HOME & LIVING Towards a sharper future
TELEVISIONS are now an indispensable fixture in homes, with most sporting large flatscreen centrepieces that provide entertainment and information.
Sharp has recently released its new Aquos line-up of 12 to 15 new digital television models.
These will cover analogue televisions of 40in (101.6cm), digital,
Easy Smart and Smart Android televisions.
The new Aquos 6800 and 6500 series will feature ultra high-definition range (HDR) with 4K quality, whereby the system detects a HDR source and allows gamma adjustments to be made.
These flagship series offer high-luminance technology, with a consistently life-like contrast between light and darkness, producing picture quality that is roughly 123% better than normal.
Sharp is currently the only brand to carry the ultra-HDR standard in its televisions.
Sharp’s television technology reproduces real picture — images from these units are realistic with a 3D-like quality, even though it is not a 3D television.
This series of television consists of the 4K Easy Smart and 4K Smart Android.
Sharp is an Android TV manufacturer and its Smart Android TVs comes with over 2,000 apps, the most in the Android TV market.
The new series also uses the latest in Android series – version 7 – to drive its user interface. Most current models use version 6.
The sound system on the new series is also unique. It comes with the cutting-edge Eilex Prism system.
Data is collected from the entire frontal space of the television unit to reproduce sounds from the film or song as intended by the artists.
Unlike most televisions where the sounds are angled downwards, in this new series, the sounds are also emitted from the front of the screen.
In addition, the two remote controls used in the current Aquos series have been fused into one universal remote control.
In future products, Sharp intends to expand the resolution from 4K to 8K.
Dubbing this the “8K ecosystem”, Sharp envisions this to go beyond the prospect of entertainment.
Sharp recently developed the 8K camcorder in cooperation with Astrodesign, Inc that has the 8K video-related technology.
The camcorder integrates capabilities for video shooting and recording, playback and line output.
In fact, 8K could define the future in health, security, imaging and broadcasting.
Sharp is also looking to make its products more intelligent and that involves artificial intelligence (AI).
By combining 8K and AI, it is possible to construct a mechanism that uses AI to analyse 8K image data holding a huge amount of information.
Examples of the 8K revolution would be in security: when an 8K image is taken of a group of people, the resolution can reproduce images in real-life clarity making identification of subjects better.
In the medical industry, realistic 8K clarity makes remote diagnosis or treatment accurate, especially in far-flung places that doctors are not able to reach.
In such places, an 8K camera provides a wealth of information to doctors via video conferencing, providing more accurate and detailed instructions to those treating the patients.
In addition, in Q1 of next year, Sharp will be launching air conditioners and air purifiers that integrate the “Internet of Things”, which combines collecting data over the Internet and offering assistance to users on how to best use the unit.
Back to its televisions, Sharp aims to increase the penetration of its 4K Smart TV up to 15% next year from its current share of about 9%.
With all the technological upgrades to its digital televisions, Sharp is truly living up to the tag line: “Captures Real Beauty”.
For more details, look out for Sharp’s advertisement in this StarSpecial.