Sony today revealed a co-developed technology that it hopes will take control from LCDs and other flat panels. Called a Field Emission Display, the technique is similar to Canon's SED in merging the best of tube TV and LCD technology by firing electrons at each pixel instead of scanning lines. This eliminates the distortion of CRT tubes but keeps the fast responses and a 20,000:1 contrast ratio roughly ten times better than the static ratios for most LCDs. Power consumption also drops in the process, Sony adds.

A 19-inch model will be on display this week at the Tokyo Big Light show with a relatively modest 1280x960 resolution. However, Sony and its partner Field Emission Technologies plan to use this to make one of the smallest full HDTVs ever, releasing a 26-inch 1080p model and others smaller than 30 inches by 2009. [via Impress]