- 25 May 2005 -

NEDs look to have market appeal

Motorola revealed its first working nano-emissive display (NED) prototype at the Society for Information Display (SID) conference in Boston. The company hopes its 5" diagonal proto-television will attract licensees not yet convinced that LCD and plasma screens are the future of high-definition entertainment.

The wafer-thin display - an-eighth of an inch thick - is one section of a theoretical 42" TV, which could be mounted on a wall to play DVD movies
that look just as bright and clear as they would on LCDs.

If Panasonic and Sony opt for NED, they could start manufacturing
high-definition sets as early as 2007, at competitive prices under $1000.

Motorola is ahead of other carbon nanotube technology innovators, with its first working prototype at a US trade show. At the Boston conference, more companies are getting a first look at the NED competitor to LCD and plasma screens.

As high-definition DVD formats, TV broadcasting, and next-gen video games attract consumers, manufacturers look for ways to reduce production costs of HD screens and make them affordable for consumers.

The NED manufacturer process is simpler than that of CRT or LCD and corresponding equipment costs and materials are lower priced. Currently the cheapest HD sets cost upward of $1000.

According to market research DisplaySearch, a 40" NED display could retail for $800 or less. And despite high price, HDTV sales have increased 43% since last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), so the market is there and any price drop spur on HDTV sales.

Instead of using either one cathode ray tube or millions of LED lights to project a video image, NED uses millions of accelerated electrons charged by just 5 to 10 volts of electricity, compared with 5,000 volts for LCD.

The electrons shoot toward a phosphor plate, creating the moving image. This technique requires less voltage than a CRT, so displays require less power. And, carbon nanotube technology, canl be easily viewed from all angles.