Sharp Bucks 3D In 4K TVs to Preserve ‘More Realistic’ 2D Image

Sharp demonstrated a 60-inch prototype LCD TV with 3,840x2,160 full resolution alongside a similarly sized 1080p set, underscoring noticeable improvements in contrast and brightness, although the exact specs weren’t disclosed. The TV, expected to ship in Japan in 2012, features I-cubed Research Center’s LSI chipset that can upscale 1080p images to 4K using a so-called Integrated Cognitive Creation algorithm to reproduce the images. The chip is an exclusive to Sharp for the 4K set and the first product from the two-year-old Kawasaki, Japan-based chip designer, said Kazutaka Ando, senior manager for technology planning development at I-cubed. It also can handle most other video processing function including deinterlacing, Ando said.

Sharp didn’t disclose whether the 60-inch TV used a 240 Hz or 120 Hz panel. The display didn’t have Sharp’s Quattron technology, Nakayama said. It did contain the company’s ultraviolet-induced multi-domain vertical alignment (UV2A) technology that precisely controls the alignment of LCD molecules in a panel. “We see no need to add 3D because we are getting texture and depth that you may lose” by including 3D technology, Nakayama said. “We believe this presents the best and most realistic image for next-generation 4K technology."

Toshiba on Monday unveiled for Japanese audiences (CED Oct 4 p1) the 55-inch glasses-free 3D TV it bowed at IFA in Berlin (CED Sept 2 p1). The set touts Toshiba’s “Quad Full HD” panel, but the lenticular lens grid it uses to deliver nine different pairs of left- and right-eye images lowers resolution for 3D to 1,280 x 720p. Still, using the 4K panel is what makes the set so expensive, about $11,000 or higher at today’s currency exchange rates. Sony and JVC introduced new 4K-based front projectors at CEDIA in September that the companies claim deliver full resolution. The Sony model is expected to ship in Japan and the U.S. late this year priced at “just under” $20,000, a spokesman said at CEATEC.

The ASIC at the heart of the I-cubed chipset was created by former Sony researcher Tetsujiro Kondo, among those that developed the digital reality creation (DRC) technology that was a hallmark of Sony’s Trinitron Wega CRT-based TVs. DRC used a digital-signal processing algorithm to double vertical and horizontal resolution in virtually eliminating visible scan lines and boosting picture density 400 percent. Sharp is an investor in I-cubed, sources said. Nakayama declined to comment. In addition to TVs, I-cubed is marketing the chip for other products, including Blu-ray players, Ando said.

The new 4K display was in addition to the 85-inch Super Hivision LCD panel with 7,680x4,320 resolution that Sharp also demonstrated at CEATEC. The LCD, jointly developed with Japanese broadcaster NHK, contains 300 lumens and UV2A technology, but isn’t expected to be available for several years, company officials said. Broadcasts featuring 8K resolution are expected to start in Japan between 2020 and 2025, company officials said. Sharp first demonstrated the LCD in May. NHK worked with JVC in developing a D-ILA-based front projector with 7,680x4,320 resolution and Panasonic in designing 58-inch and 103-inch plasma panels with 3,840x2,160 (CED Oct 18 p1). It also had a 56-inch LCD with similar resolution.

Meanwhile, Sharp started shipping 70-inch LCD TVs in Japan in late September, but has no immediate plans to add the 80-inch set recently introduced in the U.S., Nakayama said. The 70-inch was delivered in the U.S. in April. Sharp, which makes the 70-inch and 80-inch panels at its 10th-generation plant in Saki, Japan, remains open to supplying them on an OEM basis, Nakayama said. The Saki factory is expected to again reach maximum monthly capacity of 72,000 substrates in early 2012, company officials have said. The plant hit maximum capacity earlier this year, but scaled back production in face of slowing LCD TV sales, Nakayama said. “At this point we are in-house for 70-inch, but if there are any requests for it from our customers, there is no reason not to do it."

Sharp and joint venture CEC Panda Technology Co. are continuing discussions with the Chinese government about adding 8G panel production at their plant in Nanjing, China, Nakayama said. The venture started 6G production in Nanjing earlier this year with monthly capacity for 60,000 substrates. Panda is the majority owner of the venture and operates the plant with Sharp providing production technology. The factory uses 6G production equipment acquired from a Sharp 6G factory in Kameyama, Japan, in building panels both for export and the China market, Nakayama said. Nakayama denied reports that the venture was weighing 10G production in China.

Sharp also has no plans to drop its Galapagos tablet e-readers, despite its discontinuing 5.5-inch and 10.8-inch models that were unveiled last year at CEATEC and shipped in December, Nakayama said. It introduced a new Android 3.2-based seven-inch tablet in August ($587) and has plans for additional devices later this year, she said. The 3G-based A01SH features 1,024x600 resolution, a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 1 GHz processor, 1 MB RAM, 8 GB storage, five-megapixel and two-megapixel rear and front cameras.

The tablets are based on Sharp’s proprietary XMDF mobile document format originally developed for the company’s Pocket Zaurus PDA. XMDF is an encrypted binary file compiled from an XML source. Sharp is continuing with XMDF despite the Electronic Book Publishers of Japan’s decision support to EPUB version 3 (EPUB3) as its standard format. The U.S.-based International Digital Publishing Forum is expected to introduce EPUB3 this month with support for Japanese text layout that features vertical writing. While Nakayama conceded Galapagos e-reader sales were short of forecasts, “we certainly are” developing new models. The Galapagos e-readers were to ship with 30,000 books and periodicals and Verizon had been expected carry them in the U.S. “The e-book industry in Japan isn’t mature yet and we need to work on promoting it,” Nakayama said.

Sharp earlier this week signed a strategic agreement with U.S. 4G LTE network operator LightSquared that’s expected to include smartphones and tablets. Nakayama declined to comment on product plans.