It was heard straight from the horse’s mouth when an executive at Sharp‘s US division said that they are not at all worried about their sales in the United States and the iTV is not something they are concerned about either. Kozo Takahashi even accepted their indifference in the matter when he said “I really have no idea what kind of TV it will be. But if he came up with it, I’m sure it will be amazing.” He also added “… but currently it’s not something we’re studying very hard,”
In addition to revealing their strategy to non-strategize for the upcoming Apple television sets that have had the rest of the industry worried, he also mentioned Sharp’s big plans in regards to sales in the US. On being asked about whether the rumors about Apple working with Sharp to bring about their TV sets to the market are true, he chose to stay unresponsive. Sharp is going for a different kind of approach for selling its big screen TVs now, an example of their strategy is their ad campaign that terms the 80-inch TV as “Touchdownormous” in reference to the forthcoming Super Bowl Sunday. Ambitions and achievements of the company were made clear when Takahashi said that the sales of large screen TVs (60-inch and above) in the US will in all likelihood cross Sharp’s initial target of 1 million by the end of March. Sharp strongly believes that the US consumers are not as interested in technology as they are in functionality and cost-effectiveness; it is for that reason Sharp has chosen to continue manufacturing high quality large screen flat panels without any great innovations at the moment.
Remember the Pioneer Kuro HDTVs? Were high-end line of plasma displays which through its qualities, has become a reference for the entire home-theater market. The void left in the hearts of lovers of premium HD images in 2009 when it was decided to cease its production, could be filled by the announcement made recently by Sharp and Pioneer. The two companies plan to restore the public’s attention some of the technologies used then, but giving up the name of Kuro.
The new products will be marketed under the name of Elite, this time being about LED HDTVs. They will be available in two sizes: the 60inch and 70inch, only to premium retailers at prices between $6,000 and $8,500. Both ELITE models, both Pro-70X5FD and Pro-60X5FD will be available at first only in the United States, the first delivery is estimated to be achieved at the end of this month.
Sharp new high-end line promises a series of top features: a black level of the highest quality, excellent contrast and natural colors. All this being achieved due to adjustment of the light intensity on that area. With an impressive refresh rate quoted at 720Hz, the display includes Sharp Quad-Pixel technology, which adds to the classic RGB, a 4th yellow sub-pixel.
Operating principle seems to be the same as Sharp proprietary called Quattron technology, but the Elite range will be used under this name. Among the features announced in the new HDTVs also features: 3D video, Ethernet connection to run pre-installed applications such as Netflix, Vudu, or social networking. In addition, thanks to Elite Advantage Live service, users will benefit from live assistance.
The announcement of these two companies is good news for all lovers of images quality and there are hopes that the new series will be available with some affordable features and a picture quality like the legendary Kuro.
