Best value on the market

I looked at this set and the TC-P65V10 in Best Buy before I purchased it here. Using the same input I could not tell more that a tiny marginal difference in the V10's 96hz 24p feature and this set without. I also looked at the 60" KURO and while it did look better calibrated it was not worth the more than "double the price" premium. I could tell a difference in the price though and back in my in home all I can say is "WOW what a picture". This performance available at this Amazon price point is the value of the year in television IMHO.



I bought the new TC-P54G10 in early September and also have a 720P 50" TH-50PX80U model. While the TC-P65S1 Panasonic does not have THX I was not as impressed with the THX settings as I thought I would be and prefer to use the custom settings. In my opinion this is still by far the best picture of the three sets I own. It shares the same Neo-PDP glass as the 54G10 but at 65" the 1080 ability really shows through. Even at the 54" size I cannot tell the difference with the 720 sets but this 65S1 shines like a star. I watched the Thursday night college football game on ESPNHD and spent more time being amazed at the picture than at the game and it was a darn good game.



This set is in a big room 19' x 26' 12" ceiling with lots of glass windows behind it and sliding doors. The anti glare works well really great.

They need to add the ability to use Netflix right from the set and add more picture control ability for fine tuning and calibration of the picture.



Panasonic really knows their stuff. I can't wait until they come out with a 100" or better Plasma that folks who are not a Rap-Star can afford.



Don't hesitate to purchase through Amazon!More detail ...

8500UB Very Nice

This is my first projector. I tend to be extremely picky about my image and sound quality. I was nervous and somewhat skeptacle going from my 62" DLP TV to a projector. I researched different projectors for weeks. Every time I looked up a review for one projector it would mention a different one for comparison. I would then have to research that one. I ended up creating a spreadsheet listing prices pro's con's and more finer details. I ended up settling for the 8500UB since many sites rave about it.



I wish I could have given 4.5 stars on this review. I wouldn't call it a perfect 5 nor would I call it a 4. I am overall very pleased with the projector and it is well worth $2500. Shop around and you'll save a lot. I ordered mine at [...]



I have about 30 hours on it. I still fiddle with the color calibration settings. [...] has a decent starting point for calibration.

Since it is LCD you have much wider flexability where it can be mounted. The problem with the offsets is image distortion especially side to side. Plan to mount it in the center with VERY little side offsets. See note 2 below. Side offset makes the image twist appear out of level. Over the width of a large screen being off-level slightly is very noticeable.



The two very minor things I would mark it down for:

1.
Small dark text on a light background can get slightly washed out. It is still legible just not crisp.

2.
I use the projector as my main TV. Not everything is broadcast in HD widescreen. I have it ceiling mounted with a standard 8' ceiling with 110" 16:9 grey screen. Full screen 4:3 images have a very slight trapezoid effect. Since the projector is closer to the top of the screen light has to travel further to get to the bottom. It is slightly wider at the bottom. Again I am very picky!!! A friend viewing would probably not notice.



Screen Tip: Make sure the screen has a velvet frame because the black velvet absorbs light. Since the trapezoid effect is noticeable with full screen images if you overshoot widescreen images just a hair they will appear square and you don't notice trapezoid effects at all.



Washout: If you have a lot of ambient light in the room you will definitely have washout. I highly recommend blackout curtains for sunlight.



Noise: The projector is very quiet. I have it mounted on my ceiling about two feet behind my couch. Occasionally I can hear the Iris shift but I have to be listening for it. Quiet scenes in a movie are no problem.



Color is fantastic. Nice deep dark blacks and shadow effects. HD signals and Blu-Ray discs are awesome. With a little planning setup is a breeze.More detail ...

Super Bright Clear Fast 3D LED TV

I have delayed upgrading to HDTV for quite a while waiting for better technology and lower prices. I decided to try the Samsung 40 inch LED HDTV capable of 3D after watching a number of different sets from a number of different manufacturers. I specifically avoided the Plasma type TVs due to the large amount of Radio Frequency Interference that they generate. The Samsung TV has a beautiful bright Clear color picture and meets all of my expectations!! On black and white shows the picture is almost too good as it is very crisp! On 3D movies using the required 3D glasses the picture is just plain astounding!!!!! It feels like you are in the middle of the action. For the price the 40 inch Samsung is highly recommended as a BEST BUY by me!!! If you want to watch 3D blu-ray movies you must purchase the 3D specific Blu-Ray player from Samsung as well as the Samsung 3D glasses. Not inexpensivebut well worth the money!! I LOVE Mine!



