14 DAY TRIAL // Sharp has made the next advancement in the quest to completely eliminate visibility problems that displays of all kinds show under bright ambient light. The company has launched the AQUOS Quattron 3D XL TV line.
The main asset of the new TVs is the reduced glare and it is owed to the Moth-Eye and the four-color technologies.
“Glare” is the name given to the effect that bright sunlight or room lights can have on displays. When it is intense enough, it reflects off the panel like a mirror, impairing and sometimes completely eliminating the visibility of the images shown.
The Moth-Eye technology gives the LED-backlit LCD nanoscale irregularities similar to the eye of a moth, hence the name.
Those irregularities break down the light that falls on the screen from outside, but don't impact the image produced by the HDTV itself. If anything, the contrast is increased.
Speaking of which, the AQUOS Quattron 3D XL TVs create brighter images thanks to the existence of a fourth color.
Displays normally produce colors by combining red, green and blue (RGB), but Sharp's four-color technology adds yellow.
Coupled with the native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, this makes for very clear and high-quality images indeed.
Unfortunately, Sharp will only sell the newcomers in Japan, and it won't exactly do it soon. While the 60-inch and 70-inch displays will be available next month (November 2012), the 46-inch, 52-inch and 80-inch variants will only be released on December 15. What's more, only 10,000 units will be available in the first month.
Then again, 3D displays are always expensive, and the price can only go up because of the four-color and Moth-Eye technologies, so demand probably won't be too high to handle even so. Sadly, despite having published every other shred of relevant information, Sharp withheld pricing details.