Sharp Aquos LC46D64U 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Reviews
Average Customer Rating -
Nice TV. Won't work with some home theaters, December 21, 2007
I actually do like this set and it has some great performance and wonderful features, but there two flaws I've found. Had I known about them before my purchase I probably would own gotten a different set, but after waiting weeks for this TV on backorder, I've decided to stick with it (for now). What also stuns me is, after reading dozens of reviews, scarcely anyone has mentioned these issues, but a Sharp service rep admitted these flaws himself by phone yesterday, and said no fix could be expected.
First, the set lacks a coaxial digital audio input and does not output home theater sound from DVDs. What this basically means is if you want to watch DVDs using the best cables for video (HDMI cable which also output sound to the TV from your DVD player), this set will not be able to run that surround sound audio signal to many home theaters. So this required me to sacrifice something - true 5 channel surround sound, or HDMI video. I opted to sacrifice the sound, but I'm not happy something like it. I now have to set my Sony home theater to a mode that basically does a pale imitation of surround sound, but it's not the real thing.[2010 update - as noted in comments, I did finally do paperwork to output surround sound audio but it was tricky and time consuming to figure all this out. In my view, it's a workaround to not be able to output DVD surround sound from the TV to your receiver.]
Bottom line - elevated end TVs should not require trade offs in creating a home theater.
Second, if you are using over the air HD from an antenna, Sharp admits you will see in some broadcasts a strip of data noise a few millimeters thick at the top and/or bottom of the screen. To compound the thing, the set will not allow you to adjust the horizontal or vertical position when watching an over the air broadcast. Theoretically, this might have allowed one to move the data noise off of the screen. The only workaround is to set the view mode to 'stretch' or 'zoom' or just live beside the noise. Do people really want stretched or zoomed pictures all the time?
Sorry Sharp, high end TVs should not make you do 'workarounds' that lessen the quality of the picture.
All this said, the set looks beautiful, on or bad, and the picture is fantastic. Their customer service has been good, and that is also a plus. Because I got such a great price on this set over 'Black Friday' and had to wait weeks for it, I've decided to accept the annoyances within trade off for all of the pluses many of the other reviewers here have already discussed.
[2010 update - on reliability and service. I've had the set for two years. It's performed very well overall and I love it. It did develop vertical bands (a okay known problem with this model). Getting Sharp out to service/replace it took several calls, but they eventually did it, and they seemed genuinely concerned with my satisfaction, despite some bureaucratic bungling.]
great LCD, Great Technology, Very Thin, September 25, 2007
Compared to Samsung 1080p with tons of reviews and which I returned simply because of lack of picture formats this TV rocks.
In short, Samsung provide you near great and bright LCD panels but with zero technology. so a letterbox directtv movie on a 32 inch Samsung will be actually 22" viewing area on the screen. Try to use the picture formats such as wide and zoom and you get blurry and distorted picture which is to me impossible to view. This is be Sharp step up with it's technology. Picture formats are all viewable so you can super stretch a 4:3 picture without almost any distortion. The only con is lack of brightness (450 nits compare to 500-550 in other popular LCDs) but the blacks are superior. You can increase the brightness by playing with the contrast to full but then it is not like the Samsung whites but smaller number eye soaring. I found that the Samsung brightness is great but after a while watching it sores on your eyes and the Sharp auto dimming feature is great for movies and it is fully controlled by the user.
Aside to that, this TV is probably the thinnest and idle for hanging on the wall. The connections on the back are extremely well thought after for wall hanging. It seems that what people complaint about within the previous models in series 62U is now fully addressed in the 64U.
I am perfectionist and recommend this TV. Most of my comparisons were for regular directtv broadcast.
HDTV and DVDs shows naturally prefect. The colors are well defined as oppose to Samsung and you have tons of option to program it to your taste. Sound from these little speakers is the best comparing to not a few LCDs I had. Very well done!
It needed 2-3 days to break-in and some customization. It is professional TV for professional users but very user friendly and within no time anybody can easily program the brightness, contrast, color and other cool features to its liking. This TV is also ready for the future and I find the 46" great size and incredibly well balanced.
Awesome HDTV!, September 30, 2007
If you want a 46" HDTV, buy this one!
I had a Sharp LC42D62U and then upgraded to the LC46D64U recently; the original LCD was great but there are several improvements made to the new 64 series. The 64 series LCD's are incredibly slim and hold a smaller bezel. They really look awesome wall-mounted due to the small profile. No other LCD is currently available that is this slim and has this picture quality. The 64 series TV's also add several tone and picture corrections, an analog PC input, a USB 2.0 port for firmware upgrades, an RS-232 control port and three HDMI 1.3 inputs. The picture quality actually seems to be slightly better which is amazing because the 62 series looked fantastic (specifications indicate a better backlight system).
I am a professional AV systems design engineer and part of my brief is to keep up on new TVs. This unit is currently the best we've seen for a consumer model and we specify it all the time. I highly recommend this unit or any of the 64 series.
1080P beautiful & Awesome TV, December 3, 2007
I bought this Tv on Balck Friday at Best Buy at 50%. I didn't stand in queue for 2 days but i went to check out if anything was left at 7AM.
I needed to buy HDTV only so i went straight there. I saw this TV up on the wall and right next to it was Samsung 46"@ $2200+ and this was reduced to $1399. I compared these 2 & Sony(3rd surrounded by line). This won me over as i found Shark's eye(Video being played) was richest Black on this TV then Samsung & Sony.
Its beautifull to look at.
Got it at home now installed & running for more than a week.
I hooked it up to my PS3 with 3Pin cable and results were amazing .. I ordered HDMI cable 2 days back and can't wait to check out the picture with HDMI nouns.
