When thinking of words to describe the picture quality of HD sets, many phrases come to mind, but rarely do you think of one as "needing more colors". After all, these screens can already display any of millions of colors. You may have to start rethinking things soon, as Sharp unveiled a new technology for its HDTVs that promises to increase color fidelity into the realm of trillions of colors.

If you know even a little about computer monitors or HDTV sets, you probably have heard of RGB - the idea that each pixel is made up of separate red, green, and blue elements. By lighting those sub-pixels at different levels, the colors mix to give the desired output. Sharp asked itself what might seem like an obvious question: if mixing three colors is good, wouldn't four be better? The new quad-pixel technology it's put together adds a yellow element to each pixel, giving the set much greater control over what shades it can display.

The first models supporting this technology will be available as soon as this spring. Will the resulting HDTVs look as impressive as the numbers make the increase in colors seem? Probably not, as most of us would have trouble recognizing the differences between many of the millions of colors our sets already display, but that could be a good thing. If the quad-pixel design is intended to display a more life-like palette, then the less it looks like a "special effect", the better. To check it out, keep an eye on upcoming Sharp sets, fifty-two inches or larger.

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