You can find carbon in coal and tennis rackets, and a few years from now, it could run your TV.
Various companies are currently trying to perfect the technology behind a new type of flat-panel display that will rely on diamonds or carbon nanotubes--two forms of pure carbon--to produce images.
Theoretically, these "field effect displays," or FEDs, will consume less energy than plasma or liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, deliver a better picture and even cost less. The development of FEDs underscores the rapid changes taking place in what had been a relatively staid TV market.
Once dominated by a few Japanese manufacturers, the television market now includes a wide variety of companies, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Westinghouse. If successful, FEDs could even render the new TVs being shown off this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas as has-beens.