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108 Inches: Sharp Presents the Largest LCD-TV in the World (29/1/2007)

Sharp, a pioneer in LCDs, is setting benchmarks in the booming market of flat-screen TVs with its new 108-inch Full-HD LCD-TV, demonstrating its technological and market leadership. An impressive screen measuring 2.73 metres diagonally and a unique image quality prove once more that LCD-TVs prevail over plasma units and are defining the future of the television market.

The technological company Sharp can look back on more than 34 years of experience in LCD technology. It invented the LCD-TV and was the first company to exclusively focus on LCD worldwide. With the introduction of the 108-inch Sharp Full-HD LCD-TV, Sharp has set new benchmarks for LCD screens, also gaining a significant advantage in its rivalry with plasma technology.

The 108-inch TV's high-resolution Full-Spec LCD-Panel, measuring 2.386 millimetres by 1.344 millimetres, is manufactured at the Sharp Kameyama II eighth-generation dream factory, the first and until now only LCD factory in the world. This factory alone is capable of manufacturing glass substrates in sufficient volumes and quality for Full-HD televisions of this size. This makes Sharp the world's only company able to produce LCD-TVs in all sizes, capturing a significant position in the booming market of flat-screen TVs.

"LCD-TVs continue to gain increasing popularity, with demand growing worldwide. By the end of 2006, and for the first time, more LCD-TVs than conventional picture tube sets were being sold. This year, Sharp is expecting worldwide demand for LCD-TVs of 64 million units, 23 million of these in Europe," states Hans Kleis, CEO of Sharp Electronics Europe. "The television market of the future will predominantly opt for large formats, dominated by LCD-TVs. Even at present, more LCD-TVs with diagonal screen measurements of over 37 inches are being sold than comparable plasma units. Thus, we have been placing an emphasis on the development of large-format units for a long time. With our factory Kameyama II, we have succeeded in the past year in bringing to the market a new product pallet of large-format and first-class Sharp AQUOS Full-HD LCD TVs, and have also prevailed decisively over plasma technology in this segment. Our success proves our long-time LCD-TV strategy right: Large diagonals, the best panel quality, a highly technical configuration, and the special environmental compatibility of the device." states Kleis further.

In addition to the ongoing development of screen sizes, Sharp has been able to achieve further breakthroughs in LCD technology, thanks to high investment in Research and Development. As a result, it has quadrupled the conventional HD screen resolution, from 1,920 x 1,080 to 4,096 x 2,160 pixels, the contrast ratio to a worldwide unparalleled one million to 1, and improved the pixel reaction time to four milliseconds at 120 Hz.

"With the 108-inch Full-HD LCD-TV and the technological advances in panel and image quality, we have once again proven our technological and market leadership in an impressive manner, and we have developed a one-of-a kind product that will definitively influence the market. Faithful to the Sharp motto: Make products that others want to imitate!" explains Hans Kleis.

Technical data for the Sharp 108-inch LCD-TV

Screen size: 108 inches (2,386 H x 1,344 W mm; 2,738 mm diagonally)
Screen driver system: TFT Active Matrix Driver
Number of pixels: 2.07 million pixels (1,920 H x 1,080 W Pixel)

www.sharp.de