I work with Sony, Sharp and several other big name LCD TVs, and I have to say, GOOD MOVE SONY!!! Sharp has some of the nicest, clearest and crisp looking panels I have seen yet...

And I am looking at them every DAY!

Sony does NOT use Samsung panels. ANYWHERE! They share a facility and raw materials. Nothing more.

Sharp has the most cost efficient and 'green' lcd facility in operation today. I too work with Sony and Sharp panels on a regular basis. Other than the XBR4/5 series the remainder of the Sony line is forgettable.

The Sony/Samsung plant do use the same panels on both televisions manufactured. The power supplies, scalers, remotes are all their own...so Im not sure where the info is coming from in regards to the raw materials...if you mean panels, then you are correct, otherwise consider yourself corrected.

Sony doesn't make their own Cell processors - now Toshiba does.

Sony doesn't make their own TVs - now Sharp does.

Sony doesn't make their own....

GOOD! I hope they put even more of their innovators at work on Playstation and everything associated with it. We can already download movie trailers through the Sony Store....now I want full movies on demand!

Rumor mill churning!
Spider sense tells me the truth,
Sell my Corning stock.

I always thought that Sharp had a better looking LCD than damn near anyone, even Sony. When I go to the big-box warehouse type club and look at them side by side with a Sony demo running on all the screens you really can tell the difference.

Sony + Sharp = Shapie?

So why buy SONY then? go straight to SHARP AQUOS.

LOVE my Sharp Aquos. It's kind of funny to think that Sony will still sell more sets than the Sharp, even if they have the same panel.

@pinkfloyd1972: Sony's BRAVIA XBR's use Samsung panels. Now wait a second though, this doesn't mean Sony TV's are Samsung TV's it just means the "glass" is from Samsung. Although, the number of Sony LCDs with Samsung substrate have decreased over the years, which is a direct result of the new joint plant.

Before the joint Samung-Sony plant, Sony went to Samsung and asked for help because their manufacturing capacity for glass substrates could not keep up with demand. Which is a whole other story in itself how Sony kicked themselves in the ass in regards to LCD display technology.... big surprise.

Sony started by purchasing big panels from Samsung, and adding their own boards, processing etc. They also set up a huge joint plant with Samsung to make panels, and to share their respective technological strengths (processing for Sony, making big, bright panels for Samsung).

@skulldriveshaft: Sony has better technology. Notice how Bravia's look better than Samsung tv's. Its because of the engineering.

This is still a rumor, right? I mean your title states "Future Sony LCDs to be Sharp-powered" as if its official.

If it is true, then they can put resources into something like OLED, then lead they way with that and pass it along for the next innovation. Sony seems to be the pace car for consumer technology these days.

I always thought that sharp screens looked great but they have such horrible quality control I had to go Sony. Hopefully, there won't be a huge influx of dead pixels on Sony screens if this deal goes down.

So from now on, beware of bandings on Sony

"LOVE my Sharp Aquos. It's kind of funny to think that Sony will still sell more sets than the Sharp, even if they have the same panel."

You're completely overlooking the fact that inside that tv is more than just an LCD panel. You know, important things that affect image quality like.. oh I don't know... maybe the image rendering engine? color controls?

Okay, so, it looks like the bottom line of the difference between "panel" and "TV" is in the comments, but so disjointed no one will be able to break it out.

In an LCD, there are three or four basic elements (some of which can be combined in real products):
- Panel
- Backlight
- Inverter
- Controller board

Now, the inverter is probably a non-issue as far as quality goes. Most companies have those quite well handled.
The panel is purely the glass that contains the LCD elements. The video quality can depend on how good the panel is (the LCD mix, how fast it reacts, etc.) but more often than not, what's being compared is the video coming from the controller boards and backlighting.
The controller boards contain all of the smarts (how that particular panel has been calibrated, how to scale video, or decompress, put up menus, etc.)
The actual video you see largely depends on the panel and control board to determine how nice it looks. So, just because Sony and Sharp may share the same panels, you'll see differences in their video output for sure.

I feel so bad for Sony now. Using the Sharp LCD's is a bad move. Even LG is looking better than the Sharp. And Spectator101, I look at them everyday too! Just take a gander up close to all the Sharp products. Notice that blur in the pixels...notice the checkerboard pattern at the black edges...notice the horrible colors? So does everyone else that walks into the stores.

Funny thing is even the Sharp rep that comes by says that they have lost some of the quality and good looks they used to have. Aquos doesn't mean what it used to. I hope Sony spends a lot of money on the rest of the technology to make up for a terrible core piece.

I have a sony Bravia in my apartment, and my parents have the sharp Aquos. Both are 46", so I somehow feel like my family is being brought closer together with this post...At any rate, I like the Sharp's image quality a bit better (both tvs are same resolution), but that might be simply because it's in a professionally designed movie room. Not that my Sony is bad (it looked like the best one in the store) It just doesn't seem to pop its colors like the Sharp. The sharp reminds me of those brightview screens on laptops. Very cool.

Sony, Shmony . . .
Pioneer Kuro baby!