Sharp has developed a new System LCD equipped with touch screen and scanner functions.

An optical sensor is built into each pixel of the LCD panel, eliminating the need to bond a film to the panel for touch screen functions, and providing beautiful images without losing display image quality.

Touch screen functions are becoming indispensable on displays for mobile devices such as smartphones, digital cameras, PDAs, and ultra-mobile PCs. Conventional methods to provide such functions mainly involve laminating or bonding a film on top of the LCD panel, leading to problems with reduced display image quality and increased thickness for the display section.

Sharp developed its proprietary System LCD technology to embed an optical sensor used in devices like scanners in each pixel of the LCD panel. This technology eliminates the need for films, resulting in a thinner, clear screen display compared to conventional touch screens. In addition, tactile recognition based on simultaneously touching multiple points on the screen is now possible. Also, the scanner function can be used to scan in a business card placed on top of the screen, and further improvements to this function are expected to enable fingerprint authentication in the future.

LCD screen size is 8.9 cm (3.5-inch) on the diagonal. Its resolution is 320 x 480 (half-VGA).

Sample shipments will begin in September 2007, with volume production slated to start next spring.