Sharp to launch world's first 3D TVs

Japan's Sharp said it would begin selling 3D-capable LCD TVs in Japan this summer, the latest consumer electronics maker to enter the market for what is expected to be the industry's next growth driver.

The maker of Aquos brand flat TVs plans to launch 3D TVs in China, Europe and the United States by December, joining larger rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Sony. Sharp's new products will be the world's first 3D TVs using four-primary-colour technology, which utilises yellow on top of the three conventional primary colours of red, green and blue, enabling the TV sets to offer brighter, more vivid images. "We are now one step closer to such things as 3D displays with the world's best quality or the ultimate display," Sharp Executive Vice-President Masafumi Matsumoto told a news conference yesterday.

Electronics makers are scrambling to launch 3D TVs this year, betting the technology will be as big a boost for the industry as the transition to colour TVs from black and white. Panasonic and Samsung have already released 3D models, while Sony plans to start offering 3D TVs in June.

Electronics makers have high hopes that growing interest in 3D movies sparked by the sci-fi blockbuster Avatar will drive 3D TV sales. Demand for 3D TVs will likely grow more than 10-fold to 27 million units in 2013 from an estimated 2.5 million units this year, according to research firm DisplaySearch.

Sharp said high response speeds of its 3D TV use LCD panels help eliminate double-contour ghost images known as "crosstalk", which often occur with 3D images.

"Crosstalk ruins 3D pictures. We have managed to lower this phenomenon to extremely low levels," Matsumoto said. Sharp plans to start making advanced 3D displays for cellphones and other mobile devices this year that do not require special glasses, betting that demand for 3D images will grow beyond movie theatres and living rooms to portable machines.Viewers, however, need to wear special glasses to watch Sharp's new 3D LCD TVs. Sharp expects 3D TVs to account for five-10 per cent of its total LCD TV sales in the business year ending in March 2011, he said. Matsumoto did not disclose how many LCD TVs Sharp aims to sell this financial year, but he said the company had achieved its LCD TV sales target of 10 million units for the year that ended on March 31, and plans to boost LCD TV output substantially this year.

Sharp is considering bringing its flagship LCD panel plant in western Japan to full capacity earlier than originally planned October, Matsumoto said.

Separately, rival Panasonic announced that it has started operating a new LCD plant in Japan three months ahead of schedule to capitalise on a recovery in the global flat TV market.

The western Japan factory has an initial a monthly output capacity equivalent of 405,000 32-inch displays, which will be doubled by March next year.

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