Japanese electronic manufacturer Toshiba has decided to discontinue production of plasma televisions to concentrate on the manufacture, development and commercialization of a flat panel technology called SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display).
Toshiba, in partnership with Canon, will be testing production of SED panels this week in a facility near Tokyo, according to a report by Martyn Williams on New Zealand Reseller News Online. The two companies formed SED Inc. last year, which embodies their commitment to the development and production of SED flat panel screens.
Toshiba believes that SED flat panels are a better option than plasma televisions in the large-screen category. They are more energy efficient than plasma TVs since they consume much less power. They provide a clearer and brighter picture compared to cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions, and the slight time delay present in other large-screen flat panel displays is absent in SED screens.
Canon and Toshiba plan to produce 3,000 50-inch SED panels a month during test production. Commercial production is slated to begin in 2007, while test production is expected to continue throughout 2006. The two companies expect to reach production of 75,000 panels monthly by the end of 2007, and they also hope to capture a sizable chunk of the large-screen flat display market. With the reduction in other flat screen display systems such as plasma TVs and LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, it remains to be seen whether Canon and Toshiba will achieve this goal.
