‘8K Ecosystem’ Takes Center Stage at Sharp’s CES 2019 Exhibit

By Nancy Klosek

Sharp was on the CES exhibit floor last week after a four-year hiatus, with a front-and-center, full-blown Central Hall display that spotlighted its breadth of technologies and gave show-goers a first-hand view of the company’s “8K Ecosystem” – encompassing 8K displays and end-to-end 8K devices that will support that ecosystem beyond merely display, touching on imaging, editing, data storage and management, distribution, broadcast infrastructure, and other related equipment and technologies.

Jim Sanduski, president of Sharp Home Electronics Co. of America, with Peter Weedfald, senior VP, sales and marketing for Sharp Electronics Marketing Co. of America, in Sharp’s Smart Kitchen Suite

Also at the booth: devices and technologies whose design is driven by Sharp’s “AIoT” vision – a term that melds AI (Artificial Intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things) and is meant to convey the company’s goal for how various products can be made to synergistically interoperate.

Besides 8K-related equipment, devices, and solutions, the booth featured three other areas, dedicated to AIoT, Home, and Business solutions. Visitors there could view AIoT as embodied within Sharp home appliances, robotics, sensors, and other devices and learn about and experience Sharp solutions within home and B2B scenarios.

Sharp’s Allan Hsieh and Peter Weedfald, with an 8K display

Peter Weedfald, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Sharp Electronics Marketing Co. of America, walked Dealerscopethrough the multi-faceted exhibit. Here are some high points of what we saw:

60-, 70-, and 80-inch 8K displays with 4,000 nits peak brightness and HDMI 2.1 connectivity. Allan Hsieh, Sharp Display Co.’s associate director of product management, explained that they offer superior off-axis performance, and that their color gamut measurement tops that of OLED. The displays use Sharp’s 8K Revelation Engine for image processing that upconverts 2K and 4K video content for viewing on the screens.
A prosumer prototype of an 8K video/still camera
In the kitchen: Sharp’s superheated steam countertop oven, along with a Smart Kitchen Suite of built-in appliances that includes the 3-in-1 24-inch Supersteam oven with IoT, which has flexibility of placement in that it is mountable under an island. Also on display in the Suite: a built-in induction cooktop, 1.8- and 1.6-cu-ft. built-in oven ranges; a refrigerator; and a quiet-running (45dB) dishwasher.