Sharp AQUOS LC-42D62U 42" LCD TV

Great TV

Strengths: Great Color and Resolution, No Glare, Sexy and Sleek Look

Weaknesses: Could have more accessible inputs on front or side, Poor Factory Settings, No HDMI cables included but can buy for low price online at Monoprice or other

Summary: The factory settings on the Sharp are terrible with oversaturated colour and a cold blue tint affecting white objects on the screen like white shirts, documents etc, Fortunately with some considerable adjustment I warmed it up, adjusted the colour, contrast etc. Appearance :

Yes, it looks beautiful. The "fingerprint friendly" glossy black bezel gives it a subtle classy look without becoming too garish. The downside to that... you'd have to put in some effort to keep it clean, not that big of a deal though.. just like if you have shiny black car. Even the smallest bit of dirt/dust gets accentuated because of the shiny black background. Also, since the LCD screen is anti-glare, the reflections from the bezel COULD get distracting if you're sitting in a well-lit room with multiple light sources. This hasnt been a problem for me since the lamp for my living room is on top BEHIND the TV, but if your light source is behind the viewer, you might want to give this some consideration. All in all, nothing particualary flashy/different about the looks of this model versus the multitude of other LCD TV's out there. The speakers are mounted at the bottom (as with most TV's this size), and are not detachable.

The remote is the standard Sharp remote, nothing fancy about it. The clicker can also be programmed to command your cable box, VCR and DVD player

Features :

1080 p (isnt that the reason you are looking at this review?.. LOL)

ATSC-NTSC tuners to catch over the air HD/SD broadcasts

2 HDMI input ports

No PIP mode, (though in my opnion, PIP is highly overrated)

No cable card slot (until the time bi-directional cable-cards become the norm, cable card slots are really not that useful)

No DVI input. If you want to hook up your PC, you'd need to use a DVI-to-HDMI converter and use one of the HDMI input slots on the TV. Its not that big of a deal to me, but it might be to some. Of course, it would have been NICE to have a DVI input slot, other manufacturers have it, so why cant Sharp? I attribute it to cost-cutting measures.

Performance (HD) :

Out of the box, the HD picture was stunning. Watching the Rutgers-Louisville game last night on HD, I could see clearly the individual faces of spectators sitting many rows back in the background. Very nice. But.. moving closer to the TV (about 3 feet. Yeah, I know its too close, but I HAD to check), I could see quite a bit of pixelization in the lighter areas of the image. This pixelization affected even the NON-moving parts of the image. Furthermore, the pixelization blocks were not constant, which give the image a grainy, shimmering look (the kind you get on your PC games if you set Anisotrpic filtering too high, and Anti-aliasing too low). Of course, moving further away from 3 ft, this effect wasnt noticable, and pictures looked great. Anyway, since I was in the "critique" mode, I took my TV to my neighbor's who has Dish Network (I have Time Warner Cable), navigated to the same HD channel, and Bingo, the pixelization is gone..!!! This leads me to belive that the problem lies with the quality of HD signal provided by Time Warner. I think, to carry as many channels as possible, TWC might be compressing their signals too much, and when the time comes for my cable settop box/HDTV to de-compress the image, it has to do too much guesswork to fill in too many blanks left due to data rejection (not data loss... but data rejection, the data that is INTENTIONALLY left out to compress the signals). To read more of my ramblings on compression, see the "HDMI - Is it really that big a deal?" section at the bottom of this review.

Performance (SD) :

Out of the box, not so great. Significant artifacting and pixelization. Rather disappointing, in fact. A few tweaks later (Noise reduction turned off, Sharpness reduced, backlight intensity reduced, Cable box configured to output 4:3 channels in 480p instead of 480i), a much better picture. Still SOME artifacting and pixelization, and of course not as good as the HD channels (naturally.. lol), but definitely watchable. Hardly any artifacting/pixelization visible from our normal seating distance of 8-10 ft. This finally got my wife's seal of approval ... "OK, we will keep this TV" ... ;-)

Performance (DVD) :

Well here, I was pleasantly surprised. I KNEW beforehand that DVD's look rather good on HDTV's, but my DVD player is a 4 yr old, no-name, el-cheapo, only 480i output model which I got for free for signing up for a Bank of America chekcing account. YET, the picture quality was only mariginally less than what I saw on my HD channels. I have no plans of buying an HD-DVD or a Blu-Ray DVD players, but I WAS contemplating buying an upconverting DVD player. But looking at what my current DVD player is giving, I think I'll hold off on that purchase.. :-)

Comparison with other brands :

I spent many an hour in Circuit City looking at this and other models, and harassing their sales staff into cycling thru a myriad of input signals, and settings on these TV's. In my opnion this model is best compared to Sony 40V2500 and Samsung S4095D (or S4096D.. they're identical for all practical purposes, and circuit City had the 4095D), both 40 inch, and both 1080p.

