In this paper we report the fabrication and testing of diode-type low-voltage field emission display (FED) devices with SiC-nanowire-based cathodes. The SiC-nanowire FEDs (flat vacuum lamps) were characterized by low emission threshold fields (∼2 V µm(-1)), high current density and stable long-term performance. The analysis of field emission data evidenced that the Schottky effect would have a considerable influence on the field emission from nanowire-based samples, leading to the true values of the field enhancement factor being significantly lower than those derived from Fowler-Nordheim plots.