A surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) was a display technology for flat panel displays developed by a number of companies. SEDs used nanoscopic-scale electron emitters to energize colored phosphors and produce an image. In a general sense, a SED consists of a matrix of tiny cathode-ray tubes, each "tube" forming a single sub-pixel on the screen, grouped in threes to form red-green-blue (RGB) pixels. SEDs combine the advantages of CRTs, namely their high contrast ratios, wide viewing angles, and very fast response times, with the packaging advantages of LCD and other flat panel displays.
After considerable time and effort in the early and mid-2000s, SED efforts started winding down in 2009 as LCD became the dominant technology. In August 2010, Canon announced they were shutting down their joint effort to develop SEDs commercially, signaling the end of development efforts. SEDs were closely related to another developing display technology, the field emission display, or FED, differing primarily in the details of the electron emitters. Sony, the main backer of FED, has similarly backed off from their development efforts.
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