When choosing a large thin TV there are several technologies, but each type has its drawbacks, whether it is viewing angle, screen burn, weight, depth, contrast ratio, brightness or colour rendering. In fact CRT is still considered to offer the best picture available, but with several issues - weight and depth, thus limiting the maximum screen size.
Now several companies are aiming to perfect a new type of flat-panel display using a new technology - carbon FED. This display combines some CRT and TFT technology. A carbon Field Effect Display (FED) consists a layer of glass coated with a grid cathode followed by a layer of diamond dust and either a lithium or carbon nanotube coating. Outside this layer is a 1mm to 2mm vacuum and a final glass layer is coated with a phosphor pixel grid anode. Electrons are produced by the cathode and focused by the diamond/nanotube layer. As the anode is positively charged, it attracts the electrons produced and emits light once they strike the phosphors like in a CRT.
The resulting picture quality rival that of CRTs since the phosphor coating is pretty much the same and power consumption is less than that of even Plasma and LCD displays. The manufacturing process is fairly simple due to fewer components and should result in lower costs over time. Unlike LCD, screen size is not an issue with an FED 38" prototype already produced in 2004. The technology could be used for displays ranging from 2" to 100". The trickiest part in the development is producing the vacuum with such a narrow gap between the two layers as well as creating the layers evenly.
Canon and Toshiba are also working on a similar technology called Surface Conduction Electron Emission (SED) with the exception of using another particle than carbon. Toshiba plans to start producing SED displays starting from 50" in 2006. GristyMcFisty submitted the following news via our news submit:
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Various companies are currently trying to perfect the technology behind a new type of flat-panel display that will rely on diamonds or carbon nanotubes--two forms of pure carbon--to produce images. Theoretically, these "field effect displays," or FEDs, will consume less energy than plasma or liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, deliver a better picture and even cost less. The development of FEDs underscores the rapid changes taking place in what had been a relatively staid TV market. "The concept of a nanotube TV will give you image quality similar to CRTs (cathode ray tubes), and the best image quality is still found on CRT TVs," said Tom Pitstick, vice president of marketing at Houston's Carbon Nanotechnologies. "All the major display manufacturers are looking at nanotube TVs." Electronics giant Samsung has already produced a prototype of a TV-size display made with CNI's nanotubes. Televisions based on the new screens will nudge onto shelves in late 2006, he added. Read the full rather lengthy article here. |
Besides the usual picture quality drawbacks of LCD, these displays have remained very expensive since the first TFT displays were launched. This is mainly due to both expensive manufacturing as well as a shortage of the glass used in TFT.
Plasma sets are heavier and usually require specialised installation, however costs have been coming down along with better picture improvement over older plasma sets. However they still suffer from screen burn if abused, consume quite a lot of electricity as well as offer lower resolution compared with LCD apart from the higher end expensive plasma models.
If FED or SED displays do start shipping in 2006, they will come in good time with Blu-Ray or HD-DVD hitting the markets as HD enthusiasts will start looking for a suitable TV for their new player if they have not already done so. It will be interesting to see what pricing the sets will be. If they do manage to offer significantly lower pricing compared with even plasma, it may be a major blow to plasma, LCD and rear-projection TV manufacturers.
Source: C|net news - Consumer Products
