The future of display technology?

Prepared By:
Ryan Michaud
Adam Neale
Andrei Iakimtchik
Date: March 27th, 2007.

Presentation Outline
History of display technology
Current display alternatives
How FEDs work
Companies working on FED
Difficulties with FED
Future of FED displays

History of Display Technology

Cathode Ray Tube

1950s

Liquid Crystal Displays

1970s

Field Emission Displays

1980s

Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT)

Geissler Tubes (1855)
First CRT oscilloscope invented

40 years later
Commercially practical CRT

made by Allen DuMont (1931)

Liquid Crystal Display

Liquid Crystalline materials

discovered (1880s)
James Fergason produced first

practical LCD display (1967)

Epson introduced first color LCD

TV 2 in diagonal (1985)

Plasma Display Panel

Plasma identified by William

Crookes (1879s)
Prototype for PDP introduced at

University of Illinois (1964)

Fujitsu introduced first 42 color

PDP (1997)

Technology Comparison
CRT
Vacuum tube with phosphor-

coated screen
Cathode emits electrons to be

accelerated by the anode

Deflectors guide the electron

beams
Electrons excite phosphor

molecules to produce light

Technology Comparison contd

CRT
Advantages

Shortcomings

Good color representation

Large and bulky (2 kg/in)

Large viewing angle

Flicker causes eye strain

Fast response time (50 s)

High power (11 W/in)

Low price
Multiple resolutions

Technology Comparison contd

LCD
A layer of liquid crystalline

sandwiched between 2 glass

layers with polarizer
Light generated behind the

screen, passed through

Applied voltage controls the

crystalline orientation

Technology Comparison contd

LCD
Advantages

Shortcomings

Light weight (0.6 kg/in)

Small viewing angle

Low power (5 W/in)

Slow response time (8 ms)

Less eye strain

Weaker contrast & color

High brightness (500 Cd/m2)

Technology Comparison contd

PDP
Two layers of glass with pixel

array in between
Each pixel contains a mix of
neon and xenon gas
Current is passed through a
pixel to ionize gas, and emit
UV radiation
UV rays excites phosphorcoated layer of glass to
generate light

Technology Comparison contd

PDP
Advantages

Shortcomings

High brightness (1000 Cd/m2)

More power vs LCD (8 W/in)

High contrast (10000:1)

Burn-in effect

Large viewing angle

Size limitation (>40)

Slow response time

FED: The Best of Both Worlds

Promised Advantages
Very light (100 g/in)
Large Viewing angle (178o)
Extremely fast (20 ns)
Low power (0.2 W/in)
High contrast (10x PDP)
No flicker
No dead pixels

How FED Works?

Array of mini-CRTs

Technology Options - SED

Surface-conduction

electron emitter
display
Joint venture between
Toshiba and Canon

Technlogy Options - Spindt

Spindt emitters are tiny

cones that create a

very high charge
density
Alignment of the cone
and gate is critical

Technology Options - CNT

Carbon nanotubes as

electron source

Companies Researching FED

Canon and Toshiba joint venture in SED
Sony promises Spindt-type FED display in 2009
Samsung is researching CNTs, Applied Nanotech Inc.

have made a 25 display

Challenges: Technical Problems

Fluctuations in emission current
Low cost manufacturing methods
Developing for large areas
Tip damage
High vacuum levels required

Dropping LCD prices

LCD panels are dropping in cost while increasing

in quality

Hope for FED Displays

The success of FEDs depends on:
Cost
Quality
Timing

Technologically advantageous product

suffers from poor timing

Questions?