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Sharp EL-805

Date of introduction:  May 15, 1973 Display technology:  COS-LCD
New price:  ¥26.800, US$110 Display size:  8
Size:  4.8" x 3.2" x 0.85"
 121 x 81 x 22 mm3
   
Weight:  6.5 ounces, 185 grams Serial No:  4006446
Batteries:  1*AA Date of manufacture:  mth 10 year 1974
AC-Adapter:   Origin of manufacture:  Japan
Precision:  8 Integrated circuits:  
Memories:      
Program steps:   Courtesy of:  Joerg Woerner

We wrote May 15, 1973 when Sharp Corporation released the EL-805 calculator, starting a revolution in electronics. Until then, calculators used fluorescent character display tubes or light-emitting diodes. Using LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) for the number display meant that power consumption was cut dramatically - to a mere 1/100th of previous calculators. This astonishing leap in energy efficiency gave users 100 hours on one AA battery. Read more about power consumption of electronic calculators here. Sharp's unique silver-colored COS-LCD display was three years later replaced with the EL-8020 by the common yellow-screen FEM-type display. Just as importantly, it meant that calculators were about to become much smaller and slimmer. Although the EL-805 cost twice as much as previous calculators, it was an international sensation.

EL-805S_1.jpg (17883 Byte)The EL-805 was marketed as electronic calculator employing COS (Calculator on Substrate) technique, which was LCD and CMOS LSI on a single glass substrate.

The EL-805 was the first calculator copied from the first screw to the last piece of layout work. Read the incredible story of the Russian B3-04 calculator.

The EL-8010 was one of the last calculators using the silver-colored COS-LCD display.

Don't miss the huge EL-808 desktop calculator featuring a bare silver-colored COS-LCD display in action.

The first LCD calculator sold by Texas Instruments could be found in the TI-1750.

Read more about Sharp Corporation’s Calculator Innovations.

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If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.

© Joerg Woerner, December 25, 2001. No reprints without written permission.