the jealous LCDs and plasmas - hopefully.
Polymer "muscles" provide full visible color gamut to displays
Forget SED, we're already on to bigger and badder ways to provide our eyeballs with those sweet sweet photons. What's new and hip this week is a polymer pixel technology developed by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. They've built a grid of 10 pixels, each 80 micrometers across -- hardly a challenger to a 70-inch LCD, but its what's under the hood that has us salivating. Each pixel is built of a polymer "muscle" that flexes when a current is applied. Light is reflected through a "diffraction grating," making only one wavelength of light visible at a time from each pixel, but allowing for use of the full color spectrum -- something not possible with the current method of mixing RGB LCD pixels. It sounds like actual displays from the tech are a long way off -- researchers are currently working on ways to limit the pixels to visible parts of the light spectrum, and power consumption will need some work as well -- but our hopes are high for a display size war within the next 10 years or so.[Via Slashdot]
SED sedentarily sedated
AVS Forum'0s has a newsletter post from TV Week magazine about the trials and tribulations facing a really cool TV technology we first mentioned almost a year ago called SED, or Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Displays, which were hyped as the Best of What's New 2005, yet aren't scheduled to be released to the market until the Olympics in Beijing in 2008. SED is yet another joint venture by Toshiba, joining Canon to produce these sets for consumers last year.Unfortunately, they've been set back by delays, many of which are presumably tied to the huge investments in plasma and LCD production lines, so it's felt that the production process en masse isn't competitive with those for other television technologies. It's too bad, as from almost all reports on the technology, SED is the display type to beat for many categories: power consumption, color reproduction, cabinet thickness, contrast, black levels, and more.[Thanks, David]
Toshiba aims at 20% global flat-screen marketshare by 2010
Toshiba is thinking big folks. They plan on acquiring 20% of the global flat-screen market in 3 and half years. So by 2010, they plan on becoming on of the top flat-screen brands in the world. How you ask? SEDs. If surface-conduction electron-emitting displays can be produced and sold at their expected low cost, then they really should have no problem. But first they need to get these HDTVs to the market. They were supposed to be available first quarter of this year but they got delayed 18-months. Their current target is for the '08 Beijing Olympic Games which will help propel them into this high market share dream.We are curious on how they rank among our reader base. Any of you have a flat-screen Toshiba - plasma or LCD?
Solid state TDEL flat panel HDTVs -- still -- coming soon
Cheaper than LCDs and plasmas plus better picture quality in a 1-inch thick flat panel HDTV? That's what iFire has been promising for a while now and it may be one step closer to reality. Their parent company Westaim hopes to bring the thick-film dielectric electroluminescent technology (TDEL) screens to market in 2007 at a price point of less than $1000 for a 34-inch model. It involves no gases, liquids or vacuums and requires no backlighting. Instead the materials are layered directly onto the glass which they say provides better PQ and a wider viewing angle, with half the production cost of LCDs. Much like the fabled SEDs which we still haven't seen, we've been looking out for these since Engadget first mentioned them in 2004. If/when either technology debuts, it will be very interesting to see how it affects the existing high definition flat screen market.
Sorry, no SEDs this year
Sorry folks. The long anticipated release of SEDs has been delayed. We thought it was coming but just didn't want to believe it. Originally, Toshiba and Canon were looking to release their flat-panels this spring but that is not going to happen. They aren't even going to release them anytime this year nor next spring. Instead they have opted for a fall 2007 release. Talk about way off!They are aiming for this release date to meet the demands of the 2008 Beijing Summer Games. Don't ya think that if the TVs were out now, their supply chains could be be full in two summers. Oh well. What can a guy do?
Toshiba delaying SED sets until 2007?
If the translated story is accurate, we won't be seeing SED sets in 2006 after all. What a cryin' shame since we're not so secretly lusting after the flat-panels that mash the best of CRTs with a slim screen. Apparently, Toshiba can't procure or produce enough panels to create the SED sets that they jointly developed with Canon, so their current trial run of 1,000 units per month won't be increasing. The basic tech behind SED isn't that different from CRTs; instead of one giant electron gun for all the pixels there are individual electron emitters near the screen surface for each pixel. Sounds like the emitters are easy to find or build; it's those darn CRT SED panels in a 50-plus-inch size.
