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Reuters: Japanese consumer electronics maker Sharp said on Tuesday it has started the commercial production of blue laser diodes, taking aim at a market with strong growth potential.Sharp in November began volume output of blue laser diodes, used to read and write data on high-definition optical discs, at 150,000 units a month at its existing plant in western Japan, Sharp spokesman Hiroshi Takenami said.

The diodes can be used in DVD players based on the Blu-ray format, championed by Sony, as well as competing HD DVD technology, promoted by Toshiba.

Sharp, which is entering the market dominated by Sony and unlisted Nichia, plans to bring the monthly capacity to 500,000 units by the end of 2007, spending several billion yen.

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DigiTimes: Plasma TV sales declined for the first time in October in Japan, according to a survey by Japan’s Business Computer News (BCN). Sales value of Plasma TVs in Japan dropped 1.9% on year in October, the research firm added.

Last November, Plasma TVs accounted for 97.3% of the large-size flat-panel TV market in Japan but the share of the segment dropped to 67.1% in November 2006, said the BCN. Meanwhile, LCD TV share grew rapidly to 32.9% over one year, added the research firm.

Plasma technology is facing more pressure from rival LCD in large-size TV market. Plasma TV used to dominate the 50-inch-and-larger flat-panel TV market, BCN pointed out.

Panasonic-brand accounted for over three fourths of plasma TV shipments in November in Japan whereas Sharp took over half of the LCD TV market in the same period in Japan.

Plasma TV makers will face more fierce competition in December, the research firm added.

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Newlaunches: Samsung has launched a new TV phone in Italy, the SGH-P930 in association with Telecom Italia. The new phone includes HSDPA technology for high speed data transmission.

The phone has a 2.3 inch LCD (240 x 320) which supports PIP (Picture in Picture) so you can view two channels simultaneously, which is practically useless keeping in mind the tiny 2.3 inch screen. The display can be twisted to a horizontal for a better TV viewing experience which is amplified by the stereo speaker.

The SGH-P930 has a 2 Megapixel camera and a VGA res camera for video conferencing. A micro SD card provides memory expansion however it does not support TV recording like its advanced Japanese counterpart the Sharp 911SH.

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US Newswire: New research indicates that during the first year or two of use, LCD and plasma TVs have been just as reliable as cathode ray TVs, which historically require very few repairs.

The latest ‘Consumer Reports’ product reliability survey shows no repair issues during the first year or two of use for LCD TVs from JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba. Dell LCD sets have had higher than average repairs.

In plasma, there have been no repair issues for Fujitsu, Hitachi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony or Toshiba. The repair rate for Philips and Vizio plasma sets has been higher than average.

According to the report, long-term reliability for flat-panel sets is not known, and cannot be estimated, at this time.

“With more and better TVs now available from an ever-growing list of brands, it’s a great time to purchase a new high definition LCD or plasma set,” according to Paul Reynolds, electronics editor of the report.

See the full report at Consumer Reports.

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CNet: Sharp has produced a 64-inch LCD screen that provides resolution four times that of normal high-definition screens.

Normal HD screens have 2 million pixel points. The new prototype Sharp monitor, which is on display at the Ceatec technology trade show in Japan this week, sports 4,096 x 2,160 pixel-line resolution – double the number of vertical and horizontal pixel lines offered by a normal HD screen.

This comes out to 8.84 million pixels

Small details, like plumes of smoke over an aerial shot of a rural village, can be picked out. The monitor can also be divided into quarters and display four high-definition videos at once.

The screen, still in the development phase, will be targeted at film and television producers as well as medical researchers.

In August, Sharp formally began producing LCD panels out of its second Kameyama plant. The plant processes eighth-generation glass sheets, which measure just over 7 feet by 8 feet. Six 52-inch LCDs can be popped out of a single sheet. The smaller glass sheets processed in sixth- and seventh-generation plants can only produce two and three 52-inch panels, respectively, out of a single piece of glass.

Other prototypes being shown include a screen with a technology Sharp calls Mega Contrast. The screen has a 1 million-to-1 contrast ratio. Typical HD LCD screens sport a 1,200-to-1 contrast ratio.

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AVZombie: Sharp has previewed its Aquos Full HD LCD screens for the UK market. Four models are featured in the brand’s LC-XD1E range, ranging from 37-inch models, to 42-, 46- and 52-inch. The sets use 1920 x 1080 glass and can accept a 1080p native signal.
All the models have a high-gloss black finish and a variety of new picture improvement technologies. The LC-46XD1E and LC-52XD1E (pictured below) promise 4 millisecond response times and 2,000:1 contrast (10,000:1 if you use the Dynamic Contrast Enhancement mode). The smaller LC-42XD1E and LC-37XDE1E models have a 6 millisecond response time and 1,200:1 contrast.

For greater colour fidelity, the screens include Sharp’s four-wavelength backlight system, which includes an additional crimson red as well as the standard RGB colours. This is said to make for more vibrant reds and better skin tones.
All the models have Freeview tuners and two HDMI inputs.

