News and New Products

Small and medium displays are sharp in two ways

By Bill Schweber -- EDN, 1/8/2004

New thin-film-transistor-LCD technology from Sharp Corp yields sharp images, color fidelity and brightness, and wide viewing angle. Available in sizes from 1.5 to 6.5 in. diagonal, these displays have 300:1 contrast ratio and a 160° viewing angle in horizontal and vertical directions. Depending on the size, the displays, all with 25-ms response time, support QVGA, VGA, and WQVGA compatibility. The displays have resolutions ranging from 560×240 to 400×234 pixels.

These displays have excellent and pleasant image quality. For the smaller displays, Sharp uses its Advanced Super View technology with a low-reflective, black background to minimize bright pixel defects that result from nonfunctional transistors. The company combines this technology with an advanced TFT-transreflective technology, which uses reflective LCD and backlit-transmissive technologies. The largest display uses an amorphous-silicon TFT design, which Sharp developed with Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co Ltd of Japan.

Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas, 1-360-834-2500, www.sharpsma.com.