a 26" FED drawing only 12 W showing a bright scene, SEDs should be even lower powered. Throughout the flat-screen introduction, several other technologies had been vying with LCDs and PDPs for market acceptance. Among these were the SED, the FED, and the organic light-emitting diode system that uses printable LEDs. All of these shared the advantages of low power use, excellent contrast ratio and color gamut, fast response times and wide viewable angles. All of them also shared the problem of scaling up manufacturing to produce large screens. Example systems of limited size, generally 13", have been shown for several years and are available for limited sales, but wide-scale production has not started on any of these alternatives. History Canon began SED research in 1986. Their early research used PdO electrodes without the carbon films on top, but controlling the slit width proved difficult. At the time there were a number of flat-screen technologies in early development, and the only one close to commercialization was the plasma display panel (PDP), which had numerous disadvantages – manufacturing cost and energy use among them. LCDs were not suitable for larger screen sizes due to low yields and complex manufacturing. In 2004 Canon signed an agreement with Toshiba to create a joint venture to continue development of SED technology, forming "SED Ltd." Toshiba introduced new technology to pattern the conductors underlying the emitters using technologies adapted from inkjet printers. At the time both companies claimed that production was slated to begin in 2005. Both Canon and Toshiba started displaying prototype units at trade shows during 2006, including 55" and 36" units from Canon, and a 42" unit from Toshiba. They were widely lauded in the press for their image quality, saying it was "something that must be seen to believe[d]." However, by this point Canon's SED introduction date had already slipped several times. It was first claimed it would go into production in 1999. This was pushed back to 2005 after the joint agreement, and then again into 2007 after the first demonstrations at CES and other shows. In October 2006, Toshiba's president announced the company plans to begin full production of 55-inch SED TVs in July 2007 at its recently built SED volume-production facility in Himeji. In December 2006, Toshiba President and Chief Executive Atsutoshi Nishida said Toshiba was on track to mass-produce SED TV sets in cooperation with Canon by