Sharp representatives have boldly come out and stated that they believe that LCD TVs are positioned to become the superior video display such that they will force Plasma screens into a very small niche market.

Such brazen statements were made by Tommaso Monetto of Sharp in an interview with Tech.co.uk last week. “If you’re planning to output 1080p content onto your new TV, you should definitely go with an LCD panel from Sharp because the likes of Pioneer have not managed to launch a 50-inch TV with 1080p resolution. If you want Sky HD or a Blu-ray player, get an LCD panel.”

Sharp feels justified in making such statements since they announced that their 10th generation LCD factories are prepped to go online in 2010 and will be pumping out massive LCD TVs with 100,000:1 contrast ratios and a thickness of only 20mm. 

“I think you will always have loyal Plasma buyers who enjoy the color temperature of plasma panels, but if you look at the price erosion of our sets, Plasma cannot match that. So you’re probably going to get to a situation whereby dealers will not stock Plasma anymore because consumers will just want LCD and not Plasma.

Monetto went on to say that LCD televisions are catching up in areas where Plasma was previously far superior and, in many ways, is now surpassing it.

Is Sharp right? It’s hard to say. They certainly are making powerful strides to surpass plasma screens. But will manufacturers like Panasonic allow that to happen? We’ll have to see.