Samsung UN40C7000 40-Inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D LED HDTV (Black)More detail ...

Picture Quality Stood Out vs All the Others

I've had this TV for just over 24 hours and so far I'm pleased. I chose the LG 5400 after visiting the local blue and yellow store as they were changing over their 2009 models to the 2010s. I was initially impressed by the Samsung LED LCDs and was getting close to buying the Samsung 7100 (7000 everywhere else with a red ToC vs. Grey at this store) when on my third trip to the store they had just put the LG up on the wall. The picture stood out right away from the Samsungs and the Panasonic Plasma above it. The other decidng factor over the Samsung was the matte screen on the LG. The Samsungs have a high gloss screen just like a Plasma which is a problem for the room that I planned to put the TV in. It has multiple windows and lots of light so a high gloss screen would reflect way too much. As for the Pro's and Cons here's what I have noticed so far:



Pro's: Picture quality with deep blacks and sharp contrast picture adjustment wizard and ability to tweak it to the Nth degree including judder sleek case appearance internet widgets (haven't played with these too much yet so they might just be toys to brag about but not too useful) Solid build

Cons: missing some features that others in the price range have like local dimming LEDs PIP/POP room light sensing and a universal remote 120hz instead of 240hz (not that I've noticed a problem yet).



Lastly a note about mounting this TV on a wall; all of the permanent hook-ups are on the back surface (i.e not recessed into the case) so if you plan to use a low profile mount you'll need right angle adapters for everything (HDMI Component Video VGA etc). You'll need at least 1.75" of clearance from the back of the TV to the wall to get all your connections made. You'll also need to use a recessed outlet. I ended up scrapping the low profile mount and using a tilting mount that gave me 2.5" of clearance. Made life alot easier at the sacrifice of some sleekness on the wall. This shouldn't have been a big surprise given how thin the TV is but I made the mistake. Oh well. After I've lived with this TV for a while longer I'll post an update but so far so good.More detail ...

Great TV but is very much WORK IN PROGRESS

FINAL UPDATE 04/01/2010:

I have to return my Vizio due to the constant re-booting happens a lot when I try to utilize the PIP/POP feature and just tonight when I tried to activate the CC when I was using the input for TV. VIZIO tech support has said that this is not normal and wanted to ship a replacement but I said no because:

1) Weird side panel which VIZIO now admits they will be correcting in a re-design of the exterior housing by late spring 2010 or early summer 2010

2) The very unlit remote with too few special feature buttons and poor spacing between the buttons

3) Tech support unable to say when or if the USB ports will ever be turned on!

4) Tech support also said the use of LED back lighting is the reason for the poor on-screen space utilization when the PIP/POP feature is on. Tech support said this will be resolved in the PRO series which they say will have more LED zones to allow for better on-screen space utilization when POP is activated.



I do not know what I will be getting but one room is about to have no TV soon...egad!!! I will soon have some pretty upset teenagers in my house.













Updated review 03/08/2010: Since the review below I would like to add some updates for those interested. One reviewer stated something about "stains/shadows" in the right corners but I could not find any on my unit nor the 4" shadow that from the reviewer's description would run diagonally across the screen. I am looking but nothing. I still rate the picture a 5 and the audio a solid 4 but the remote though is just too difficult to use in the dark or even in low lighting situations. Given VIZIO's design for the remote to replace your other remotes it is not useful as that due to lack of a glow button. The remote is still good but only for part of the day and again the remote still is lacking many dedicated "special" feature buttons.

