Excellent picture quality and no overscanning for a great price!

I have been holding out for a long time on getting an HDTV until LCD TVs came out that had full HDTV resolution capabilities (1080i) and that didn’t have overscan. With these capabilities, I was hoping to be as future proof as I could. Finally, this year brought two models with these features: the Sony XBR2 series and the Sharp D62U series TVs.

I decided to get the Sharp because, while it had one less HDMI connector, a 46” model costs almost the same price as the Sony 40” model! I figured the extra 6” is worth sacrificing an HDMI port. I’m glad I made that decision.

I’ve made more specific comments below. I will not go into the differences between LCD, plasma, etc. as that’s a lengthy discussion not specific to the product. You can find out more information from many sites online, such as cnet.com. I personally prefer LCDs.

Resolution
In brief, HDTV comes in two resolutions: 720p and 1080i. I wanted a TV that was able to display full HDTV resolution, 1080i and this TV is able to do that. It actually displays 1080p, which is one step above 1080i, but no one broadcasts in 1080p at the moment (you can only take advantage of this if you have one of those new blue ray players or if you attach a computer). This would make the TV as future proof as possible for when broadcasters decide to move up to 1080p or if I eventually get a blue ray player.

Now there are other 1080p TVs out there. What makes the Sharp and Sony unique is the fact that you can turn off overscan! What is overscan? In the old days of non-HDTVs (ok, maybe not that old) the signal being sent isn’t perfect and usually the edges of the picture were fuzzy or noisy. So what TVs did was to “expand” or “zoom” in on the picture and make it bigger so you wouldn’t see the edges. Zooming can degrade the quality of an image as you are making the image bigger than it actually is. With a digital signal, you no longer have this problem of fuzzy and noisy edges. Unfortunately this feature continued to be carried over to the new HDTV sets. By turning off overscanning, you can see all the pixels without any zooming.

However, maybe a more important factor for me is the fact that turning off overscanning allows you to attach a computer to the TV and have it act like a regular monitor! For other TVs, it would try to “zoom” in on the computer screen and so your text would be fuzzy and sometimes not all of your screen would actually show up on the TV. There are tricks to get your computer to hook up somewhat correctly with the TV, but those tend to use special software and lots of trial and error to get the right settings. I’ve seen my friends struggle to get their TV to correctly display the computer screen. It was not fun. I was able to connect my MacBook Pro to the Sharp and have it working the first try! There was no zooming, the whole screen was present and the text looked sharp!

Picture Quality
The picture quality is amazing! I was able to pick up all the local channels with an antenna and the HDTV channels, like CSI and House were very sharp. Once you’ve seen HDTV, you can’t go back. It’s by far superior to whatever you see at the stores (which always makes me wonder. If *I* were trying to sell a TV, I would want to show the best picture the TV can produce! Unfortunately that’s not the case, and most of the material they show on their TV is crap).

I’ve also connected a computer to the TV and of course, the image was fantastic. I’ve connected the Xbox 360 to it and wow, Gears of War looks really good at 1080 on a 46”! DVDs also looked good when played from the Xbox 360 or the computer, though not as good as HDTV, but better than on a regular TV.

Some people have noticed that the image might be a little blue or red, but those can be corrected in the settings. It even does a decent job of displaying standard definition TV, though you shouldn’t expect any HDTV to do a good job of it.

There is one problem with the TV however. It is known that some TVs of this model will produce a noticeable “band” across the screen. This band varies in size, but in my case, I have a horizontal band across the entire screen that is about an inch thick and is always darker than the rest of the screen. It is unknown why this happens (maybe related to their new manufacturing facility) and supposedly Sharp will replace your TV until you get one that doesn’t have a band. I’ve contacted them and am waiting to have mine replaced.

Audio
I found the audio to be plenty respectable. The speakers are stylishly hidden underneath the TV. However, they are not detachable. You can also connect external speakers with an available optical out or through RCA cables. I have yet to increase the sound volume above half way mark. It should be noted, however, that I am not an audiophile.

General Use and Other Comments
I found the menus and channel switching to be a little slow. It takes almost a second for them to respond, but it is tolerable. I have no complaints about the layout of the remote. There is no loud buzzing sound from the TV. The viewing angle is pretty large and I can almost watch the TV from 180 degrees. It takes about 3 seconds or so for the TV to turn on.

The TV comes with 2 HDMI ports, two component inputs, RCA and S-video inputs. Switching between inputs is a snap.

The TV also has a clear QAM receiver. What this means is that if you have cable TV, you should be able to pick up any unencrypted HDTV channels from your cable provider! That means you can subscribe to just the basic service (eg. $6/month, local channels only) and be able to receive HDTV channels! Albeit, the only unencrypted channels tend to be just the HDTV versions of the local channels, but at least you don't have to fuss with the antenna.

Summary
This TV really has awesome picture quality. And 46” is huge! I am definitely happy I decide to go with the larger screen size (that is one advice everyone makes. Don’t skimp on the size! Spend the extra money; you won’t regret it.). Being able to easily connect your computer is a big plus and now I can use Front Row from my Mac. The only real problem with it is the banding, but Sharp is supposedly willing to exchange your set until you get a good set.

If you want a future proof TV, are interested in connecting your computer to it, and do not want to spend a fortune, then you should definitely consider the Sharp!