Sharp brings its own blue lasers to the party

[HDTV News Poster]

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/category/blu-ray/" rel="tag">Blu-ray</a>, <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/category/hd-dvd/" rel="tag">HD DVD</a>, <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/category/sharp/" rel="tag">Sharp</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="16" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.hdbeat.com/media/2006/06/blurayandhddvd.jpg" alt="" />It might not have said so on the flyer, but Blu-ray and HD DVD in 2006 have been largely a <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/08/29/blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-on-hold-for-blue-laser-shortage/">BYOL affair</a>, since neither Sony nor Nichia were able to supply enough of the lasers that are at the <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/10/25/where-do-blu-ray-and-hd-dvd-discs-come-from/">basis of both formats</a> to <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/07/10/more-details-on-blu-ray-delays/">meet demand</a>. Well Sharp -- which hasn't released its <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/09/14/sharp-cedia-blu-ray-player-dv-bp1u/">DV-BP1U</a> Blu-ray player yet -- has now decided to jump into the <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/11/10/silicon-wafers-to-solve-blue-laser-supply-problem/">blue laser game</a> as well, producing 150,000 units per month; they expect to be up to 500,000 units per month by September of next year. A company spokeswoman said most of the diodes will go into Sharp products, but we're sure <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/09/06/playstation-3-launch-misfire-europe-delayed-to-march-07-500k/">European</a> <a href="chrome://performancing/content/www.engadget.com/tag/ps3">PlayStation 3</a> fans wouldn't mind seeing a few truckloads headed in Sony's direction, while everyone else is just hoping to see <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/11/18/blu-ray--disc-drive-prices-to-be-halved-by-2008/">price drops</a> on high definition players across the board.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2006-12-19T040043Z_01_ROB914390_RTRUKOC_0_US-SHARP-BLUELASER.xml&src=rss">Read</a> - Sharp starts blue laser diode production<br /> <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aSpu8yr67cpU&refer=japan">Read</a> - Sharp to Make Laser Diodes for Blu-Ray, HD Recorders<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/19/sharp-brings-its-own-blue-lasers-to-the-party/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/forward/721567/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&fc=1&url=http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/19/sharp-brings-its-own-blue-lasers-to-the-party/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking Blogs</a> | <a href="http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/19/sharp-brings-its-own-blue-lasers-to-the-party/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_65-721567"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/65-721567?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_65-721567" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&channel=Engadget_Mobile_07_RSS&output=png&cuid=65-721567&url=http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/19/sharp-brings-its-own-blue-lasers-to-the-party/" /></p>

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