My biggest concern though is the TV "locking up and re-booting" which it seems to do more frequently when I utilized the PIP/POP feature. I have a call in to VIZIO and several e-mails and they are currently researching the issue. I think for the price the TV is a great bargain and while I am no videophile/audiophile I think again for this price range the quality of the audio/video is excellent but they do need to fix certain issues. The re-booting the missing glow and extra feature buttons on the remote the side panel toggle switch functions turning on all the USB ports and the PIP/POP to better utilize the screen space and fix the audio shutting off from the main screen when you turn off the PIP/POP. The VIA apps rock and really make the TV a joy to use I hope they add YouTube soon.

Like other reviewers myself included: BE WARY OF THE REVIEWS ON THE VIZIO SITE.













The TV itself is great but not as slim as I expected it to be given how much slimmer my one year plus old VIZIO SV470XVT1A" LCD is. Let's start with what is good about the VIZIO 55". The remote is good and basically takes over all your other remotes and the on screen set-up of the unit is relatively straight forward as well.The wired Ethernet connection worked flawlessly but I can not speak to the wireless capabilities as I did not use that feature. The picture for me was much cleaner and brighter than my VIZIO 47" and to me needed no further adjustments. The VIA apps were easy to access use and more are being added such as PANDORA...added 2 days after I got my TV. One of the main reasons I love VIZIO is the PIP and more specifically the Picture outside Picture (POP)capabilities of their TVs. I believe VIZIO is the only company that provides the POP to their TVs. PLEASE NOTE as of 03/01/2010: My earlier review said the volume level needed to be very high to be heard clearly but I now realize I am "deaf" lol and so to me the sound is now very good.The price for features and quality was very good to excellent and really can not be beat but...



This Vizio 55" was really put out before its time as many items are either not working or will be at a supposedly later time or the design layout was weird and needed to be corrected before being sent out. I think VIZIO skimped on the number of non-HDMI connections giving you just one each of Component and A/V inputs if your like me you have several legacy non-HDMI components. I say skimped because VIZIO seems to be reducing inputs on its TVs compared to models from less than a year ago the VF551XVT has 2 components and 2 AV inputs per the online manual. Yes the VF552XVT has Ethernet capability and VIA apps but I mean if they want to continue to be a standout from SAMSUNG and other high ends then they need to keep these extras as well.



What I think is the real design FLAW: the side panel controls in the manual on page 11 shows a logical layout of the controls but the actual TV itself does not look like that layout but rather: Menu and Channel Up are on the same toggle switch; The Channel Down and Volume Up are on the same toggle switch; and the Volume Down and Input are on the same toggle switch. When I called VIZIO (twice) both times they said the manual picture is generic and applies to many of their TVs and the picture is not an accurate reflection of this model but at the same time did acknowledge that the design of the side controls was non-intuitive.



The first time I used Netflix it seemed to lock up my TV and I was unable to turn it off via remote or the side panel off button. I finally unplugged it and called VIZIO who said that the TV can lock up and in the future hold the side power button down for 30 seconds or more the issue never happened again. UPDATE 03/01/2010: Over the past few days since the NETFLIX LOCKUP the TV will on its own for no reason I can discern "reboot". I will update if it continues but it has happened now about 5 times. I think it may be because of updates to the apps but I am guessing. I have not called VIZIO yet on this batch of reboots but will if it continues. I am very happy with my VIA apps and the new addition of PANDORA but wish the other apps that already have icons were active I am greedy lol.



I should also mention that none of the 3 side USB ports are activated as well but I saw that an earlier reviewer says they are but on my TV they are not. I called VIZIO and they said not at this time. This again is weird as the model before this has one USB port and that is active per the on screen manual. If you look at the on-screen manual for the VF551XVT it indicates in the manual the port is active and even has a corresponding button to use the port on the remote control. No such control is on the VF552XVT remote in fact...



