Mitsuhiro Shigeta, Ph.D., General Manager, Technology Planning
Audio-Visual & LCD Visual Technology Development Group
Since joining Sharp in 1984, he has worked at a wide range of jobs related to device technology, including displays and laser diodes, areas where Sharp excels.
In 1995, he became involved with LCDs.
At that time, LCDs were still mainly used as monitors for personal computers.
And then, in 2000, Sharp developed a revolutionary LCD that it described as having “display performance surpassing a CRT” and which could be regarded as the prototype for today’s large-screen LCD TVs.
That Advanced Super View LCD was exhibited at CEATEC and displayed sided by side with a CRT. It included technologies that had never been revealed outside the company, and incorporated many of the key elements that gave rise to today’s 120-Hz Double-Speed Full-Spec HD LCD technology.
That exhibition was a milestone that gave those involved a sense of the future: “That’s it. LCDs are the future of TV.”
Super-high-speed liquid crystals were one of those new technologies.

The following year, 2001, a 30-inch model was introduced, and in 2002, a 37-inch model was put on the market. And with Kameyama Plant No. 1 becoming operational in January, 2004, the spread of LCD TVs in the 30-inch class began in earnest. LCD TVs had entered an era in which they were evolving rapidly, moving from personal TVs to large-screen TVs that could be enjoyed in the living room.

Re-engineering the liquid crystal material means a change in the structure within the LCD panel. This would also have a major impact on how the panel was made and on other materials such as optical films that make up the panel. It took a period of six months to a year before there was any hope of a viable commercial product.

Thus, development and commercialization of LCD TVs up to the 30-inch class moved ahead without a major revamping of the liquid crystal material.

But in anticipation of the start of operations at Kameyama Plant No. 2 and production of large-screen panels in the 40-inch class and larger for LCD TVs, having only the technologies accumulated up to that point was not enough.

Dr. Shigeta went to work developing liquid crystals suitable for large-screen full-spec HD LCD TVs.

The large-screen full- spec HD LCD TVs to be produced at Kameyama Plant No. 2 demanded a liquid crystal material that moved at a speed twice as fast as previous materials and further, that reacted precisely in response to changes in voltage.
Actually, the liquid crystal material used in LCD TVs is not just a single type.
Liquid crystals have different roles, and the liquid crystal material is a blend of ones that react quickly to changes in voltage, others that have good optical transmissivity, and so on.
Dr. Shigeta’s task was to discover the “best blend” of these liquid crystals.
Here, a problem emerged. Because the material was a blend, the liquid crystals did not move in unison.
Dr. Shigeta explains by comparing the movement of liquid crystals to commuters riding a crowded train.
“Let’s assume that there are many people standing while holding on to the strap. If the train brakes suddenly, some will merely lurch forward but still remain upright, while others will fall over completely. Not everyone moves in the same way. Some people are tall, and some are short. But we need everyone to fall over neatly and in unison.”
If the liquid crystals do not fall over neatly and in unison in the same direction, it would have a significant impact on image quality, for example, it would effectively cause the display to be blotchy and uneven. This phenomenon is even more pronounced when the screen is large.

Dr. Shigeta’s opponent is not a man visible to the human eye, but liquid crystal molecules at the nano level. And he controls them at the speed of his liking and in the direction he desires.
Day after day, he repeated his test trials.
Experimenting with a 13-inch panel, he found a blend that showed promise and repeated his experiments with a 37-inch panel.
Finally, he came up with a blend that could be used in the Double-Speed Advanced Super View LCD Panel.
This is the best liquid crystal material now imaginable and was first introduced in the R Series, the most beautiful AQUOS in history.
The method by which this was achieved is indeed a trade secret, but it could be called “Sharp’s own recipe.”
It is certainly different than the approaches adopted by other companies.
Said Dr. Shigeta with a smile, “The answer was found when we thought from the liquid crystal’s point of view, and that’s the way all liquid crystal engineers think.”

The Double-Speed 120-Hz Advanced Super View Panel has been perfected, and the main problems which haunted LCDs for so many years have been resolved. But said Dr. Shigeta with a smile, “Now is a turning point for LCDs.”

In the future, LCD panels are expected to continue to expand in terms of both applications and the volume produced.
In reality, exponential growth is projected in the quantity of large-screen displays sold, not to mention LCD TVs.
Dr. Shigeta predicts that, “To increase LCD panel production volume, we will need to move away from existing liquid crystal materials requiring a complex blend and overturn the concept of a blend of liquid crystals that we have had up to now. What we want are liquid crystals that are easier to make.”

Even now, such liquid crystal materials are evolving and will likely exist in the future.

What is the ideal liquid crystal? Dr. Shigeta thought a bit and answered: “If we could find a liquid crystal that required absolutely no blending, that would be ideal.”

When this master of liquid crystals has discovered the ultimate liquid crystal, we will likely encounter an image unlike anything ever seen before.