Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA), a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, has rolled out the next generation of its popular PN-R series of professional edge-lit LCD displays. The new models come equipped with some note-worthy developments including the flexibility to be installed at a wide variety of angles. These new monitors are robust enough to be suspended by wires from the four corners of the housing and this creates many installation options such as face-down from the ceiling or tilted forward or backward at up to a 90-degree angle. These monitors can be installed in portrait or landscape orientation as well as face-up in a table top orientation. These new professional grade LCD monitors, named PN-R556, PN-R496 and PN-R426 are offered in three class sizes, 55”, 49” and 42”. The displays have a sleek and slim design with a depth of 2.25”, which is the thinnest that Sharp has offered in these class sizes, and a bezel width of only 7.8 mm on all four sides.

Similar to earlier models in the PN-R series, these new models are also FHD, with 1920×1080 pixel resolution, have 700 nits of brightness and are built for 24/7 commercial usage to be suitable in the most demanding digital signage applications. In terms of connectivity, these new professional monitors come standard equipped with two HDMI inputs and DisplayPort 1.2 input and output terminals allowing the monitors to be set up in a daisy-chain configuration if desired. The PN-R556/R496/R426 models feature an Intel® Mini OPS-compatible expansion slot that can be used to expand the interface of the monitors with either an optional wireless board to provide wireless connectivity for up to 10 devices or an optional HDBaseT 2.0 receiver board that allows the monitor to receive a variety of media and control signals through a single LAN cable.

The first model to ship in this next generation professional series is the PN-R496, which was available in October 2016. The PN-R556 becomes available in November 2016 and the PN-R426 display is scheduled to ship in January 2017.

According to PMA Research, a leading analyst firm dedicated to the professional display market, Sharp had three of the top 10 best-selling models on their Top 25 Models list in the month of October 2016 and was ranked third in number of large flat panel displays sold for the same month.