Be still, our hearts! After watching the wireless HD / HDMI sector fumble along for years on end, a team of mega-corps have finally agreed to push their self-interests aside and collaborate on a standard. WHDI creator AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form "a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity" utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug. Nevertheless, the overriding goal here is to "enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, AV receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top-boxes, game consoles and PCs." A tall order, sure, but one we're elated to see taken on. Full release (and promo spot) after the break.

Utilizing big honkin' displays for advertising purposes is nothing new, but East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and East Japan Marketing & Communications have decided to try "digital posters" out for reference. In short, ten 65-inch Sharp PN655R LCDs have been installed within "the internal concourse on the first floor of Tokyo Station's Yaesu South Entrance," and folks who stroll by can get a glimpse of whatever (the image changes each minute) in stunning 1080p. The goal here, as you might imagine, is to "evaluate the advertising effects of still image ad posters using large LCD panels displayed in a relatively busy gateway." If you're anxious to lay your eyes on the installation, you'd better hurry, as there's no guarantee that they'll remain after September. At least the video posted after the jump is forever.

Several Japanese tech giants are teaming together today in a quest to make 40-inch and larger OLED panels for televisions. Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, Sharp and others will participate under a joint development project initiated by the Japanese government. All of this is of course meant to help the Japanese companies compete with South Korea's chaebols, particularly Samsung and LG, as the industry giants maneuver for an advantage over the next, next-generation flat panel technology to dominate the living room.

[Via OLED-info]

Nothing too exceptional here, but Sharp is livening up its AQUOS LCD TV family with the introduction of three new (currently unpriced) kids. First up is the 19-inch LC-19D1E (available in black or white), which features a 1,366 x 768 resolution, 7,500:1 contrast ratio, built-in Freeview tuner, PC / HDMI inputs and 176-degree viewing angles. Next, we've got the 32-inch LC-32XL8E and 37-inch LC-37XL8E (piano black only), both of which boast 1080p panels, 100Hz technology, a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 6-millisecond response time, three HDMI sockets, SRS TruSound and a Freeview digital tuner to boot. Folks in the UK can find the smallest of the three right now, while the newest duo in the XL8E series can be procured later this month.

[Via TechDigest]

Ever notice that all the hot-on-OLED firms, um, aren't named Sharp? Yeah, we've seen intentions to plow full speed ahead into OLED development from Panasonic, Sony (obviously), LG and a host of others, yet Sharp seems quite content with rocking the world with its LCDs. During a brief chat with TechRadar, the outfit's Miyuki Nakayama was quoted as saying that "LCD isn't mature yet, [as] there is still a lot to come in the future," specifically noting that LCD resolutions could be jacked to 4K2K. Better still, when pushed to comment on the OLED bandwagon (and more specifically, Sharp's decision to stand aside), he stated that "organic EL screens aren't a threat to LCD and they won't be for at least another decade." The reason? "The screens don't last long and they can't easily be made bigger." In all honesty, we can see Sharp's point -- after all, it makes LCDs for quite a few applications not named HDTV. Still, some pretty bold words, no?

Sharp's biggest announcement at InfoComm isn't the plethora of new projectors and LCD monitors. No, dear friends, it's the proclamation that its 108-inch LB-1085 1080p display will soon be available right here in the US of A. Sharp's smart enough to not let out a US price just yet, but our handy Japanese currency conversion calculation puts it somewhere around $100,000. Chump change, right?

Never mind those guys cranking out just one or two new gizmos at InfoComm -- Sharp's busting out the big guns. The company is using the stage in Vegas to introduce a swarm of new gear including the XG-P560W 3-chip DLP WXGA projector, XG-C455W / PG-C355W 3LCD WXGA PJs, XG-P610X XGA unit and four new BrilliantColor DLP beamers (PG-F317X, PG-F312X, PG-F262X and PG-F212X). For those unfazed, it's also showcasing 46- (TL-M4600) and 52-inch (TL-M5200) professional LCD monitors meant for digital signage applications. As you can probably glean, there's way too much data on the whole lot to cover in this space, so we'll kindly direct you to the read link if you're hungry for more.

Making good on its promise at CES in January, Sharp just announced the Japanese retail launch of its 108-inch LCD monument to television. The lovable LB-1085 giant features a 108-ASV 1080p panel with a 400 cd/m2 brightness, 1,200:1 contrast, 6-ms response, and 176-degree viewing angle. Around back you'll find 3x HDMI, 1x DVI, 2x component, and a smattering of other in-and-out. It measures 8.4 x 0.66 x 5.1-feet and weighs 430-pounds (195kg) with an ¥11 million (about $100,000) price tag to match that luxurious heft. Now, anybody want a peanut?