I think the VF552XVT has a good remote and while it does take over many of your other remotes flawlessly the remote given its size does not have ANY dedicated buttons to call up many of the most used features of the TV. Features such as: changing the TV aspect ratio; changing the PIP size; changing the PIP input source and changing the audio from the Main screen to the PIP input; a mode button to switch between all the pre-set color settings; nor buttons to select the input source. My old VIZIO 47" remote had ALL THESE EXTRA FEATURE BUTTONS AND MORE some were used a lot and others not so much but always better to HAVE THAN NOT HAVE. TRUST ME FROM PRIOR EXPERIENCE THE ABILITY TO CHANGE THE PIP INPUT SOURCE AND AUDIO AND SIZE IS FANTASTIC AS WELL AS BEING ABLE TO CHANGE THE TV ASPECT RATIO AND MODE. I believe VIZIO either spent too much on the QWERTY keypad or just went giddy adding the QWERTY keypad and forgot how having these special feature buttons on the remote make using the TV much easier. Easier in that use of...



The on screen menu is fantastic but calling it up blocks out about a 25% of the left side of the screen from top to bottom which is very disconcerting especially if you are trying to make adjustments to the picture. It would have been more prudent if the menu had to be so large to then have the balance of the screen show the movie/broadcast but in "squashed" form without having that portion of the picture covered by the menu. Further the POP feature shows the two images side by side but with black bars top and bottom which reduces the overall size of the POP images by about 40-60%...no kidding. I mean you have a big screen with all this unused space when you utilized the POP feature.



I love the VIZIO TV price point with features but clearly this TV NEEDS the USB ports activated and the side panel issues addressed and many more dedicated buttons on the remote to avoid having to always call up a very distracting on-screen menu. The remote while very good is LACKING A MUCH NEEDED GLOW BUTTON and more separation between the buttons. If you buy the TV you will see what I mean by button separation. Look at the on screen manual for the VF552XVT and look at the remote page (enlarge that page about 300%) and compare it to any remotes you have at home and look at those button separation distance in the dark you will appreciate those button separation distances especially with no glow button. In addition I think the TV is too thick given these are newer models and should be to me much slimmer. My old VIZIO (47" LCD) is about 3 1/2" at its thickest and 2" at its slimmest while the VF552XVT at its slimmest is over 4" thick and at its thickest about 5".



At this time 03/01/2010 I am think of doing more research and maybe getting another LCD brand SAMSUNG as I like their picture quality but really would like to stay with VIZIO if they can fix the remote issues and USB activation soon. I also hate to give up my POP feature which seems to be unique to VIZIO?





I RATE THE OVERALL TV A 3 BUT PICTURE IS A 5 AND SOUND IS A 4. WOULD I CONTINUE TO BUY VIZIO? YES BUT I WOULD TRY TO CHECK OUT THE FEATURES AND REMOTES NEXT TIME AT A STORE BEFORE BUYING SIGHT UNSEEN. I TRIED TO POST THIS REVIEW AT VIZIO WEBSITE 3 SEPARATE TIMES I ALSO SENT AN EMAIL TO THEIR CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND THEY RESPONDED THAT IT IS IN MODERATION. YET OTHER CUSTOMER REVIEWS ARE BEING POSTED DAILY IF THEY ARE GOOD SO PLEASE BE WARY OF THE REVIEWS AT THE VIZIO SITE. VIZIO SEEMS TO ONLY POST RAVING REVIEWS OF THEIR PRODUCTS ON THEIR SITE. I HOPE THIS HELPS THOSE ABOUT TO PURCHASE. IT IS A GOOD TV BUT GIVEN IT IS THEIR CURRENT FLAGSHIP I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE BETTER ACTIVATED AND MORE BUTTONS ON THE REMOTE AND A GLOW BUTTON TOO. I HAVE UPLOADED IMAGES OF THE SIDE PANEL ISSUETHE PICTURE OUTSIDE OF PICTURE (POP) ISSUE AND THE ON SCREEN MENU.More detail ...

Be cautious with the UNC Models

This isn't going to be a full videophile review; only a word of caution. After purchasing this TV on the second day the menu would pop up and try to change to component or another mode (like store demo mode) or it would change the viewing settings from "normal" to the "spanish soap opera" looking one while we were watching TV.

The bottom right of the screen has a red light that indicates that the remote is being used and it was constantly flashing during the times it was acting possessed or someone was inadvertently sitting on the remote. After taking out the batteries on the remote it continued. In fact it got so bad that we couldn't do anything with the TV we couldn't even turn it off- we had to unplug it for a bit. Then it would be ok for a short while.