PROS:
1. Price, BEAUTIFUL & sleek finish with silver speakers at bottom.
2. Picture Qaulity is SHARP & rich. Colours are Vivid, BLACK is Deep black.
3. Easy to setup, thin like 4 pancakes, stcaked.
4. Regular DVDs/Video games look alive on this TV.
5. Tons of HDMI & other connectivty ports.
CONS:
1. Remote is too big.
2. Caliberation is not easy to do & i could find much help online as well.
3. I'm skeptical about Banding Issues(as i have read it all over the lattice for this TV) Although I've not seen any yet but i'm afraid it might show up on any fine day.
4. TV Speakers are disappointment.
Overall I'm very PLEASED with this product. I recommend this to anyone who's looking to buy a Great 1080P 46 inches TV.
Decent picture quality, but has problems overall, April 23, 2008
This TV has pretty good picture element, a slick design, and intuitive menu, however all this is ruined by a major design flaw -- BANDING. Google "sharp acquos banding" is you don't know what I'm referring to. It's basically horizontal and vertical bands of uneven uniformity on the screen. Shows itself the most during panning shots (hockey games, wall pans on HGTV, etc., etc.) It's too bad, because I really like this TV, but the banding ruined it and I ended up returning it. Bought the Samsung 46A550 instead and it is by far a much better set. (And cheaper too through Amazon.)
harp Does it again! Excellent Unit, November 4, 2007
I bought this unit at Sharp Direct. It took one month. Just 30 minutes to install and right there an excellent picture, easy to use and adjust. At first some blinking, eliminate the OPC feature and problem solved. I still don't have any HD playback device, I'm still using my old regular DVD player and still looks fantastic. My father has a Samsung and my sister a Sony and none of them comes close to the doll quality of the Sharp Aquos. I highly recommend this TV set and the Sharp brand.
Never thought I would be buying a Sharp!!, December 10, 2007
I had always spent the extra money on buying TV's with the Sony models. Sony TV's for me had always been great. I decided to move about with Sharp because I knew this TV was going to be on sale at a brick and mortar store for Black Friday and wanted to save money this go around. So I went to the store to check out the TV before the Dutch auction to see if it would be worth getting up early. After conversing with the sales person and seeing the picture and comparing the picture to the other TV's there it was a no-brainer. I probably would have paid more for this TV. It is awesome. I play playstation 3 games in 1080p and blue gleam dvd's and what a picture. Its awesome. The sales guy actually talked up the Sharp which was less expensive than the Samsung and LG tv's. You can't go wrong with this TV.
Very good - but only while it last, January 23, 2008
I had the Sharp Aquos LC46D64U 46" 1080p LCD HDTV since the Black Friday sale I was very impressed with it until the dreaded "Blinking Green Power Light Syndrome" struck. My TV powered off by itself and and will not power back on. I did a quick search on the internet and found out that I am not alone near this problem. The TV repair shop will take the TV for repair tomorrow and we'll see how long it last after the repairs.
UPDATE:
TV came back from the repair shop, worked for 2 minutes and then died again - blinking green light. I hope this thing can get fixed and stay fixed for the Superbowl. BTW, the repair shop replaced 3 inverters and the power supply.
MORE UPDATE:
The repair shop called and suggested that I reset the TV by:
1. Unplug the TV
2. Keep the Channel Down and Volume Up button pressed at one and the same time, then plug in the power cord.
3. If you hear a click when you plugged it in, chances are you had successfully re-set the TV.
Great picture quality, slim design and faster response time, November 29, 2007
I bought this TV 2 months ago from Sharp direct and had no problems installing it. I have been looking at this TV for sometime and visit CC to compare other similar models.
Things I liked about this TV:
Slim design (25% slimmer than comparable models)
Weighs only 55LBS compared to the LC46D62U which is 70LBS
4 Ms response time (this helps reduce the flickering effect commonly seen in LCD TVs when compared to Plasma and CRT)
Good overall picture quality
Great price
I liked the clarity and colors better within the Sony and Samsung 46" models when compared side by side by. But you pay a higher price for those models.
For the price, I think the Aquos offers a great HDTV package.
Very Happy...., December 22, 2007
Purchased this tv @ 6th Ave last night. Origonally targeted the samsung 4665 but a friend alerted me to the Sharp price reduction. Talked to a bunch of verizon service techs and the general concensus be Sharp, Sony or Panasonic are worth the money. The others are iffy, and by reading all the reviews on the latest LCD's, they're right. Stayed up til 2am hooking it up, big difference from the old Pioneer rear proj I had. MAKE SURE your cable box is sending the 1080i signal out to tv or you will not get the picture you are looking for. Check the cable box manual for instructions, OR try this. (after you have hooked up your tv to cable box) Still in 480 mode? make tracks tv on, turn off cable box, push and hold menu button on cable box and the menu to change the res. should pop up. Do yourself a favor, go to Costco and get the fiber optic cables package for $75. Much cheaper than getting overpriced ones along with tv purchase. DEFINITELY purchase the longest extended warrantee with this, not a big fan of ext. warr's but its a primary purchase. Remote control takes time to get used to. PICTURE IS AWESOME! Purchase was worth it in the long run. Wanted to get last years model for $1388 but for $300 more I got a better tv all around. You can prob find it a bit cheaper but I had the money presently and got the "itch" so.... Thinner, smaller bezel, lighter, blacks are black, no trailing or shadowing on fast action, side inputs for gaming, 1 more HDMI input (3) and a PC input, 4 ms response are the upgrades from last years model. I cant walk away from it. Worst part is, Im leaving for Fla. for Christmas tomorrow and my house sitter is going to have all the fun beside my new tv. Its only been a day so take my review for what its worth. If probs occur, I will re-post. Merry Christmas....
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