Sharp is set to unleash its new LV Series of 3D-compatible AQUOS Quattron LCD TVs into the Japanese market. The four new LV Series models will be bundled with 3D glasses and feature the company's "four-primary-color" technology which adds yellow to the conventional red, blue and green primary colors to improve the reproduction of colors like (yes) yellow, gold and emerald green. Sharp has also announced new LX Series and super slim XF Series 2D AQUOS Quattron LCD TVs and two new AQUOS Blu-ray recorders that support 3-D Blu-ray.
The LV Series AQUOS Quattron LCD TVs boast a claimed 10 percent improvement in power consumption over previous models along with 1.8 times the brightness. Sharp also says the combination of its high-speed LCD drive technology, Scanning LED Backlighting and “Frame Rate Enhanced Driving” signal processing delivers an enhanced 3D viewing experience with reduced lag, and for 3D television "an exceptionally realistic sense of depth and with extremely low crosstalk."
2D to 3D conversion - and back again
A 3D button on the remote enables what Sharp calls "pseudo" 3D conversion of images shot in 2D on a camera or camcorder - like all these systems, the proof will be in the viewing. The interesting conversion technology here is in the glasses, which feature conversion from 3D back to 2D. This could be useful if a group is watching a movie in 3D but one person would prefer to watch it in 2D – all it takes is a push of a button on the glasses.
Around the screen sound
Both the LV and 2D LX Series also get an "around-the-screen" eight-speaker system with a Duo Bass woofer (LV/LX Series 60V/52V/46V-inch models), which sees two sub-woofers placed in opposition to reduce vibration. Sound reproduction is handled by Yamaha's AudioEngine audio chipset which has been specially tuned for the AQUOS and, according to Sharp, "reproduces sound with a spatial component that is ideally suited for 3D images."
The TV is no longer just a TV
Additional features of the new Sharp range include support for access to the Internet via a wireless LAN router, expanded access to peripheral menus (like Blu-ray players) via the company's AQUOS Familink HDMI cable connection, and a USB port for hard drive recording of digital content which can be controlled by the remote. The HDD recording also includes a "Frequently Recorded" function where the TV learns your most watched programs and records them automatically.
3D Blu-ray Disc Recorders
Sharp has also announced two new AQUOS Blu-ray Disc Recorders - the BD-HDW700 and BD-HDW70. Both support playback of Blu-ray 3D discs (MPEG4-MVC technical standard), a stereo headphone jack that supports surround sound output, and a new proprietary video compression transcoder that enables recording of two programs simultaneously.