After calling Samsung they directed us to a local TV repair place. We described the problem and they contacted Samsung. The TV repair place didn't even bother coming out they wanted to order the part that was necessary to fix it.



Because of this issue and the flashlighting in the corners of the screen we decided to return it. I honestly didn't want a TV that had to be worked on after the second day. The TV repair place was really pressing us to get it fixed but Amazon said they would not take it back if it had any work done on it. So we returned it as is.



We have been waiting for the refund to get the UN46C8000 and I started looking at the reviews and the comments for that one. Apparently others have been having this problem with the other model as well!



So just be careful. I don't know how well it works after being fixed but it appears to be a very common problem with this years models.More detail ...

Amazing dark room LCD.

I spent hours researching and looking at TVs in the store before buying this 55" monster. I actually returned a plasma I had purchased in order to get this TV and I am very glad I did. This TV will require some playing around in the menu settings and the settings of your input source (HD TV cable box and PS3 for me). Once dialed in though it shines. The previous reviewers are telling the truth about the glossy screen it will rainbow on you with heavy light coming in from windows or anything else that's bright and pointed at the TV however if you plan on putting it in a dark room like I did its extremely nice. I could have gotten the smaller 46" version with the matte screen to eliminate this rainbow glare but this glossy screen gives deeper blacks if used in the right conditions and that is exactly what I wanted. The only down side to this TV besides the reflective screen is the input lag. It's not as great as some other LCD's out there but to be honest I'd rather have this slighter higher input lag while gaming than give up all the other qualities this TV brings to the table. You are going to be hard pressed to find an LCD out right now that does everything as well as this TV but with better lag. So as long as you're ok with ~50-80 ms input lag in game mode a screen that is really meant for a darker room and can take the time to dial in all the settings this TV is will make you one happy camper.More detail ...

Incredible picture quality but with very clunky extra features.

PICTURE



In terms of video quality this TV is awesome. I can't imagine how the picture could be much better.



There are some minor picture quality issues with off-angle viewing (as the CNET review states) but I think CNET exaggerates the severity -- it's only noticeable to me if I'm far off center.



I haven't yet noticed any blooming effects.



Setting the "judder reduction" to 10 introduces some distortion at times but a setting of 6 smoothes out motion well without noticeable distortion. However this varies a bit with different source material. When viewing video files via DLNA that have a lower frame rate the judder reduction setting can sometimes make things worse. But this is easy to turn off/on by source.



The color level seemed slightly off initially even with CNET's recommended settings. For example sometimes a blue sky would look slightly purple (i.e. too much red). But this was easily adjusted in the picture settings.



AUDIO



I don't use the TV's audio since I have an external speaker setup. However the TV's audio seemed a bit bland when I tried it.



Unfortunately digital audio output from the TV does not pass through multi-channel audio from HDMI inputs. You need to run extra digital audio cables from your DVD player and other components to your AV receiver if you'd like Dolby Digital or DTS sound.



ENERGY



I measured the electricity usage at 110-115 watts (energy saving mode at "auto" volume off picture adjusted per CNET recommendation). Setting energy saving mode to auto doesn't seem to hurt the picture quality at all.



This is very energy efficient -- it uses less power than my old 32" CRT TV. I'm amazed at how little heat I can feel coming from the back of the set.



REMOTE



If you have a universal learning remote it will not be able to learn from the RF remote that comes with this TV (i.e. since standard remotes are IR rather than RF). However I called Samsung and they sent me a compatible IR remote free of charge. With that remote I was able to program my universal learning remote. Ask for remote BN59-00851A.



BUILD QUALITY



One small build quality issue that I encountered: the plastic at the base of my TV extended a bit too far making it impossible to fit it into the stand. I had to carve away some of the plastic in the slots of the stand just to get it to fit which made me a bit uneasy. But other than that the build quality is fine.



MEDIA FEATURES



Viewing video files via DLNA works well for the file types that are supported. Although I've encountered many files that the TV doesn't play for one reason or another the ones that it does play work well. I regularly stream 1080p video files from my PC and the picture looks perfect (with wired Ethernet).



