nano-Spindt FED monitor

[Rob Wood]

Anyone see this monitor at NAB or know anything about it? Features listed on their site include:

- CRT phosphors calibrated to SMPTE/EBU standards
- 1920 x 1080 pixels on 24" to 26" display
- Equipped with input for HD sources recorded at 240Hz
- True black reproduction
- Wide viewing angle
- 10 thousand emitters per pixel
- No-blur display
- Thin panel with low power consumption

Sounds like a recipe for a very expensive monitor, but still... anyway, here's the links:

Field Emission Technologies (small site)
http://fe-tech.co.jp/en/press/press.html

YOUTUBE (promo clip + some close-up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML2Cik7-7ic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Ef4wCVAtM

[Glenn Chan]

I had a chance to see it at NAB.

- CRT phosphors calibrated to SMPTE/EBU standards

I believe what they're saying is that it *can* have phosphors that can do EBU, SMPTE C, or Rec. 709 primaries.

Native gamma response is different than a CRT's. It should be possible for them to do color matching with a CRT easily.

- Equipped with input for HD sources recorded at 240Hz

The motion looks good, but I don't think there are many common interfaces that would drive a frame rate that high.

Of what they were showing, the top and bottom halves of the screen were driven independently and there is a slightly line between the two. It's pretty subtle (like how the wires in Trinitron tubes are pretty subtle).

- True black reproduction

Of what I saw, on almost all scenes the FED looked like it had better blacks. The CRT has a high degree of flaring/halos... it's kind of like there is a soft focus filter over the screen.

On a full screen of black, the FED didn't quite hit a black that was like the CRT's. It might have been an issue with the prototype, how they set it up, or something else.

The FED prototype had better blacks on 99% of the content they showed it looked like.

Sounds like a recipe for a very expensive monitor

Pricing not announced.

They claim that their display is cheaper to manufacture than a LCD, if mass produced.

At NAB they were trying to secure financing so that they could build a plant. They are targeting the master/broadcast monitor market first as it will take less financing.

I heard different things about when such displays might ship.

- They claim no patent issues (whereas SED does have patent issues). I'm not a lawyer so I wouldn't know if they actually do have patent issues.

2- In my opinion, their displays look promising and I hope they get their financing. But it might not happen.