Summary

A rare HD set by Sharp, made in Japan in 2000. One of only two direct-view high-definition CRT TVs by Sharp, this one being their last. This set is under the SharpVision line, which was the name given for their digital projectors of the time.

Manuals

• Service Manual

Notes

This set features VGA input as well as two component inputs over RCA and BNC jacks. It can accept 480p and 1080i laglessly, and reportedly the linedoubler for SD sources is fast enough that lightguns even work. See video HERE

This set uses a special Toshiba Microfilter made in Japan.

The speakers on this set can process Qsound, which is the same format that Capcom arcade games of the mid-to-late 90's used.

After this, Sharp would not make any more HD CRTs for the North American market. What a shame.

Toshiba Microfilter Technology

This CRT uses Microfilter, a technology innovation by Toshiba that aimed to optimize both brightness and contrast without darkening the glass with tint.

Conventionally, most tubes have a dark tint layer in the glass to reduce the amount of light reflection or absorption of the glass, thereby increasing contrast performance - a trade that costs an average 30% loss of overall brightness in all ambient light conditions (including near-darkness). In comparison, clear glass on a tube has the advantage of maximum brightness emission - but at a huge loss of contrast in normal ambient light conditions due to increased reflection. Typically you'll only find clear glass on professional broadcast monitors (aka BVM) that are intended to be used in near-darkness where ambient light is not an concern.

Microfilter aimed to be the best of both worlds by achieving the necessary amount of ambient light filtering at a per-phosphor (micro) level without sacrificing brightness, while still providing the vivid contrast you could typically only expect from a dark-tinted lower-brightness tube. On a Microfilter tube, the glass itself remains clear for maximum light transmission, while still taking a darkened grey-purple appearance from a combination of both the AR coatings and Microfilter over the phosphors.

You can learn more about Microfilter in our full article.