In March 2012 at Kameyama Plant No. 2, Sharp began
producing the world's first high-performance LCD panels
incorporating IGZO oxide semiconductors.
Sharp is expanding production scale through April to
meet market demand.
Kameyama Plant No. 2 first started operations in August
2006, manufacturing advanced LCD panels for TVs. Since
then, Sharp has reorganized its production systems to
focus on producing small and medium - sized LCD panels,
aimed at smartphones and tablets.
In collaboration with Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Co., Ltd., Sharp has developed a thin-film transistor
using a new material, InGaZnO. High energy performance
LCD panels will be made possible by downsizing the
transistor and by increasing the light transmittance for
each pixel. Employing IGZO oxide semiconductors enables
Sharp to produce LCDs with smaller thin-film transistors
and increased pixel transparency, thus allowing for
lower energy consumption. In addition, Sharp's UV2A
technology will achieve high display quality small- and
medium- size LCD panels. UV2A is a photo-alignment
technology that can precisely control the alignment of
LCD molecules in a simple LCD panel structure.
Sharp will promote its new high-resolution LCD panels as
appropriate to be used in high-definition notebook PCs,
LCD monitors and mobile devices.
According to sample specifications released by Sharp,
the company's IGZO LCD panels for monitors will be 32
inches with a resolution 3840 x 2160 pixels resolution
and a pixel density of 140ppi. The company will also
offer 10-inch IGZO LCD panels (2560 x 1600, 300ppi) for
notebooks and 7-inch (1280 x 800, 217ppi) panels for
tablets.