The TV has a variety of Internet and media features. But unfortunately there are lots of quality issues such as:



1. When playing video files through USB DLNA or Internet features most TV controls are disabled. While you can adjust basic picture settings you can't choose 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios. In playing NTSC video (i.e. any video that came from standard def TV home movies etc) from USB or DLNA the aspect ratio is *always wrong*: 16:9 video is always squeezed too thin and 4:3 video is always stretched too fat.



2. There is no fast forward rewind or chapter advance when playing video clips or movies. This is true of playing YouTube videos as well. Although there is a "skip" feature where you can jump in increments (e.g. 10 seconds) this is only available for some video files (most don't support this in my experience).



3. As the CNET review stated the Yahoo widgets are extremely slow to start. Note that this has nothing to do with your Internet speed since I have a 25 Mbit Internet service with wired Ethernet to the TV and it's still painfully slow. I have an HD TiVo with a lot of the same features as the Yahoo widgets and that is far more enjoyable to use. But the one area where the Yahoo widgets outperformed TiVo was YouTube -- the Yahoo YouTube widget can play HD video clips as HD but TiVo plays them as SD.



4. If a media file played through DLNA (and I assume USB) has multiple audio channels there is no way to choose which audio to play along with the video.



5. Does not support DTS audio.



I assume that these problems exist with all Samsung TVs with the Media 2.0 feature. Perhaps these problems will be fixed in a future software update. If so I'll post an update (*** still no fixes to these issues as of 5/9/10 ***).More detail ...

Big beautiful affordable! Highly Recommended!

The Sharp LC-60E77UN is a dream come true. Excellent image quality superb black levels smooth motion and a true home theator experience.



I have been looking around at replacing my two year old Sharp Aquos 42" lcd for the past few months. It was a great tv but I recently moved to a bigger house and needed a bigger tv in my huge great room. I used the 42" for a variety of things: computer monitor bluray's dvd's games and normal tv viewing. I looked at plasma's LED LCD's DLP's and CCFL LCD's. I knew I wanted at least a 55" screen so I could read internet sized font from back on my couch (8-10' away) but still keep the tv set on 1080p. I also love the immersive effect from a big screen. I looked for deep blacks good motion viewing angles and an excellent contrast ratio.



First I looked at plasma's and I finally ended up buying one after finding a great price on a 65" panny S1. But after reading about the still prevalent burn-in issues and huge (780w!) power requirements I decided to return it and stick with an LCD. I don't need to see what my electric bill would be like after running a hairdryer for 4-6 hours a day.



I then looked at the new LED tv's from Vizio Samsung Sharp and Sony. They had great contrast ratios and deep blacks but were priced much higher than the traditional CCFL tv's. The other problem was that they stopped at 55" and I would preferred to go bigger.



I got sidetracked by some of the DLP tv's huge sizes at low prices and while they have improved a ton over the years there are still several inherent problems with that style of tv that I could not put up with.



Then I looked at some of the traditional CCFL backlit tv's. While most manufacturers only went up to a 55" in size sharp recently came out with a new 60" and 65" at a decent price. Keep in mind that while the difference between a 55" and 60" and likewise a 60" and a 65" doesn't sound like a lot the total opposite is true. An extra 5" added along the diagonal at these sizes adds a TON more area. For instance a 60" tv has over DOUBLE the area of a 42". A 60" is a very noticeable step up from a 55" in size. While I ended up settling on the 60" version of this TV I did consider the 65" but just couldn't justify the extra 800-1000$ sharp wants for it. Also at sizes that big 1080p starts to break down unless you sit far away from the tv.



Since sharp had the price of this 60" LCD right around what some of the 55" LED tv's were going for I spent a lot of time deciding between the two. The store that I was at played the classic trick of setting the more expensive LED tv's to a more colorful bright setting to somehow make them look better than their cheaper traditionally backlit counterparts. After messing around with some of the other 55" CCFL backlit tv's I couldn't quite get them looking as good as the LED versions. Then I messed around with this 60" sharp totally different ball game. After putting the backlight back down to more common levels turning the brightness down a notch upping the color and upping the contrast a touch I got this guy to look just as good (if not better!) than any of the 55" LED's (even the samsung 8-series). I don't know what sharp did with this panel but the black levels were very deep and the whites were still sparkly white. Maybe it has something to do with the new Kameyama plant that these are built at. The black levels were on par with the panny S1 plasma but the colors and bright scenes were so much more vivid.



