Canon confirmed on Tuesday (2nd December) that it can now press ahead with the launch of a new genre of television set after winning a lawsuit which had put it on hold.

The Japanese consumer electronics group is free to unveil the new sets, which are based on surface-conduction electron-emitter displays (SED) and are as thin as liquid-crystal or plasma displays.

The plans were originally stalled after Applied Nanotech brought a lawsuit against the company in April 2005, claiming that it had illegally sub-licensed its patents in relation to a joint venture with Toshiba to commercialise the technology.

However, Douglas Baker, Applied Nanotech's Chief Financial Officer, has confirmed that it will be not be launching an appeal as "it would probably be a futile effort", the Financial Times (FT) reports.

SED is created by the joining of two glass plates - with a vacuum between them - before incorporating palladium beads on the inner plate, and coloured phosphor dots and a transparent electrode on the outside plate.

The sets produce an image by firing electrons from the beads which excite the phosphor dots, meaning they could emerge as a rival to organic light-emitting diode technology, which is backed by Sony and Samsung.

Canon President Tsuneji Uchida told the FT that the sets will be "cost-competitive with liquid-crystal displays" but that the launch will not be immediate due to the current lowering of television retail prices.

Source:

Canon to launch radical TV after Applied Nanotech drops appeal (02/12/08)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e35586b8-c010-11dd-9222-0000779fd18c,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fe35586b8-c010-11dd-9222-0000779fd18c.html&_i_referer=

Canon invests £900m in palladium based SED technology (26/01/06)
http://www.platinum.matthey.com/media_room/1138276802.html