CES 2013: Sharp Shows Off First 4K UltraHD Televisions

Just weeks after its future was anything but certain, Sharp has wheeled out its big guns, in the form of an enormous 90in Aquos LED television, backed up by 60, 70 and 80in models for is your lounge doesn't resemble an aircraft hanger.

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The Japanese company has also announced that it will bring two UltraHD televisions to the US later this year, called the Ultra Aquos HD and ICC Purios

The Purios has a 60in screen and can upscale standard 1080p HD footage to 4K, which will make the expected $31,000 price tag and complete lack of native 4K content a little more bearable.

Elsewhere, Sharp's second 4K television, the Aquos Ultra HD, doesn't get the 4K upscaling, but takes advantage of the company's Moth Eye panel design, which uses small and intended irregularities in the surface of the screen to reduce reflections and increase contrast.

Sharp said the Aquos Ultra HD will be available in the second half of 2013, but has not yet given it a price.

Away fro 4K, the flagship 90in model will be available to buy in March and will be the "largest commercially available LED TV," although the Japanese company remained quiet on how much it will cost.

To put the size of a 90in television into perspective, it's four feet tall, six feet seven inches wide, and four inches larger than the hugely impressive 4K Sony Bravia TV we saw at the IFA trade show back in August.

Sitting below the 90in behemoth, the 7- and 8-series TVs feature Sharp's Quattron technology, which adds a yellow pixel to the traditional trio of red, green and blue; additionally, the 8-series gets new Super Bright technology, intelligently adjusting and tuning the screen's brightness to improve the picture.

Thanks to being powered by dual-core processors and offering a web browser, Wi-Fi and access to Netflix, all of Sharp's new TVs announced at CES 2013 are classed as 'smart'.

On top of the usual range of smart features, the three ranges include Sharp Beam, a feature that lets you send content from an iOS or Android device to the television via a free application.

In total, Sharp is offering 11 new televisions with active 3D - that's the one with battery powered glasses - which the company claims to offer twice the resolution of passive 3D; the active glasses are paired to the screen by Bluetooth to help reduce interference.

Sharp has announced prices for some of the new models in the US, where the 8-series will cost from $3,000, the 7-series from $2,200 for the 55in model, and $6,000 for the range=-topping 80in TV.

There's no word yet on how much the massive 90-in TV will be, and no information on prices or release dates for the UK and Europe.

Elsewhere at CES, LG has announced that its superb 55in OLED television is to finally go on sale for "around $12,000" in March. Again, there's no UK or Europe-specific prices or release dates, so we suggest you keep saving.