Toshiba and Canon today announced that they will start the first stage of mass production of SED panels in July 2007 and launch SED TVs in the 4Q of calendar year 2007. SED, the Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display, is considered as the next-generation flat-panel display that offers excellent performance characteristics.

The market for flat-panel TVs is expected to see continued high growth within the overall television market, with demand receiving a significant impetus from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and from the global shift from analogue to digital broadcasting. Toshiba and Canon see the popularity of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as an opportunity to strongly promote SED TVs.

Toshiba and Canon consider the launch of SED TVs to be a major industry milestone, a once-in-50-years historical turning point for the TV industry, comparable to the initial introduction of CRT television. The companies will maximize the technology's characteristics in order to resist commoditization and to establish SED TV as the technology of choice for high-definition, high-image-quality television viewing.