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At CES, Sharp explains benefits of its IGZO display tech

A Sharp engineer talks IGZO display tech at CES. It will play a key role in cutting-edge, high-pixel-density displays from Sharp this year.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Future Sharp TVs will tap IGZO tech.
Future Sharp TVs will tap IGZO tech. Sharp

LAS VEGAS -- At CES today, a Sharp engineer talked to CNET about the merits of LCDs that use IGZO technology.

IGZO displays first came to consumers' attention when it was rumored that Apple was going to tap Sharp's IGZO tech for the third-generation iPad.

While that didn't happen (at that time, Sharp apparently had not gotten IGZO to the point where it could be mass produced for a commercial 10-inch class tablet like Apple's), Sharp is now offering IGZO on commercial smartphones and tablets in Japan.

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And the company is showing off 32-inch 4K-resolution low-power IGZO LCD panels at CES.

In a nutshell, IGZO allows a tablet maker, for instance, to offer a very pixel-dense display that's easier on battery life than standard "amorphous" TFT LCDs.

Displays with a density of 500 pixels per inch (PPI) are possible, Sharp said. By comparison, the iPhone 5's Retina display has a PPI of 326.

And Kozo Takahashi, executive vice president at Sharp, said at CES that IGZO is the "key to the future of next-generation organic LED (OLED) displays."

To find out why IGZO may land on future tablets or smartphones, check out the interview below.