Yesterday, in NBC’s Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center (from which Saturday Night Live is broadcast), Sharp introduced the first LCD Television sets made with LCD panels manufactured in a Generation 8 fab.

Ken Werner
Senior Analyst and Editor
of HDTV Retailer and
Mobile Display Report

The sets themselves are full-HD, true 1080p, AQUOS-branded sets in 46- and 52-inch screen sizes - sizes that are new to Sharp. The LCD panels come from Sharp’s new Kameyama No. 2 plant, which cranked up production in August. The new plant is the first Gen 8 plant to enter production, and Sharp is leveraging the plant’s ability to produce either eight 46-inch panels or six 52-inch panels on a single mother glass. The company plans to introduce the new sets at very competitive MSRPs: $3499.99 for the 46-inch LC-46D62U and $4799.99 for the 52-inch LC-52D62U.

"With our new state-of-the-art facility, sharp is advancing the LCD industry and increasing our production capacity of high-quality, affordable AQUOS televisions to meet robust consumer demand," said Toshihiko Fujimoto, Chairman and CEO of Sharp Electronics Corp., in New York. " When Kameyama No. 2 is running at full capacity by the end of 2008, the combined production capacity of both Kameyama plants will increase to 20M LCD-TVs a year based on 32-inch panels."

Sharp has consistently maintained that a major reason it dropped from being the leading supplier of LCD-TVs to being the No. 3 supplier late last year was a shortage of LCD panels, so sufficient supply is a major issue for the company. "Kameyama No. 2 represents Sharp’s re-emergence as the undisputed leader in LCD manufacturing," Fujimoto said. And Mike Troetti, President of Sharp Electronics Company of America, said, "Kameyama No. 2 means the days of panel shortages are over for Sharp. Record-breaking LCD-TV sales are projected for this holiday season. Starting now, we will have an uninterrupted supply of those LCD-TV sizes most desired by North American customers." The sets will be in stores starting in October and the introduction will be accompanied by "an unprecedented advertising campaign," Troetti said.

Bob Scaglione, senior VP of Sharp’s Product and Marketing Group, summarized the new set’s specifications: 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 2,000:1 "native" contrast ratio; 4ms response time, four-wavelength CCFL backlight units, and 176-degree viewing angles in all directions. The sets each have two HDMI connectors, two HD connectors, and one S-Video connector, as well as one set of component inputs.

An active Q&A session brought out more details. Details of this will appear in a longer article to be published in the September issue of Projection Monthly next week including our impression of the sets and the use of additional phosphors to increase colorimetry.