Next year is a concept that can linger for years when it comes to the release of a new technology. 

Toshiba and Canon have collaborated on the development of a new display technology called SED (Surface-Conduction Electron-Emitter Display).  It’s effectively a flat CRT.  The developers of the new display promise fast video response performance, high contrast, high gradation levels along with low power consumption.

Combining the flatness and low power requirements of LCD with the high contrast and speed of plasma (because each pixel is its own light source) this display sounds like the winner.  One distinct advantage of over both LCD and plasma would be the darker than black levels of CRT.  The Canon/Toshiba developers say this technology will eventually be cheaper to produce than Plasma, but that of course remains to be seen.

The technology works like CRT, electrons fired from an emitter hit a phosphor coating on the inside of the screen.  Conventional CRT has one big electron gun, hence the depth of CRT.  SED will have millions of tiny emitters, each emitter produces color for a separate pixel.  This raises two likely flaws in the design, but there are always drawbacks for any technology.  Millions of tiny emitters will give the device potential for costly repairs.  Will you be able to replace one of the tiny electron guns if it goes bad?  Probably not without replacing the whole grid, just like plasma it could be susceptible to costly repairs.  Because it’s using electron beam colliding with phosphor to produce the color images the potential for burn-in is going to be roughly equal to that of conventional CRT.

Expect this new technology to be very expensive when first released just like everything else.  But prices might drop significantly, it stands to be a very high end image when the technology is perfected.