No more CRTs from Toshiba in Japan
Looks like Toshiba's CRTs have hit the end of the road in Japan. They are going to be no more as of April this year, in addition to their analog LCD TVs. In case you have forgotten, there is a new type of flat panel TV that is coming out this year from Toshiba. SEDs. Toshiba is going to concentrate their effort on rebranding and promoting this new technology plus their existing digital LCDs. It is unlikely that Toshiba is going to see large SED sales this year, but they have to promote it and with those pesky CRTs out of the way, it should be a bit easier.
Onkyo TV stand with center and front speakers built in
Want better audio but just cannot stand to put speakers next to your beautiful flat panel? Onkyo has a stand for you that includes the center and front speakers right in the stand. This is the second generation of this product and Onkyo is a quality audio company so you can be sure this stand is worth almost $700.The Asian market gets this stand first and since it looks a heck of a lot better then the one in our market, lets hope we get this one soon.
SED TV demo in Flash
If you want to experience the SED demo that the Canon folks presented at CES, we found a Flash video of the six-minute presentation to help you out. We saw the Canon demo live, as well as Toshiba's, and were completely blown away; we can't promise you'll feel the same as there's no way to truly capture the color, contrast, brightness, detail and fluidity of the real thing. This is probably the next best thing to being in the Canon SED booth and if you get the chance to see the demo in person, this will give you something to compare.View (Flash video) via HDtv Help
HD Beat meets HT Guys at CES!
Of all the crazy, improbable things. Would you believe that out of approximately 150,000 attendees at CES last week, I had the HT Guys walk up to me? Yup, Ara Derderian and Braden Russell were on their way to lunch and literally bumped into me and introduced themselves! What a treat after just being on their podcast as a guest to discuss our HDTV over WiFi experimentation. Ara and Braden discuss the brief meet up, plus they provide additional thoughts on the high-def gear from CES in their latest show. I personally thought SED technology was the best high-def tech at CES and not that the HT Guys disagreed, but we do differ on whether we'll wait for SED or buy something else sooner. Check out my thoughts and theirs in the show.
2006 is not going to be good for RPTV and CRTs
This coming year is not going to be nice to many peoples favorite HDTVs. Rear projection sets (i.e. CRT based, DLP, LCD, and LCoS) shipments are going to fall a whopping 15%. This number is derived from the huge decrease in CRT demand; no one wants them anymore. 2005 was a good year for microdisplays though with Sony and Samsung leading the way. Microdisplays such as DLP and LCoS will continue to grow and pass CRT projections for the first time but I believe that the writing is on the wall that they too will eventually be outpaced by another trend in TVs: flat panels. Admit it: you want a flat panel TV. Maybe not a plasma or a LCD but at least a SED. Flat panel TVs are just so cool and if you can get one that has the picture quality of a tube at the price of a DLP then you would get one. Right?
Hands on with Engadget and Canon
The boys over at Engadget attended Canon Expo 2005 today and got up close and person with some great high definition equipment. Canon was displaying an amazing 36-inch 1080p SED display that can do a 100,000:1 contrast ratio plus they had the new HDV High Definition XL H1 for everyone to see.Follow the links on over 'cause they have some nice pictures of the products.
SED technology explained
We all know that SED sets are planned, but what the heck are they and how do they work? Better yet, how will they compete with current HDTV television technologies like DLP, LCoS, LCD and Plasma? Here's a quick overview of what you need to know.First things first: we'll get the SED acronym out of the way to make sure we're all speaking the same language. SED isn't "Super Extraordinary Definition"; in fact, it isn't a resolution definition at all. SED is a type of display technology and it stands for "Surface-conduction Electron emitter Display". While it sounds like something out of "Star Trek", it's actually a technology that Canon helped to develop in 1986.