In a historical perspective, the flat panel TV is still a relatively new thing, even though most of us own one or maybe even a few. But how did our TVs look 5 years ago? In a series of galleries FlatpanelsHD takes a look at 5 years of TV design by every major TV maker. Last time we featured Panasonic. Today we look at Sharp.
Every Friday FlatpanelsHD takes a look a TV makers’ design tradition. Check back in again on next Friday.
Sharp: 5 years of television design
In this Friday’s 5 Years of TV-design Gallery we focus on Sharp. Sharp is part of the Japanese tribe and was one of the first to go all-in on LCD technology that was later supplemented by LED backlighting. In contrast to for example Sony, Sharp has its own TV factories which provide flexibility in TV design.
Sharp created the exclusive XS1 model back in 2008
Sharp illustrated this fact perfectly in 2008 when the exclusive and quite unique XS1 model arrived with an aluminum design and an extremely slim frame. It was unveiled at IFA. Alter, in 2010, Sharp introduced a new line of ultra slim TVs that had an all-in-one front design. The black surface and the silver line around made some people call in a large-size iPhone but Sharp generally had a lot of success with these elegant TVs.
Later, Sharp made some strategic changes to focus on large-size TVs. First, Sharp introduced an inexpensive 60” TV and later 70, 80 and 90” TVs. The design has been reduced to a minimum with slim bezels and thin cabinets which help to make the TVs less dominant. This is best demonstrated when comparing Sharp’s large-size TVs to for example Panasonic’s 100”+ plasma-TVs that are so heavy and bulky that they are impossible to move by hand after being installed.
Go to the Gallery section and see 5 years of Sharp TV design, and come back every Friday to see new galleries.