Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 8, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Sharp has presented a 26-inch LCD television that, according to the company, consumes only one quarter of the power required by a conventional 28-inch cathode-ray-tube display with a comparable screen area. Thanks to this low energy requirement, the LCD set can be powered without a connection to the electricity grid by a solar module approximately the same size as the screen. The prototype is being presented on the occasion of the G8 summit on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The television is part of a series of environmentally friendly products and technologies.
According to the company, the LCD television is not only significantly more energy-efficient than cathode-ray-tube displays; it also consumes only around one third as much power as existing LCD sets. Sharp says the resulting possibility of powering the television with a solar module approximately equal in area to the screen promises more than ecological benefits. The estimated 1.6 billion people worldwide without access to an electricity grid could use the device to gain access to television services.
Sharp has revealed neither whether and when the device will actually come to market nor the methods used to reduce its power consumption. The solar-powered LCD television is being shown in the “Environmental Showcase” during the current G8 summit, where Sharp is also presenting thin-film solar cells that the company says achieve an efficiency of 10 percent. In the “Zero Emission House,” Sharp is presenting another LCD television. The 65-inch prototype promises outstanding image quality thanks to a contrast ratio of 100,000:1. Its annual energy consumption is stated as 200 kilowatt-hours, half that of conventional LCD televisions.
