Sharp Starts Shipping Its 70-inch Video Wall-Ready LCDs

October 4, 2017 by Dave Haynes

We’re at a point with monitors that a 70-inch unit doesn’t even sound all that big anymore, but it’s a bit different when it is a monitor to use as one of many as a video wall.

Sharp will start shipping this month a 70-inch display – the PN-V701 – built for 24/7 video walls. It has a bezel of 4.4mm, which isn’t like the super-duper extreme ultra thinkofasuperlative narrow bezels of some smaller monitors. But it’s pretty minute, as in roughly the thickness of two nickels. Though bigger, Sharp says the 70-inch is approximately 16 percent lighter in weight than the 60″ PN-V601A display. The bezels also look smaller because the displays are larger.

Sharp started showing prototypes earlier this year on the trade show circuit, so you may be thinking this isn’t that new. The difference is the company will ship product this month.

The big pitch here is that bigger means fewer monitors to create the larger visual canvas of a video wall, and fewer displays means fewer gridlines from those bezels. It’s also less infrastructure in behind (sorry mounting bracket and cabling guys), so less cost there on parts and installation labor.

Display nerd alert: The PN-V701 comes equipped with Sharp’s Inverse Scan function. Designed to correct image misalignments by alternating the scanning direction between vertically adjacent monitors, Inverse Scan creates smooth, natural images on the large video wall. Additional features include SHARP Advanced Uniform Color Calibration Technology (UCCT), which can deliver uniformity of color and brightness across the entire video wall. The monitor also has an optional HDBaseT Receiver Board. By installing the optional receiver board, the PN-V701 display is able to receive HDMI video, audio signals, and control signals sent up to 100 meters away through a single CAT6 cable.

“We created the PN-V701 with the content developer in mind, so they no longer have to worry about their content being disrupted by crosshair bezel lines,” says Gary Bailer, Director of Product Planning and Marketing for Pro AV Products at Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. “By using a 3×1 orientation, the center of the display remains clean and text remains legible—just how content developers intended. This provides a major differentiator for integrators, and reduces installation expenses, cabling and hardware for installers.”  

The PN-V701 is scheduled to ship this October in the U.S. and starting in December in Canada.

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