A genuine breakthrough in flat panel displays is one of the most sought-after prizes in computing today, as an alternative to liquid crystal variety is desperately needed to reduce power consumption and cost and improve the quality of mobile computer displays. San Jose, California-based Silicon Video Corp’s answer is to use an array of cathode electron guns behind each phosphor dot, rather than the direct gun used in cathode ray tubes. But this stuff is expensive to develop and the company has already burned through the almost $100m funding it’s attracted since 1992 without producing a product – and it needs more. However there have been no shortage of backers and this time around and the company has garnered a further $55m from a slew of investors – the two biggest chunks from Hewlett-Packard Co and Compaq Computer Corp – which it says will enable it to produce sample screens within 12 months and build a volume production capacity in California. HP contributed towards a $15m private placing last year (CI No 2,668). Chief operating officer Bob Duboc said less than a third of the $155m total investment has come from the US government, which sees military potential for the technology. He wouldn’t say how much HP or Compaq have pumped in this time around.