[Via Impress]

SRS Labs is on the warpath, and it's not showing any signs of slowing down. Just days after syncing up with Vizio, it now has two more partnerships to brag about: one with Sharp, one with Syntax-Brillian. As for the former, you can now sleep easy knowing that (most) AQUOS LCD HDTVs will come with TruSurround XT built right in. As for the latter, this deal ensures that the all new Olevia 2 Series and 6 Series LCD HDTVs have the same technology, which will supposedly make owners "feel as if phantom speakers are placed around them." We're getting chills just thinking about it.

Read - Sharp agreement
Read - Syntax-Brillian agreement

Ooo, ahhh, you feeling that 3D display on your 2D panel? You should, it's the world's largest 3D LCD panel from VMJ measuring in at 65-inches. The stereoscopic panel developed with support from VisuMotion features a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 6-ms refresh, 120-degree viewing angle, and DVI and RGB inputs. Best of all, no goofy 3D glasses of any type are required thanks to the incorporation of Sharp's Parallax Barrier viewing technology. Priced at ¥3.15 million (about $30k) when it starts advertising CosaNostra Pizza around Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong.

[Via Akihabara News and Impress]

We should probably preface this by reiterating that when Sharp says "professional," it means precisely that. The firm's latest beamer -- the June-bound XG-P560W (or XG-P560WN sans lens) -- features a modest WXGA (1,280 x 800) resolution, but includes Texas Instruments' .65-inch 3-chip DLP technology along with Sharp's own CV-IC II System for smoothing jaggies and minimizing image noise. Additionally, it features a 1,800:1 contrast ratio, seven interchangeable lenses, a dual-lamp lighting system, DVI / HDMI inputs and a built-in Ethernet port for remote access and control. Remember that whole spill we made at the onset? Yeah, here's proof: $16,995 for the XG-P560W, $15,995 for the XG-P560WN.

Considering that everybody is buying panels from everybody else these days, we're thrilled to announce that one more cute couple is joining the fray. Sanyo has recently announced that it has "started buying liquid crystal display panels from Sharp for use in its flat TVs sold in North America." According to Sanyo spokesman Hiroyuki Okamoto, the two firms are also pondering "joint development of kitchen appliances such as microwave ovens," but no further details were immediately available. LCD HDTVs and blenders -- a match made in heaven.

[Thanks, Atiba]

Looking for more competition among Blu-ray players? TV and appliance manufacturer Taiwan Kolin is apparently prepping a player for the Taiwan market, expected to debut around the third or fourth quarter of this year. Built around Sharp components (not at all the first player to do so), the Economic Daily News quoted Taiwan Kolin's president as saying it would also see store shelves in the U.S. under Syntax-Brillian's Olevia brand. Unfortunately, with no features listed and a retail price only remarked as "less than NT$30,000 ($977 U.S.)" it'll probably need to be a lot less than that to make any kind of splash here.

Sharp's re-upped on the super-size rollouts, with 22 LCDs including every color and size variation, ready to hit shelves this summer ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Available in black or brown, the RX5 series (pictured) headlines the pack with 65-, 52- and 46-inch versions including 1080p resolution, 120Hz motion, a "living contrast" ratio of 1500:1 (dynamic ratio 20,000:1), 12bit image processing and internet access to a specially tuned Yahoo! Japan page all packed into a 5cm deep frame (42- and 52-inch, 6.6cm for 65-inch). The more mainstream GX5 line ranges from 52- to 32-inches complete with all the 1080p resolution, side mounted ARSS "Around Speaker System" DLNA access and internet hookups we know and love, plus 32- and 26-inch GH5 models that drop down to 720p, losing the around speakers, internet and 1080p res. The DS5 line is aimed at those who don't need internet access, but do need to choose between black, white and red LCDs. Check the chart on Sharp's page to compare with the "world's thinnest" X-series and see what HDTV corresponds with your social status when these drop in June.

[Via AV Watch & Akihabara News]

Read - Aquos 22 LCD models comparison
Read - R series
Read - G series
Read - D series

The popular DVR / DVD combo trend continues with Sharp's new, just-released Aquos players. The three new combo machines -- updates from last fall's models -- pack Blu-Ray playback with DVRs of various sizes ranging from the 250GB BD-HDW22, to the 500GB BD-HDW25, to the 1TB BD-HDW30 big daddy of TV-recording doom. The Blu-Ray section looks pretty standard, but the DVR records in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 at three different bitrates - 4.8, 8, and 12Mbps. If you're thinking these will record from BD to HDD or the other way around, think again. The movie studios will have none of that.