With its new 12.1 inch LC-display, Sharp is expanding its portfolio of displays with LED backlighting for industrial applications. It is Sharp's first industrial display of this size with an XGA resolution of 1024x768 pixels. The display type LQ121X3LG02 stands out due to its high brightness of 1200 cd/m² and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. This makes it ideal not only for industrial applications such as measurement, testing or controlling equipment, but is also predestined for applications which are used either totally or partially outdoors. Especially for outdoor applications, in fact, displays have to meet high demands.

Above all, these include difficult light conditions such as direct sunlight or fluctuations in temperature. The LED backlighting of the LQ121X3LG02 with 5 x 8 LEDs offers numerous advantages compared to displays with CCFL back lights, such as the extremely rapid response and good dimming capability of LEDs. The display brightness can thus be easily controlled by photodiodes and automatically adjusted in correlation of the ambient light conditions; this means that the display remains constantly and easy legible, even in frequently changing light conditions. They are also more mechanically robust, as LEDs are far less breakable than the glass bodies of cold cathode lamps. This makes mechanical design simpler and increases resilience. In technological terms, LEDs are far superior to CCFLs at low temperatures; at ambient temperatures below 0°C, LED backlights can achieve a service life of up to 200,000 hours and provide full light output as soon as they are switched on.

In the case of higher temperatures, however, LEDs are sensitive. A strong local heat build-up on the lighting modules must be discharged effectively, as it can damage the LCD panel and the backlighting itself, which would lead to a significant reduction in service life. For this reason Sharp has developed a special chassis for LED backlit industrial displays, in which the LEDs of the backlight are thermally coupled directly to the mechanical parts of the module. This means that waste heat is efficiently discharged into the environment via the rear of the display, ensuring that there is no damaging heat accumulation even at high ambient temperatures.

The optical features of the display with XGA resolution and LED backlighting ensure high image quality even under changing light conditions; with an operating temperature of -20 to +60° Celsius, it is perfectly suited for both indoor and outdoor use. Samples of the LQ121X3LG02 type are available immediately at the sales offices and European distribution partners of Sharp.