Sharp Launching a 7-inch Tablet with IGZO LCD Screen

Just days ago, Sharp announced the AQUOS Phone Zeta SH-02E for DoCoMo, the first device equipped with the company's new IGZO LCD technology. Now Engadget Japanese reports that Sharp is gearing up to launch a 7-inch tablet sporting the same tech called the AQUOS Pad SHT21. Sharp is promising two and a half times greater battery life than its previous tablet thanks to the new display.

Sharp began producing LCD panels using IGZO oxide semiconductors back in April – too late to be used in Apple's iPad 3 tablet. IGZO stands for indium gallium zinc oxide, and it replaces amorphous silicon for the active layer of an LCD screen. IGZO screens are up to 40-percent more efficient, as they contain smaller pixels which in turn draw less power and provide more touch accuracy. Smaller pixels also allow light to pass through more easily and thus reduces the amount of light needed to illuminate the screen.

"Employing advanced IGZO oxide semiconductors enables Sharp to produce LCDs with smaller thin-film transistors and increased pixel transparency, thus allowing for lower energy consumption," the company said.

According to Sharp's chart, a tablet sporting a 7-inch display using IGZO has a resolution of 1280 x 800 and a pixel density of 217 ppi. A 32-inch monitor has a max resolution of 3840 x 2160 and a pixel density of 140 ppi, and a 10-inch HD notebook screen has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 and a pixel density of 300 ppi.

That leads us to Sharp's new tablet. It's currently slated to make its debut on Japanese carrier KDDI in mid-December, and will pack a 1.5 GHz dual-core MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 SoC, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, Bluetooth 4.0, MHL, NFC, a 3,460 mAh battery, and 4G connectivity. The new 7-inch tablet also supports digital pen input, additional storage via a microSD card slot, and features 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity, an 8MP on the back, VGA camera on the front, and more.

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