We have heard about 4K TVs for quite some time. In fact, if you have around $35-50,000 to spare, you can get a Westinghouse 46" 4K or a 56" 4K LCD display. However, these screens come at a resolution of 3840x2160 and 16:9 aspect ratio.
In a contrast to current Quad HD model line-up, Sharp entered the market with a 64" (162cm) LCD TV display featuring a resolution of 4096 times 2160 pixels. It looks a little bit weird that the panel is still 16:9, but this is more natural than 3840x2160, a 16:10 resolution squeezed on 16:9 panel. Specifications are pretty impressive, especially given the screen density of 85 ppi [Pixel Per Inch]. To be honest, we would have to say that this 63" screen is more a 43 kilogram heavy computer display than a Consumer Electronics part. With the help of Eyevis, this product feature a lot of features from professional LCD displays.
The name is actually becoming friendlier to pronounce, at least when it comes to Japanese CE manufacturers. This display's name is EYE-LCD6400-4K, a pure Zen poem in terms of simplicity (I am owner of Sharp Aquious 52" LCD TV... don't ask what the name is). But then again, the curse of confusing names hit again. Actually, Sharp marks this model as LK636R3LA19. Now, let us just put one question here... why launch a 64" product and then mark it as a 63" one, or at least that's what "LK63" implies? Personally, I think IT journalists are too critical on IT companies.. at least nobody is asking you to buy a processor marked 5C299L28192, which would be the Consumer Electronic name for Four Core (5C) 2.66 GHz (299) with 4096KB of L2 cache (L28192)... or something like that.
In order to enable 4K resolution, you have to connect four single-link or two dual-link DVI-D cables...as HDMI simply won't cut it. We believe it is a real shame that Sharp didn't go the DisplayPort route, but that's life. This display will be available from May 2009, and all the owners of RED One cameras can now ring Sharp offices and reserve a part.
UPDATED, March 27th, 2009 01:40 CET - Upon reading the specifications, we wanted to learn more about some technical specifications that might be of use for video professionals. The most important information is that this display is a native 10-bit color display - no internal dithering or similar techniques. Native refresh is set at 60Hz, so forget about seeing 4K 3D for some time.
Lastly, we managed to learn the price of the part. If you want to work on 4K DCI-compliant display, you will have to shell out 39,500 EUR or roughly 53,000 USD.