Sharp v/s Sony - I felt the Sony had a slightly better picture quality. The image was sharper, and the colors looked more natural. However, the Sharp showed slightly more details on close-ups of people's faces (perhaps due to the fact that the Sharp has 2 inches more of real estate). Also the Sony was about $250 more expensive (for a size 2 inches less), but hey, its a Sony.. :-)

Sharp v/s Samsung - Virtually identical picture quality. Yet Samsung was priced about 300 more than Sharp (for a size 2 inches less).

Out of the three, Sony seemed to have the best picture quality (both HD and SD) and most natural colors, but only marginally. I believe the extra $250 would be justified if it was the same size as the 42" Sharp. The Samsung is just plain over-priced. It should actually be cheaper than the Sharp.

Of course, if you're looking for absolute best, then look at Sony XBR2 40", but that one is WAY over-priced.. lol. You buy that one, your wife might make you sleep on the couch for the next 2 weeks. But considering that the couch would normally be in front of your new XBR2, that might not be such a bad deal... ;-)

About banding :

I looked and I looked and I looked.. till the cows came home to party. No banding on my unit.. :-). I have read quite a few reports of banding on the Sharp D62U series (even CNET mentions it), but most all of them are about the 46" (and 52") models. The 42" model has slightly different specs from 46 and 52" models (even though they are a part of the same series), so its possible that this model is not affected by the banding issue. But thats pure guesswork and I cant be sure about that. So if you plan to purchase this (42D62U) model, my advice would be to buy it from a local store, which have more generous return/exchange policies.

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SHARP AQUOS 42 in. TV

Strengths: Surprisingly light for its size (66.2 lbs). Low power consumption (247W). Has V-chip for parental control. Aesthically pleasing - built-in speaker hardly noticeable; piano black finish looks eligant.

Weaknesses: Default color and brightness/contrast settings needed adjustment but this is a matter of personal taste. Remote could have been a little smaller.

Summary: This SHARP Aquos 42 inch TV is well worth the money. I got it for $1899 at Circuit City in ATL. I almost bought an LG but decided on this one and I'm glad I did. The picture quality with HD broadcasts and regular DVDs did not disappoint. Unfortunately my COMCAST set top box is only putting out 1080i. I can't wait until I can purchase an HD-DVD or Blue Ray player to really experience its native 1080p capability. This TV exposes the poor quality of standard definition broadcasts which makes me wish that all commercial and cable program providers would upgrade their equipment really soon.

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Great and Inexpensive 1080p LCD

Strengths: Sensational picture, good sound, and the piano-black finish is elegant.

Weaknesses: Picture fades at certain angles; picture adjustment required.

Summary: I've had this TV over a month, and it was my first widescreen/flat-panel/hi-def set, so I was taking a major step up. Since I don't have a blu-ray or HD-DVD player I still have never seen a 1080p image on this set, but broadcasts on the HD channels like HBO or Discovery HD look simply phenomenal. Yeah, if you sit too close you can see the pixels working, but that's true of almost any hi-def set--my father has a huge 1080i projection TV, and the only really good place to watch it from is practically in another room. Watching standard-def pictures, though, will definitely require some adjusting of the picture. I used the Video Essentials DVD to help me methodically change all the color and sharpness settings, but the excellent menus make that pretty easy; and once the adjustments were finished, even standard-def looks pretty good. My only real complaint is that if you look at the screen from almost any angle other than straight-on, the overall picture fades (something about the black levels only really working in the one direction). But at least the level of fade is consistent, so it's not like the problem gets worse the wider (or higher) you go. All in all, I'm thrilled with my new TV, and a friend of mine is about to go out and get exactly the same set.

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True HDTV

Strengths: Variety of Inputs, quality sturdy construction. Full resolution of HDTV.

Weaknesses: Standard definition tv looks amazingly poor. Remote is large and clunky.

Summary: Another reviewer commented that the shiny case of the TV was distracting, but I haven't noticed that to be a problem. The remote is too large. Full resolution TV looks absolutely incredible, but the lower-than plasma contrast ratio is noticeable at times. Standard TV looks like total crap. I think the integrated speakers are good, but I'm not an audio junkie. The onscreen menu looks polished and professional. It's also easy to use and very intuitive. The TV comes with a huge manual that explains how everything works.

