Generally speaking, Sharp's
AQUOS line is a pretty safe bet. That being said, its 46-inch
LC-46D85U didn't fare too well under the scrutiny of
CNET. Reviewers did point out that it displayed accurate color once calibration was complete, and they also admired the copious quantity of inputs and the "understated, no-nonsense styling." Still, the uneven backlight uniformity (which produced banding), light black levels and lack of dejudder video processing pretty much nullified the previously mentioned gains. In the end, the troubling quirks associated with the image quality all but eliminated it from consideration given its lofty price tag ($1,700+), which should be quite troubling to the ears at Sharp -- particularly with a
heralded KURO LCD HDTV rolling
stateside in under a year.
posted Nov 8th 2008 3:56PM
I wonder how this compares the LC-46D64U which can be had in a two-for-$2K at Costco.com special.
I agree with you Ghost Doggy, I had a 64U for around 6-7 months and honestly the blacks and color depth looked great to me compared to my previous (and still owned) Toshiba 72MX195. The 72MX195 sure does give a nice large picture but the blacks just are not as deep due to the lesser contrast ratio.
Honestly though, the 64U to me seems like a pretty much perfect Hd picture atm when I put a 1080p video file on. When I look at new hdtv sets, they do look a bit better picture wise but after you get to about 10:000 to 1 dynamic contrast ratio, I stop seeing a very noticeable different like say 20:000 : 1 or 50:000:1 or 100,000:1. I suppose the newer 1,000,000:1 ratios might make a difference but once something looks as clear as real life? You can't really get much better.
With the great price per performance ratio, I'd almost rather prefer the 2 tvs for 2k. One for a bedroom and one for a living room. Personally, I'd rather go one step further and get one of the many 1080p projectors available in Canada for the 2k price range. Combine that with a nice white painted wall or a projector screen and you'd be set with a good, large, clear crisp hd picture.
I wish CNET would stop pointing to the backlight as an explanation for Sharp's screen banding issues. It's both incorrect and not that simple. That the D85 still has this problem isn't surprising, but finding out that the D65 did not was a surprise until I realized that was because it doesn't use a Sharp manufactured panel (I believe it is sourced from CMO). That they knock it's black level performance really says something about how quickly the LCD industry is still improving. Just 2 years ago when Sharp's current panel process debuted their black levels were head and shoulders above anything else on the market.
Of course since CNET compares everything they review to the 2G Kuros it's not surprising to see how often they mentioned "produces a lighter shade of black" in their review summaries. Everything else does in comparison afterall.
I had a Sharp lc-46d82u. Had baning they replaced it. The replacement has banding I am getting a lc-46d85u next week.
Any hope this will be the last replacement :)
Brian
So, Wes, you're saying the 2 for 2k bundles are not just dumping marginal product to make room for the newest latest & greatest but rather an aggressive competitive response to the struggling economy/holiday season etc?
And just how bad is this 'banding' many are mentioning here?