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Sharp’s ICC Purios has the only THX Certified Ultra HD TV, but at AU$30,000 can it make a splash on the market?
(Screenshot by CNET Australia)
We said recently that cheaper and smaller Ultra HD TVs were on the way. We still stand by that statement, but Sharp has thrown us a bit of a curve ball with the ICC Purios, a smaller TV that’s more expensive.
The Purios (model number LC-60HQ10) is a 60-inch screen with 3840×2160 resolution, and, interestingly, a THX Certification. The model is currently only being released in Japan.
But Sharp is putting a premium on the Purios; the price tag is 2.6 million yen, or around AU$29,300. In Australia, we have only two Ultra HD TVs, LG’s AU$16,000 model and Sony’s AU$25,000 model, both of which come in at 84 inches.
The Ultra HD TV market in Japan, however, is a little different. While Sony has a version of its 84-inch TV there (for 1.68 million yen, or just under AU$19,000) there is also a Toshiba 55-inch set that’s only 750,000 yen — the bargain-basement equivalent of AU$8500.
Sharp is justifying the cost by suggesting that its TV has superior picture, with a spokesperson telling the Wall Street Journal, “There may be other 4K TVs on the market, but our 4K TV offers images that are so realistic that viewers feel as if they were experiencing the scene in real life.”
