Sony plans FED TV launch for late 2009

Register Hardware reports Sony affiliate Field Emission Technologies (FET) is planning to launch the first Field Emission Display (FED) TVs by the end of next year. FED TVs will have display panels that are only a couple of millimetres thick, an energy efficiency that's about twice as much as that of LCD, crisper images than LCD and better contrast ratio. Another interesting aspect of FED TVs is that they require less components and could thus be cheaper to produce.

According to a report by Japan's Nikkei newspaper, an unnamed source has claimed that Field Emission Technologies (FET), of which Sony owns 37.8 per cent, plans to launch an industry-grade 26in FED TV at the end of 2009. A 60in commercial model could follow sometime later.

FEDs are only a couple of millimetres thick and generate images with an array of carbon nanotubes electron emitters. Each emitter is positioned right behind a phosphor dot which emits light when zapped with electrons. The particles are emitted by a process called field emission.

FEDs are claimed to have several benefits over the likes of LCD and plasma, not least an energy efficiency that's roughly twice that of LCD. Other benefits include FED’s ability to generate much crisper images than LCD can, along with better blacks. Because fewer components are required to display a picture, FED sets could be cheaper to produce.