Toshiba's New Twist on the Cathode Ray

By any measure, HDTV (High Definition Television) is in its infancy. The primary technologies of Plasma, LCD and DLP, are still evolving, and exciting new developments are already on the horizon. At the last two CES (Consumer Electronic Shows) Toshiba and Canon, in a joint effort, touted a new way to approach the old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube). It is called SED, (Surface conduction Electron emitter Display) and it could revolutionize the High-Def world. In the same manner as the old CRT’s we all knew, electrons are shot at phosphors on the screen, and then emit the proper reds, greens, or blues. The difference with SED is that each pixel has its own dedicated electron emitter and that makes all the difference! This not only saves electrical energy, and increases the performance; it enables a very thin display as well as a large screen. Experts in the flat panel world formed long lines at the last CES in Las Vegas, to compare the Toshiba SED picture quality to other HD models.

SED provides an astounding 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio; most plasma sets can only manage 3000:1! Visitors at the show were treated to a 36-inch model and later this year Toshiba will release a 55-inch model to the public. Each SED TV has over 6 million electron emitters! This venture represents a joint effort between Toshiba and Canon, with Canon the brains behind ability to fabricate the micro-electron emission technology. There is evidence that this type of display could be much less expensive to produce than the current Plasma HDTV’s, yet offer at least the same picture quality. Toshiba is already phasing out their line up of Plasma models, thinking that this may be their main focus in the area of television displays. Toshiba's Vice-President of marketing, Scott Ramirez, said, “SED is going to be the new standard in flat panel; it’s going to change the way you look at flat panel”. SED will apparently make its debut later this year. SED can deliver the current Holy Grail in HDTV, the 1080p standard. 1080p is an abbreviation for the number of colored dots or pixels on High-Def screens: (1920 x 1080). That’s 1920 dots across the screen and 1080 lines of those dots in the vertical dimension. SED is apparently able to handle fast motion on the screen since each tiny electron emitter can respond one thousand times a second. Moreover, the screen delivers the same bright picture quality from virtually any viewing angle. What’s not to like about this new twist on a proven technology? Lower energy bills, a really big screen, fairly thin module, and great brightness and superior contrast. SED is definitely something to anticipate. Initial prices will be high, but they could quickly compete with the Plasma and LCD market. And better yet, this new technology could help drive down the cost of existing Plasma and LCD models.

A leader in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue her dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses her expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology, whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occassionaly confused by the overwhelming information out there let Julia be your guide.

Municipal WiFi Technology A Good Idea Everywhere

Sometimes high technology crops up in unlikely places. This would definitely be the case if Mexico City ends up providing widespread wireless Internet access to its residents. While obviously a long way off, turning Mexico City into an enormous wireless hot spot would obviously have a large number of benefits.

As with most municipal WiFi projects, the idea would be to provide Mexico City with widespread Internet access as a way of allowing for greater intercommunication of government employees. It would also allow the government to monitor things like security cameras more easily. As a spillover effect, municipal WiFi would give businesses and individuals cheap ways to communicate and get information over the Internet. For example, schools would also be included in the plan.

Of course, some critics have been quick to point out that Mexico City doesn't even provide consistent electricity and running water to its population. Some areas go entirely without utilities and even the better neighborhoods have frequent and unexpected power blackouts.

Mexico City has additional problems that have yet to be solved. These include, but are obviously not limited to, rampant air pollution and traffic problems.

Despite the problems that Mexico City has with maintaining basic utilities, providing municipal WiFi is still a good idea. For one thing, wireless technology is easier to install and maintain in many ways than electrical infrastructure. That's because it's wireless by definition. That translates into bring able to supply numerous households and businesses with wireless Internet access without having to run any kind of cable to them. It's also a lot less to trouble shoot when something goes wrong.

Wireless Internet access could also provide a lot more educational and economic opportunities to the residents of Mexico City. After all, if a family can get a computer with wireless capabilities, there free or low cost access to the Internet could provide children with access to some of the best sources of Information in the world. The online educational resources would probably improve literacy just by providing the population with more content to read and more reason to know how to read.

Widespread WiFi access could also alleviate a lot of other ills in Mexico City. For example, it might allow some people to telecommute which would decrease congestion in the city's streets and smog in the air. Considering that Mexico City has a population of almost nine million people even if one percent of them could telecommute rather than driving to work, that would make a large difference.

A municipal WiFi project in Mexico City is also a good idea because it can be seen in an investment that will allow for greater investment. For example, low cost Internet access could allow people to use Voice over Internet Protocol technology in place of normal phone service. This will allow businesses and families alike to save money that can be spent on growth or education, respectively. Widespread wireless Internet access would also make it easier to start online businesses.

There are a lot of reasons that municipal WiFi is a good idea, and those factors apply even more in less developed parts of the world.

A leader in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue his dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses her expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology, whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occassionaly confused by the overwhelming information out there let Julia be your guide.