Sharp begins production of world's first IGZO LCD panels
Reacting to market demand, Sharp has announced that it has begun to produce the world's first high-performance LCD screens that incorporate IGZO oxide semiconductors.
By using IGZO oxide semiconductors, Sharp will be able to produce LCD screens that require lower energy consumption through smaller, thin-film transistors and increased pixel transparency.
The technology lends itself well to mobile devices that require low-power components. With a new breed of ultrabooks promised by Intel and updates to Apple's mobile lineup, it seems highly likely that Sharp will work its way in as a primary supplier of display panels.
Sharp has converted Kameyama Plant No. 2, which had previously been used to create advanced LCD panels for televisions, to produce small to medium-size screens for smartphones and other mobile devices.
A year ago, Sharp was rumored to be converting Kameyama Plant No. 1 from TV displays to low-temperature, polysilicon LCD screens to be used on a next-generation iPhone. Peter Misek, according to 9to5Mac, claims that up to 5 million Apple television units (iTVs) are being produced by Sharp for a May or June release.
Just as the new iPad was about to be released, it was reported that Sharp was not able to meet Apple's requirements for producing its IPS displays, despite earlier rumors that Sharp's IGZO technology would replace IPS for 2012's iPad.
Now, with an official company statement that Sharp is producing IGZO displays for mobile devices, expect to see plenty of rumors resurfacing that Apple's iPhone, iPad, and perhaps even iMacs and a television set, could all be using Sharp's IGZO displays.
Is IGZO the future of low-power mobile displays? Will Apple incorporate this technology into future devices? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!