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Sharp outlines 2015 televisions and in-car futures

Sharp has launched its newest range of televisions at CES 2015 in addition to technologies it will bring to connected devices and cars.

Ty Pendlebury
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Josh Miller Senior Photographer
Ty Pendlebury
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Sharp CES press conference

Sharp has launched its newest range of televisions at CES 2015, in addition to technologies it will bring to connected devices and cars.

At center stage were the company's 2015 4K televisions, which start at $749 for a 43-inch.

But most interesting of all was Sharp's newest LCD display, which it can mold into any shape it likes and which will be especially useful for in-dash displays.

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Sharp CES press conference

Until now, LCD displays have been rectangular because the circuit board has always attached to the edges of the screen. However, Sharp says its new Free Form Display allows LCD screens to be virtually any shape. Free-Form Displays move the circuits behind the display and connect directly to each pixel. This is expected to be particularly useful in automotive and wearable applications. Sharp says it will be several years before we see this technology on the market, though.

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Sharp CES press conference

A simulated dash using Free Form Display.

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Sharp CES press conference

An 8-inch tablet using the hybrid MEMS-IGZO technology from Sharp and Qualcomm. This display type has a shuttered backlight system to improve both image quality and power usage.

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Sharp CES press conference

Sharp has three main lines of 4K TVs for 2015: the entry-level UB30, the mainstream UE30 with Android TV and the premium UH30.

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Sharp CES press conference

Sharp's 4K TVs will start at just 43 inches.

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Sharp CES press conference

The UB30 range includes two 4K TVs costing under a grand, including this 50-inch LC-50UB30U.

The UB30 will include 4K upscaling and will be compatible with all current 4K standards including YouTube's VP9.

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Sharp CES press conference

Sharp's mainstream UE30 4K TV will feature Android TV in addition to Aquodimming

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Sharp CES press conference

SmartConnect 4 with AndroidTV will do what companies like Samsung have sadly abandoned in 2015: cable box control with an EPG.

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Sharp CES press conference

Sharp US president Jim Sanduski points to the UE30 range.

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Sharp CES press conference

All of Sharp's 4K TVs 70 inches and larger will have the ability to place their legs at the edge of the TV or in the middle.

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Sharp CES press conference

Sharp's Beyond 4K uses pixel splitting technology to make a TV approaching 8K resolution.

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Sharp CES press conference

With up to 66 million pixels, Sharp says the Beyond 4K is almost indistinguishable from real life. Pity it's only upscaled 4K though.

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Sharp CES press conference

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Sharp CES press conference

The last product to be announced at the CES 2015 press conference was the Super Slim 4K UHD TV.

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Sharp CES press conference

According to Sharp, the Super Slim design will be featured in a new line of TVs due in Q3 2015. It uses a glass light guide to achieve a thickness of about half an inch, or similar to that of a cellphone.

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Sharp CES press conference

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