Sharp says ITC ban on LCD imports won't affect US consumers
We just spent some time talking to Sharp's reps about that ITC ban on its LCD panels, and while they certainly didn't sound happy about the ruling, they made it clear that it shouldn't have too much of an effect on US consumers -- Aquos TVs and Sharp professional LCD displays currently on shelves are fine to be sold, and updated models have been hitting the channel as of last month. As you'd expect, the new displays have been re-engineered to workaround the Samsung patent in question, but here's where it gets confusing: the basic model numbers haven't changed. Instead, the new units have an "N" at the end, so a TV like the Aquos LC52-E77U will now be labeled LC52-E77UN. Sharp says the updated models have exactly the same specs as the outgoing ones, but we're waiting on a detailed list of spec changes -- or better, a side-by-side comparison -- so we can decide whether or not the HDTV equivalents of a pre-CBS Fender are floating around out there.
Update: Sharp hit us back with some revised information, so we've changed the post slightly.
