SED's dead, baby: Canon abandons development of new HDTVs, we take a look back
By Richard Lawler 
posted May 25th 2010 3:24AM
posted May 25th 2010 3:24AM
Timeline:
Company creates SED panel with 100,000:1 contrast ratio - April 2005
SED technology explained - August 2005
SED production begins - August 2005
SED up close and personal - January 2006
Sorry, no SEDs this year - March 2006
Mass market SED HDTVs by 2008? - September 2006
Toshiba demos 55-inch SED with 100,000:1 contrast ratio - October 2006
Toshiba SED production hits another snag - January 2007
Judge favors Nano-Proprietary in Canon licensing quandary - February 2007
SED televisions delayed, again -- possibly forever - March 2007
Canon said to be developing own tech for SED TV production - December 2007
Canon wins SED lawsuit, can produce SED displays again - August 2008
Canon cleared to resume work on SED TV (now that the world doesn't care) - December 2008
SED could still have a future, probably doesn't - April 2009
So a promising technology was killed by patent lawsuits and cost/scalability issues. What a shame.
@10nisman94
Exactly, this should be used in the future as en example of how the patent system no longer promotes progress and in fact kills progress and innovation.
Shame as this tech looked astonishing.
@coolblue2000 We already had an example and that was called RAMBUS. But, what is to keep the original technology holder from selling or re-licensing it elsewhere? Also, you would think since Sony backed off of its FED competing technology it would re-entice this initiative by someone that is already into flat-panels, which Canon really wasn't.
Guess everyone can point the finger at Applied Nano Tech. ANT could have at least waited until it was out in the market to see how receptive the market is before filing a lawsuit. Guess now it won't see any production.
@xconan The original licensing agreement probably was void of a per-unit (panel) compensation and with Canon seeking another partner to widen the distribution ANT might have felt their ability to co-license to anyone else was doomed (i.e. they had nothing to lose).
Bring in the Gimp!
@noodles2k the gimp's asleep!
It's a shame the tech could never reach Mask production.
@Rumpus Cat
What kind of masks did you want them to produce? Batman? The mask from Scream?
@infinityPlusOne It was just a lame joke about the screenshot. It's from the 1994 Jim Carrey movie "The Mask".
@Rumpus Cat
Uh, no it isn't. It's from Pulp Fiction. Look at the gimp. ;)
DAMN! This would have been a real GAME CHANGER in the world of VFX, animation and postproduction. :( Some of us are still on CRTs which are almost impossible to come by these days.
I read "dead baby canon" and thought "sweet!"
SED is the Courier of TV tech.
@mlayer
COURIER!!!!
This is so depressing. How can a technology so vastly superior to LCD and plasma not see the light of day. Surely some company has to see the benefits in getting back behind it and bringing SED's to market.
@Insomnihack
because although it wiped the floor with LCD it wasn't vastly superior to AMOLED, which has better refresh rates and can be made much thinner than SED. The problem specific with OLED was the material lifetime and that has now reached LCD levels; the cost of both technologies was extremely high but OLED was winning the race in driving the cost down. There wasn't any reason that this would succeed unless they could beat OLED on price, which they failed to do.
As expected. Really, people are surprised by this? Let's move on now.
@pika2000 Why should we move on when you had trouble moving on and posted something non-contributing to this article? You move on first and maybe we'll follow (we won't, really). :)
I remember when I saw it at CES and told all my friends how it was the most important thing to see if they went to CES. I can't think of anything as tragic except Pioneer getting out of the Kuro business. I was really hoping by this year to have a big 10G kuro or an SED TV. I don't consider 3D that important. Until Panasonic and others can get their picture quality up the the picture quality of the 9G let alone surpass it, I consider this the dark ages of television technology.
FUCK. I was waiting for this. I need a modern display with all of a CRT's and LCD's advantages. God damn it.
I keep thinking they could've done better than to name it "Smoke Emitting Diode".
http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/S/SED.html
SED, OLED, all with big potential but will we ever see them in stores at a reasonable price? Who knows what new technology will actually become the real world Holy Grail? My guess is we'll see something revolutionary in the near future. Heck, who ever even considered the chance of 3D a year ago? If the big boys see a potential for profit they will make it happen, just like 3D.
why samsung dosent adopt the SED?
I'm sure somewhere out there, there is at least one AV geek that is wearing a black armband and flying their flag at half mast today.
The inventor of this technology killed it. Or their idiotic lawyers did. Good going, guys. Be sure to put this on your resume.
Wait until the basic patents run out and they lose control. Then things might get interesting again.
@kcmurphy88 Canon originally developed the technology in 1986.
Not sure how long we'd have to wait for ANT's patents to expire, however.
@Biggiesized 20 years from the patent date. To long IMHO, but better then the crazy insane copyright laws that are now (life of the author plus 70 years and for works of corporate authorship to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever endpoint is earlier.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_of_patent
SED: YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
I've been looking forward to SED ever since first hearing about it all those years ago! I've still been telling my friends about it. People reported that the image was so amazing that it looked like they were seeing HDTV for the first time all over again :(
All I wanted was to get to see to see it in person one day...I can't believe it's been killed off :(
I too saw the impressive demos at CES, and remained faintly hopeful over the years...