All the screens originate from Sharp’s new 8th generation manufacturing plant in Kameyama, Japan.

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57 channels, and nothing on, the Boss sings. So why would anyone ever need a TV with triple vision? Apparently Sharp has a clue.

Today Sharp announced they had developed the world’s first LCD panel that allows the viewing of three different images on one screen at the same time.

As the press release states: Imagine, for example, people taking a drive in a van. The driver uses a car navigation system screen, the person in the passenger seat checks out tourist sites and restaurants, and the person in the back seat enjoys a movie on DVD, all in full-screen view. It’s truly one LCD that plays three roles at once.

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DigiTimes: Philips may sell its 32.9% shares of joint venture LG.Philips LCD (LPL) to Sharp, with Sharp having sent executives to visit LG.Philips LCD and related key component makers last week, according to the Chinese-language Commercial Times.

During the 3-4-day visit to South Korea, the Sharp executives visited LG.Philips LCD’s facilities and other related companies, including LG Chem, LG Electronics and Heesung Electronics, the paper said.

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DigiTimes: S-LCD, the joint venture of Samsung and Sony, plan to begin production of their eighth-generation (8G) TFT LCD plant 2-3 months earlier than planned, according to the Korean-language Digital Times.

Reuters also recently reported that Sharp will push up the schedule for its second-phase expansion plan for its 8G plant, but the exact time frame is still unavailable.

In July, Samsung and Sony said they plan to invest approximately US$1.9 billion (with each company providing half) to establish an 8G LCD plant, with production to start in October 2007 with a monthly capacity of 50,000 glass substrates.  Production is now expected to begin far sooner.

Sharp’s 8G plant started volume production earlier in August this year and the company said at that time it planned to launch a second-stage expansion in March 2007, with monthly capacity to double to 30,000 substrates.

The plants of both S-LCD and Sharp will focus mainly on 40 and 50-inch TV panels.

The later generation a factory is, the bigger glass it can handle.  And the bigger glass it can handle, the more individual screens it can cut, reducing unit costs.

In the second quarter of 2006, Sharp and Sony ranked second and fourth in the global LCD TV market, according to research firm Display Search.

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EasyBourse: According to an executive at Sharp, the company will be releasing their Blu-ray player into Japan and European markets early in the new year.

“We haven’t decided on the date yet, but we want to release them as early as possible,” said Mikio Katayama, senior executive director of Sharp.

The move by the Osaka-based electronics manufacturer, which is known for its Aquos LCD TVs, may give the Blu-Ray camp additional support in the competition to establish the next-generation DVD format standard.

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Reuters UK: LG Electronics and Sharp Corp. said at IFA (Berlin) yesterday that they expected prices of flat LCD television sets to drop by at least 20-30 percent in 2007 amid overproduction and cost reductions.

“Last year we saw about 30 percent of price reductions for plasma and a little bit more for LCD.  In 2007, we expect about the same,” Young Chan Kim, head of global marketing for LG’s displays division told journalists.

Katsuhiko Machida, president of Sharp, said he expected a fall closer to 20 percent on average for LCD TVs.

Machida said low-resolution TV sets with screen sizes of 40 inches and above might suffer a 30-percent fall in prices.

“But for full-specification, high-resolution sets – due to limited supply compared with demand – we don’t see that big a drop,” he added.

LG reiterated its goal to become the world’s No. 1 display company by 2007. It is currently the second-biggest plasma television producer.

Machida said Sharp expected to regain market share – which it began losing a year ago because it had insufficient capacity to meet demand – from October, when Sharp will start selling LCD TVs made with panels from its new plant in Kameyama, Japan.

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Bloomberg.com: Sharp Corp. has today announced 6 new Aquos brand TVs which will come in 42, 46 and 52-inch models.  The new sets will be available worldwide from October and are all high-definition.

Sharp’s new models are made at their ’No. 2 Kameyama’ factory – the world’s biggest LCD television factory. The factory, located in central Japan, cuts screens from the industry’s biggest glass sheets, reducing unit costs.

The facility, the world’s first eighth-generation LCD plant, produces glass panels equivalent to 120,000 40-inch televisions a month, which may be enough to help Sharp regain the first-place market share it lost to Sony Corp. last quarter. The later generation a factory is, the bigger glass it can handle.

The opening of their new factory gives Sharp a head start on Sony, which plans to start its first eighth-generation LCD factory in November 2007.

Sharp has said it lost the No. 1 spot last quarter because it couldn’t make its Aquos televisions fast enough.

The company’s share of global LCD TV sales fell to 10.8 percent in the quarter ended June 30, from 12.8 percent in the previous three months, according to industry research firm DisplaySearch. Sony grabbed a 16 percent slice in the period.

Sony introduced 11 new models yesterday, including its biggest LCD television in Japan, a 52-inch Bravia model.

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