Inside Sharp's new LCD factory, we can see our next HDTV from here

The path back to LCD leadership for Sharp begins at its just opened Sakai City manufacturing facility. Being a 10th generation facility means it can roll out more and bigger displays, producing six 60-inch LCDs from each glass substrate, 60% more than older 8g facilities. Check out the pics for a peek at where 72,000 substrates per month will be made, delivering those slim LED backlit televisions getting so much love, along with solar panels (also being installed on the roofs for that extra green vibe that's in vogue these days) and a few of the more than 100,000 energy efficient LEDs lighting the factory itself. Whether your closest HDTV purchase is a turkey fueled memory from last weekend or yet to come, bargain hunters and AV fans alike can appreciate an eyeful of the robots and testing equipment slicing, dicing and stamping screens headed for shelves nearby, whether bearing an Aquos brand or any number of other nameplates.

Sharp Sakai City 10g LCD plant

[AniMill Posted Nov 30th 2009 10:16PM]

I love the Phoenix story of Sharp! They almost singlehandedly revived their entire business with their commitment to superior quality panels - so good in fact that competitors ended up re-gifting their product. Congratulations Sharp!

[kojo87 Posted Dec 1st 2009 12:16AM]

@AniMill my parents have 3 Sharp TVs. a 19" from the mid 80s, a 32" tube from 2002 and a 46" Aquos LCD they got last year. Sharp makes some damn fine stuff. when i buy an HDTV you can bet it will be a Sharp.

[xconan Posted Dec 1st 2009 1:20AM]

@kojo87
unfortunately that's a different story for their caculators that seem to have a short life expectancy compared to my TI, I've had a few Sharps malfunction while my TI 89 and HP 48 are still running

[antriver Posted Nov 30th 2009 10:18PM]

I wonder if they gave out free samples, http://amirite.net ?

[Bowsa Posted Nov 30th 2009 10:22PM]

Beautiful

[Josiah Posted Nov 30th 2009 10:24PM]

I'm thinking OLED instead...

[Junzhi Posted Nov 30th 2009 10:31PM]

@MJGAMER 1991 XBL

Something must be wrong with me.. I figured AV stood for "Adult Video"..

But hey that makes a lot more sense than anything to do with audio!

[ack154 Posted Nov 30th 2009 10:36PM]

Those substrates come from my employer, who I believe has a factory next door to the Sharp plant.

[dsp4 Posted Nov 30th 2009 10:49PM]

I always knew TVs were produced by invisible people.

[igeekone Posted Nov 30th 2009 10:50PM]

Bring me some 10g goodness!

[jol Posted Nov 30th 2009 11:20PM]

Seems like a bit of a waste considering that OLED will be out in a couple of years.

[Willen Posted Dec 1st 2009 2:34AM]

@(Unverified)
LCD is still going to be relevant for a long while, especially LED backlit panels. OLED is going to have a big price premium and limited sizes for a good number of years before it may take over the market.

[jocaju Posted Dec 1st 2009 7:11AM]

@(Unverified) Are you kidding me? That's a lot of people out there who doesn't have their HDTV because they can't afford it yet. I don't think they gonna jump from tube TV to OLED before having a LCD TV. By the time OLED has some good sizes and specially price, those LCD HDTV will be a lot cheaper than it's today.

[Sherifftruman Posted Dec 1st 2009 9:28AM]

@(Unverified)

So, I guess All TV manufacturers should just give up and stop producing TVs until the next technology is fully flushed out and ready for mainstream? If that were the case no one would make anything as the next tech is always coming and it almost alsways takes way longer than the marketing people want it to take to become a true competitor.

I am sure this factory will churn out TVs for some time. Sure, as OLED becomes more mainstream, they might shut the older generation plants down and/or refit them for new gen OLED, but there will still be a market for then cheap older LCD tech in 4 to 5 years.

[Saad the other one Posted Nov 30th 2009 11:56PM]

fourth picture is very THX-1138

[xtasi Posted Dec 1st 2009 12:53AM]

I thought those incredible thin LCD LED displays were side lit, not back lit

[WalnutSoap Posted Dec 1st 2009 9:56AM]

Is it just me who was reminded of a level from Goldeneye 64 by the first picture?

[Digital1 Posted Dec 1st 2009 10:25AM]

Is it just me or is the gallery not all working? I can't go through all the photos in the gallery view...

[Colin B Posted Dec 1st 2009 11:33AM]

That wall of glass not ten feet from the road is just asking to be driven through...