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Kevin Christopherson, director of Product Marketing at Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America recently sat down for a conversation with AV Technology’s Cindy Davis. They discussed the joint venture with projection powerhouse NEC Display Solutions, the introduction of and potential applications for Sharp branded projectors, as well as what’s coming up for Sharp in 2025.
Watch the full video interview below.
When Sharp entered a joint venture with NEC in 2020, both organizations were already at the forefront of their respective product categories. In Christopherson’s opinion, these two complementary companies coming together made perfect sense—each providing much-needed technological resources and expertise to the other.
“The great thing about it is all that heritage, all that technology, and, most importantly, all the people that have made those product lines stand above the rest over the years—those all came along with that joint venture,” he said. “From development to marketing, product development, and R&D—all those folks are still working on these products as we transition from the NEC brand to the Sharp brand.”
As a result of that partnership, Sharp recently unveiled several new (and now award-winning) projector models—the XP-P, XP-X, and XP-A Series—combining NEC’s 35 years of experience in the projection space and Sharp’s cutting-edge advancements in display solutions.
“InfoComm 2024 was a pivotal point in our joint venture. That was the first time we were showing Sharp-branded projectors.” Christopherson continued, “These are completely sealed solutions—filter-free with no lamps. They're laser-based units, and the benefit to our users is that they are maintenance-free. We have an adjustable Zoom—a motorized zoom focus lens on the P Series. You move up to the X Series and you're going to get a gamut of six different lenses depending on what type of application you're putting it into.”
And while LCD and dvLED displays are a flashy, eye-catching solution for some applications, the potential for projection is limited only by the imagination. From the boardroom to the classroom and even the cinema—Sharp projectors provide 4K image quality at virtually any scale, with innovative features that allow the end user to flex their creativity.
“Our products can achieve 3D mapping, so you can map a projected image onto whatever you're doing,” Christopherson said. “We have museums projecting onto dinosaurs and doing immersive shows with that type of technology. It’s very cool to see. You can edge blend the units—use multiple units together. There's a lot of flexibility across the lineup.”
Finally, while a busy 2025 will see the release of several exciting products from Sharp, according to Christopherson, the big story for the coming year is continued brand migration.
“Over the next nine months, all our products across the entire portfolio—and I'm not just speaking about projection, but LCD as well as direct view LED—will migrate over to the Sharp brand,” he said. “It’s kind of a journey as far as this joint venture goes; getting us all under the strong Sharp umbrella and moving together under one brand is important, and it gives clarity to the customer moving forward.”
[A Crystal-Clear Vision for the Future of Sharp]
Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA) is a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, the U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s Sharp Corporation, a global technology company that has been named to Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired Company List. Sharp strives to help businesses achieve Simply Smarter work by helping companies manage workflow efficiently, create immersive and engaging environments, and increase productivity. SIICA offers a full suite of secure printer and copier solutions, commercial displays and projectors, Dynabook laptops, management and productivity software and fully managed services. As a total solutions provider, Sharp has a reputation for innovation, quality, reliability, and industry-leading customer support expertise.
