At CEDIA Expo in Denver this week, Sharp held a press conference to outline their plans for recapturing number 1 market share in the LCD flat panel market. These plans include a new 42-inch AQUOS LCD HDTV with full HD 1080p resolution for the competition-killing price of $2499.

Sharp began life in the LCD display market in 1973, making LCD screens for pocket calculators. Thirty-three years later, they now make the largest commercially available LCD display, a 1080p model with a 65-inch diagonal screen size.

Sharp showed us a video extolling the virtues of its environmentally conscious Kameyama plant in Japan, which features large-scale solar power use and extensive water recycling. Sharp's CEO also announced that a new plant (aptly called "Kameyama Plant #2") is now online with a new 8th generation LCD substrate panel that will greatly ramp up Sharp's production capacity. The company expects to increase its capacity to up to a whopping 20,000,000 LCD TVs per year when the new plant is fully operational in 2008.

Sharp's new AQUOS LC-42D62U will make Full HD 1080p resolution attainable to the common man (or woman).

Toshihiko Fujimoto, Chairman and CEO, Sharp Electronics Corporation addresses the media at CEDIA Expo 2006.

The 8th generation LCD substrate (the raw panel that makes up the screen for LCD flat panel TVs), made in partnership with 3M, is about 1.3 times the size of the 7th generation glass. A single piece of 8th generation "motherglass" will yield eight 46-inch panels or six 52-inch panels. Sharp expects this new substrate, along with increased operational efficiency, will bring prices down while shortening the manufacturing cycle.

Sharp showed off three new LCD HDTV models made using the new substrate,* the most ground-breaking of which is a 1080p 42-inch model that is slated to sell for just $2499 MSRP. The full model lines comprises the 42-inch LC-42D62U ($2499), 46-inch LC-46D62U ($3499), and 52-inch LC-52D62U ($4799). All are slated for October delivery.

The 42-inch AQUOS model features a 6 ms rated response time and Sharp's proprietary Advanced Super View (ASV) / Black TFT Panel, which produces a (rated) 1200:1 native contrast ratio and a 6000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio with Enhanced Picture Contrast Technology. The brightess is rated at 450 cd/m2, and the usable viewing angle is a wide 176 degrees. The new 42-inch AQUOS includes built-in ATSC, QAM and NTSC tuners for access to DTV and analog HD and SD TV channels. It includes dual HDMI inputs that are compatible with 1080p signals from Blu-Ray Disc and (upcoming) HD-DVD players, as well as two HD-ready component video inputs.

Sharp's new 8th generation substrate allows them to make six 52-inch LCD TVs like this one from one piece of "mother glass" (LD-52D62U pictured).

The larger 46-inch and 52-inch models feature similar specs to the 42-inch model, but a lower 4 ms panel response time and a 2,000:1 native contrast ratio (10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio).

The new 42-inch Aquos would like to thank the Academy...

In the front projector category, Sharp announced the new XV-Z20000 ($11,999, October) - a 1080p single-chip DLP model. A powered adjustable iris setting gives the consumer enhanced control over brightness and contrast settings via the remote, so you can optimize the picture for the available room lighting. The rated brightness is 1000 ANSI lumens, and the rated contrast is 12000:1. The unit features a DVI and two HDMI digital inputs, Minolta optics , and a 1:1.35 manual zoom lens with vertical lens shift function.

The XV-Z20000 front projector is Sharp's first 1080p model.

Sharp also outlined an aggressive marketing campaign, featuring a huge new 3600 square foot outdoor display in Times Square as well as new TV spots to air on major US sporting events in the remainder of 2006 and into 2007. The theme of the campaign is "Nothing is lost" and the featured commercial showed a golf event where a ball went into the rough. While the golfer and event staff are searching for the ball, it is clearly visible on the Aquos screen (in the commercial), with watchers of the Sharp TV pointing at the ball and shouting at the screen saying "look over there." Pretty amusing, and effective. Let's see if it helps sell HDTV to the masses.

* Editor's Update (9-21-06): we originally believed that the new 42-inch model (LC-46D62U) was being manufactured from the new substrate at Kameyama II, but this is not the case. Per Sharp, "The panels for the AQUOS LC-42D62U are currently not being produced in Kameyama facility. For this model, Sharp leveraged its OEM relationships to bring to market an LC-TV that possess Sharp's unique DNA (i.e. the ASV panel), and Sharp's industry-leading quality, features and performance, at a desirable price point." The 46-inch and 52-inch models are being made at Kameyama Plant #2