New IGZO Nintendo Switch display to be provided by Sharp

What you need to know

• Sharp Corporation is a Japanese-Taiwanese supplier of electronic products, such as displays .
• Per a report from The Wall Street Journal, Sharp will be providing IGZO panels for Nintendo.
• These IGZO panels are high-quality, with great durability and low power-consumption.

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Sharp Corporation will be providing new IGZO panels for Nintendo. While it is possible that these screens are for the new Nintendo Switch model with a longer-lasting battery that is currently being deployed, this was not specified. When asked about what Sharp was providing for Nintendo, Katsuaki Nomura, Vice President of Sharp, said that "We will provide what we are most good at, IGZO."

IGZO stands for indium gallium zinc oxide, and the IGZO panels that Sharp manufactures are high-quality, featuring low battery consumption, good durability and great resolution. They are used in many high-end products such as OLED TVs and would be perfect for the Nintendo Switch. Currently, the Nintendo Switch uses a silicon-based display that serves well enough but some users have encountered issues like scratches when not using a screen protector.

Nintendo is launching two new Nintendo Switch versions over the coming months, one that is essentially the same but with a far better battery life, as well as the Nintendo Switch Lite, which a handheld-only version.

With the launch Nintendo Switch model being phased out and replaced by the variant with a much better battery capacity, it's not clear which Nintendo Switch model will be recieving these new panels. It's possible that both versions of the console will be using them, or that neither are and these panels are being used in a future upgrade.