OTHER NEWS - Feb. 3, 1992

Sharp Slashes HDTV Price: Sharp Corp. lowered the price of high-definition television for Japanese consumers by introducing a set priced more than 70% lower than the competition. The new Sharp model, which uses a 36-inch screen, sells for about $8,000. Regular HDTV broadcasts averaging eight hours a day began in Japan last November, but few sets have been sold because of their high price. The cheapest set previously cost about $28,000. Sharp said it was able to reduce the price by simplifying the complex circuits that convert HDTV broadcast signals into a form that can be shown on a TV screen. It also developed highly integrated semiconductor chips that combine many previous chips.