Many manufacturers use 8-bit panels to save on some cost but this is one of the only 10-bit panel's available in this size. Color experts can explain better the technical differences between 8-bit and 10-bit color but to my eyes it just means more deep rich colors.



Another thing I liked about this panel was that it has a semi-gloss screen. Unlike my older sharp which has a full matte screen that washes out more at wider viewing angles this screen keep's its deep black's throughout a much greater viewing angle. I will admit though that the plasma's had noticablely better viewing angle's than any LCD I looked at but it wasn't worth all the drawback's of plasmas. I do get some glare off the screen in the day but it is partially diffused and isn't very distracting. This tv really shines at night though.



As part of testing I also hooked up a laptop through HDMI into the tv. After messing around with the window's resolution output I got the screen stable at full 1080p. I stood back 10 feet and was still able to read google new's the weather forecast facebook and all my other internet sites. A slight bump up in windows DPI and even people with less than perfect eye sight could clearly read the text. I really don't understand why people pay hundreds extra for tv's with internet connectivity when a $300 computer can be hooked up to this tv and run bluray's go to ANY internet site and stream music and video.



While almost all the new LCD's are coming out with LED backlighting a lot of people don't realize that CCFL backlights have been evolving over the 10+ years they have been out. Remember back 6 year's ago how horrible the black levels were on LCD's? Well those tv's were backlit with CCFL just like this tv is today. The only difference? Sharp has virtually perfected it with this new model. Smooth even dark blacks that are easily on par with any LED tv I've seen. Now I do think LED is the superior technology and will noticablely surpass CCFL in the next 2-3 years but for now they are on their first and second generations and they still have some bugs to be worked out. CCFL blacklighting is tried and true and is on its tenth or more generation. I do have to admit LED is a great marketing scheme right now to make people justify the inflated prices they are asking for them when in truth the CCFL backlighting (at least on this screen) is at least as good.



Another thing this screen does well is it's motion controls. Sharp's 120hz technology supposedly helps with motion something that personally I've never really had a problem with on any modern LCD. The film modes are useful for converting a 1080p/24hz bluray signal into a 60hz one but I prefer to leave it off and have a more "natural" movie viewing experience. I watched Underworld on bluray on this thing the other night and now I don't think I'll ever go back to the movie theater again. Immersive beautiful and all in my own home.



Another thing people think is going to be big is 3D. If you are one the fence about whether to wait for this to come out or buy a big screen now let me give you a few pointers. Remember when HD first came out? Yes 10 years ago? How come after 10 years over half the channels are still not in HD? HD programming requires a ton of bandwidth and 3D will double the amount needed. Not to mention that when these 3D screens come out they will be extremely expensive and content will be extremely limited. I don't see 3D coming anywhere near mainstream for at least 5 years. If you want to wait that long and see if it's going to catch on be my guest but in the mean time I'll be enjoying my blurays infront of this big gorgeous screen. If you always wait for the next big thing you will always be waiting.



Some people don't like the Gold bezel on this screen and at first I didn't either. The pictures online really glorify it but the truth is that in real life it is very faint and hardly noticeable. I still wish it was black but for all the tv's strengths I can deal with this minor setback.



When shopping for this TV I was surprised by the lack of reviews. I took the jump anyway and I'm really glad I did. I got exactly what I wanted. A HUGE screen with rich colors smooth motion extremely deep black levels lots of inputs no dead pixels and the flexibility to do internet surfing from back on my couch. My advice if you are considering a 55" LED or any other tv this size range. Don't just assume that because it's an LED tv that it's automatically better. If I just blindly went for the LED screens I would have missed out on a 5" bigger screen with picture quality that easily rivals any LED LCD I've seen and I would have paid would more for it! Don't buy into the marketing hype. Big thumbs up for sharp for making an awesome affordable screen!

More detail ...