CES 2015: Sharp Aquos Crystal Smartphone Unveiled Along With Free Form Display Technology

| Updated: Wednesday, January 7, 2015, 18:11 [IST]

At CES 2015, Sharp unveiled the latest innovations in display technology in Las Vegas including smartphones, tablets, commercial displays, in car displays and televisions.

Let's take a brief look at the devices:

Sharp Aquos Crystal

Sharp has announced a frameless smartphone named AQUOS Crystal, the first spec'd 85" 8K LCD and the world's largest 4K Ultra HD LCD commercial display at the event. Additionally, Sharp has come up with a new LCD technology that can take a new form, allowing displays to virtually change their shape to be integrated into consumer products.

Sharp AQUOS Crystal smartphone will be the first available smartphone in the U.S. from Sharp's AQUOS line of devices. The AQUOS Crystal features a 5" groundbreaking frameless display that goes right to the edge of the phone. It incorporates two innovations: a thin-bezel LCD module and technology that uses the optical lens effect on the front panel to virtually eliminate edges and minimize device size.

4K Ultra HD and Beyond

In 2015 Sharp will also offer consumers the highest resolution TV, the AQUOS Beyond 4K UHD TV. To create this revolutionary TV, Sharp has applied proprietary pixel-splitting and QuattronTM technologies, which result in 66 million subpixels - 42 million more than standard 4K. With more subpixels, this TV delivers 167% greater resolution than traditional 4K UHD and begins to approach 8K. This television also produces more color than any other television Sharp has ever produced and stunning high contrast.

Alongside the AQUOS Beyond 4K UHD TV, Sharp is offering high resolution in-home television options for every consumer by quadrupling the number of televisions in the AQUOS 4K UHD line-up from 43" to 80" Class, including five new screen sizes.

There will be three new series of Sharp AQUOS 4K Ultra HD TVs, the UE, UB and UH series, all offering cutting-edge picture technologies, amazing detail, modern design and consistent color.

The UB and UH series will be equipped with Sharp's redesigned SmartCentral, SmartCentralTM 4.0 on the Android TM1 TV platform. Android TV opens the door to a truly smart experience and to the vast variety of TV optimized apps available on Google Play.

70" Class Super Slim 4K Ultra HD Television

Sharp will also demonstrate a 70" Class Super Slim 4K Ultra HD Television, which has a depth of less than half an inch and offers a distinctive and novel design, paired with 4K Ultra HD picture quality.

By utilizing a glass light guide plate to distribute light through the LCD panel, this TV is able to be designed in large screen sizes with a very slim footprint. Sharp is leading the movement to next generation resolution and will showcase an 85" 8K LCD display prototype at 2015 CES.

As per the company press release, this TV is the world's first 8K LCD display that is compliant with the standards of the first 8K test broadcasts, expected in Japan as soon as 2016. With a native resolution of 7680x4320, this TV is not only the first to be BT.2020 compliant, but also offers 120Hz native panel refresh rate and has a bit depth of 12 bits per pixel and delivers 400cd brightness.

120" 4K Ultra HD Commercial LCD Display

Sharp will also demonstrate a 120" 4K Ultra HD Commercial LCD Display. This display can showcase detailed text and brilliant high-resolution content. Another commercial technology demonstration is a 60" Class Professional Wraparound LCD Display. Incorporating a convex curve wraparound design (approximately a 150 degree arc), it is designed for pillar signage applications; offering show-goers new possibilities beyond flat panel displays in the growing digital signage market.

FFD (Free Form Display) Technology

Going even further in the development of LCD technology, Sharp is freeing LCDs from the restriction to be rectangular with its new FFD (Free Form Display) technology, which allows designers to integrate a display of virtually any shape into their products.

Free Form Displays move circuitry out of the bezel and into each pixel, opening a new world of possibilities for product design by eliminating the need for traditional rectangular LCD form factors and providing a stylish, ultra-thin bezel.

This new technology will drastically impact automotive displays, since now dashboard screens can be designed in completely new shapes. In the mobile market, the rectangular cell phone or tablet display may soon be a thing of the past.

At the same time, Sharp is developing an expanding line of IGZO-based display products that increase resolution, significantly reduce power consumption and improve touch response, as compared to traditional TFT-LCD technology.

Sharp continues to push the boundaries of innovation and there have been great strides in commercializing MEMS-IGZO displays. By combining Sharp's deep expertise in LCD and IGZO, with the MEMS shutter technology from Pixtronix, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, the display enables high color reproducibility displays that use very low power and perform in a wide variety of environmental conditions.

7-inch Sharp tablet

A 7" Sharp tablet, on display at CES, will be the first product in the industry that utilizes this high color reproducibility, low power MEMS-IGZO display.