Reporters who recently visited the Sharp Corp. factory in Sakai, western Japan, where “10th generation“ panels for flat-screen TVs are manufactured, were met, not by human workers, but by an industr…
Reporters who recently visited the Sharp Corp. factory in Sakai, western Japan, where “10th generation“ panels for flat-screen TVs are manufactured, were met, not by human workers, but by an industrial robot, which guides the huge sheets of glass panels. The LCD panel plant is the first facility in the world to adopt 10th generation glass substrates. Using Sharp“s proprietary UV2A*4 photo-alignment technology, the plant is capable of producing high-contrast, energy-efficient panels of 40 inches and larger, marking a new era in large displays. Sharp“s UV2A photo-alignment technology can precisely control the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in a simple LCD panel structure. Sharp will fully incorporate this world-first technology as a core technology for the production of a new type of LCD panel that will significantly evolve LCD TVs to the next generation. The ASV (Advanced Super View) technology used by Sharp delivers high-resolution images to LCD TVs by precisely controlling the movement of liquid crystal molecules within a complex LCD panel structure. This innovative technology, the result of combining proprietary materials developed by Sharp with UV exposure equipment and processing technologies, provides highly accurate control over the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in accordance with the direction of the radiation. Sharp aims to make this complex an environmentally advanced production base by means of environmental measures such as the use of LEDs for all indoor and outdoor lighting (approximately 100,000 LED lights), and the installation of solar panels on all factory roofs to provide some of the needed electricity.