Sharp Shows Off 108-inch LCD TV

January 9, 2007, 1:00 PM by Scott M. Fulton, III

Ed Oswald, BetaNews: Although many of us would never need a television as big as those being shown off this year at CES, that hasn’t stopped companies like Sharp from trying to one-up each other in the quest for the biggest. Enter Sharp’s 108-inch flat screen LCD television, the largest to date. The company beats out Samsung, who had a 102-inch plasma behemoth on display last year.

It’s now becoming obvious from the announcements that LCD technology is quickly becoming a de facto standard in HDTVs. After hitting a technological wall that prevented large-size models, advancements have enabled companies to produce larger and larger screens.

This carries benefits for consumers: LCDs are far less expensive to repair than plasmas, and have traditionally been cheaper to produce, which means the savings is passed on to the consumer. However, don’t expect the unit to be affordable to the average consumer anytime soon.

For reference, a 103-inch Panasonic Plasma currently retails for $70,000. While it’s likely Sharp’s LCD wouldn’t cost that much, it should come in right around that price. And believe it or not, the company actually thinks there may be a market for it.