Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display - History

History

Canon began SED research in 1986. Their early research used PdO electrodes without the carbon films on top, but controlling the slit width proved difficult. At the time there were a number of flat-screen technologies in early development, and the only one close to commercialization was the plasma display panel (PDP), which had numerous disadvantages – manufacturing cost and energy use among them. LCDs were not suitable for larger screen sizes due to low yields and complex manufacturing.

In 2004 Canon signed an agreement with Toshiba to create a joint venture to continue development of SED technology, forming "SED Ltd." Toshiba introduced new technology to pattern the conductors underlying the emitters using technologies adapted from inkjet printers. At the time both companies claimed that production was slated to begin in 2005. Both Canon and Toshiba started displaying prototype units at trade shows during 2006, including 55" and 36" units from Canon, and a 42" unit from Toshiba. They were widely lauded in the press for their image quality, saying it was "something that must be seen to believe."

However, by this point Canon's SED introduction date had already slipped several times. It was first claimed it would go into production in 1999. This was pushed back to 2005 after the joint agreement, and then again into 2007 after the first demonstrations at CES and other shows.

In October 2006, Toshiba's president announced the company plans to begin full production of 55-inch SED TVs in July 2007 at its recently built SED volume-production facility in Himeji.

In December 2006, Toshiba President and Chief Executive Atsutoshi Nishida said Toshiba was on track to mass-produce SED TV sets in cooperation with Canon by 2008. He said the company planned to start small-output production in the fall of 2007, but they do not expect SED displays to become a commodity and will not release the technology to the consumer market because of its expected high price, reserving it solely for professional broadcasting applications.

Also, in December 2006 it was revealed that one reason for the delay was a lawsuit brought against Canon by Applied Nanotech. On 25 May 2007, Canon announced that the prolonged litigation would postpone the launch of SED televisions, and a new launch date would be announced at some date in the future.

Applied Nanotech, a subsidiary of Nano-Proprietary, holds a number of patents related to FED and SED manufacturing. They had sold Canon a perpetual license for a coating technology used in their newer carbon-based emitter structure. Applied Nanotech claimed that Canon's agreement with Toshiba amounted to an illegal technology transfer, and a separate agreement would have to be reached. They first approached the problem in April 2005.

Canon responded to the lawsuit with several actions. On 12 January 2007 they announced that they would buy all of Toshiba's shares in SED Inc. in order to eliminate Toshiba's involvement in the venture. They also started re-working their existing RE40,062 patent filing in order to remove any of Applied Nanotech's technologies from their system. The modified patent was issued on 12 February 2008.

On 22 February 2007, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a district widely known for agreeing with patent holders in intellectual property cases, ruled in a summary judgment that Canon had violated its agreement by forming a joint television venture with Toshiba. However, on 2 May 2007 a jury ruled that no additional damages beyond the $5.5m fee for the original licensing contract were due.

On 25 July 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed the lower court's decision and provided that Canon's "irrevocable and perpetual" non-exclusive licence was still enforceable and covers Canon's restructured subsidiary SED. On 2 December 2008, Applied Nanotech dropped the lawsuit, stating that continuing the lawsuit "would probably be a futile effort".

In spite of their legal success, Canon announced at the same time that the financial crisis of 2008 was making introduction of the sets far from certain, going so far as to say they would not be launching the product at that time "because people would laugh at them".

Canon also had an ongoing OLED development process that started in the midst of the lawsuit. In 2007 they announced a joint deal to form "Hitachi Displays Ltd.", with Matsushita and Canon each taking a 24.9% share of Hitachi's existing subsidiary. Canon later announced that they were purchasing Tokki Corp, a maker of OLED fabrication equipment.

In April 2009 during NAB 2009, Peter Putman was quoted as saying "I was asked on more than one occasion about the chances of Canon's SED making a comeback, something I would not have bet money on after the Nano Technologies licensing debacle. However, a source within Canon told me at the show that the SED is still very much alive as a pro monitor technology. Indeed, a Canon SED engineer from Japan was quietly making the rounds in the Las Vegas Convention Center to scope out the competition."

Canon officially announced on 25 May 2010 the end of the development of SED TVs for the home consumer market, but indicated that they will continue development for commercial applications like medical equipment. On 18 August 2010, Canon decided to liquidate SED Inc., a consolidated subsidiary of Canon Inc. developing SED technology, citing difficulties to secure appropriate profitability and effectively ending hopes to one day see SED TVs in the living room.