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Best buy for your Buck

Strengths: Excellent picture quality

Weaknesses: Needs calibration out of the box

Summary: Just an amazing TV, I've had it for a week now. Piano finish styling just adds that extra touch. Picture quality especially HD is excellent. I was considering the samsung 4096, but for about the same price you get an extra 2". I've seen both of them side by side and I couldn't see the difference. As many other review mention the factory calibration needs to be adjusted especially the backlight as it is set to the maximum for showroom demo purposes.

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Beautiful picture, very nice screen, sharp, clear

Strengths: Crisp, clear HD picture

Weaknesses: Not the TV's fault, there's just not adequate HD content. Can't just change aspect ratio and expect full-screen size of non-HD content to look as good as HD content itself.

Summary: Make sure all pixels are there. Even one pixel out impacts the picture. Needed a replacement after 1 day (or we just didn't notice initially). Would definitely purchase again.

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Awesome 42" 1080p LCD TV

Strengths: HD programming and digital programming, like HBO/Showtime, just looks amazing on this beast. Xbox 360, HD-DVD, and Progressive scan DVD's upres reeally well on this TV. Menus are very intuitive.

Weaknesses: Color calibration straight out of box is waay out of alignment. Too red and/or green. Ideally should ship with a $75 colorimeter. But adjustments can be made visually. Remote could have be improved.

Summary: This TV was a steal @ Circuit City with a coupon i had. Was purchased for $1600!

Retails for between $2200-$2400 normally. LCD TV's still dont quite compete against Plasma's in terms of TRUE blacks. But in all seriousness. I rarely look at the TV and say, "man i wish the blacks were blacker". The contrast ratio is obvious that its not true black because when u look @ the TV image against the piano black frame, its obvious that its not true black. Although Sharp tried a sneaky little trick in default mode, where the contrast/brightness automatically dips down when the movie/tv show dips to black. It a decent attempt, but i didnt like this for gaming. So i turned that AV mode off. All in all, this TV comes HIGHLY recommended. Especially for the resolution, image quality, and overall size. 42" seems to be the ideal size for me. I had a 37" b4 with i returned back to Costco to get this one.

ONE HAPPY CAMPER :)

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• The LC-42D62U was introduced Oct/06 and the review is dated Jun/0...

Sharp Aquos 42-Problems with service.

Strengths: Crystal clear picture.

Weaknesses: It now does not work.

Summary: 1.5 month after I purchased this TV it went dead. No picture. It has been in the shop now for three weeks and the repair parts are unavailable form Sharp. Sharp also will not replace the TV even though it cannot be fixed at the moment. I have gotten no help from the Sharp customer service and they state that there is nothing they can do. While the picture is great ,the service I have received from Sharp is questionable. Something to consider before purchasing a Sharp product.

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Good with minor issues

Strengths: Large screen, lightweight for size, easy to install.

Weaknesses: Shiny/reflective case and base. Huge remote. Inability to remove speaker.

Summary: I've had this TV for only a week. I need to break out the manual and do some tweaking of the calibration. On many channels, there is a lot of red. I haven't hooked up an HD cable box yet. Normal television suffers from pixelation (as I knew it would). The great picture with regular DVDs makes me want to crank the volume to get more of a theather effect. Not sure why. :-)

The Shiney case reflects any light in the room distracting from the picture. This is extremely annoying. The remote is a monster. Not sure why it needs to be so large and it feels cheap like I'm going to break it if I drop it. I haven't tried to use the universal program on the remote yet. I would have preferred a central box to plug my cables into, but working with the octopus of wires out the back as it's designed.

The TV is much larger in the home than the store. Be prepared. The picture is so bright it almost hurts my eyes at times. If you are looking for a TV in this size, pretty much every sales person I talked to agreed this was the best TV for the money.

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• Just purchased mine for 1599.99 at Best Buy will arrive just befo...
• How did you get it for $1599? It appears to be significantly mor...

Great 1080P HDTV for the price

Strengths: picture is excellent, stylish design, 2 HDMI inputs, digital audio output, nice cord routing, menu is easy to navigate

Weaknesses: the factory picture settings are not good. within minutes I was able to get it looking great though. could use another S-video input but no biggie

Summary: overall this is the best TV I could find for the price. other than having to tune the picture settings out of the box it was easy to setup. Ive only watched DirecTV in non-HD and DVD in 480i sofar but even that was good. im sure once I can feed it a 1080 signal it will really come to life.

I really like the audio output. when you switch between dvd, satellite, ect the audio comes out the dedicated audio out to your amp.

would highly recommend this TV

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Good TV, Good Price, Good resolution, Picture ... meh

Strengths: 1080p, Not too expensive, Looks great

Weaknesses: No PC Input, Automatic brightness can be annoying, Colors not realistic

Summary: The Sharp Aquos is a great TV but not without some shortcomings. The price is good for a 1080p LCD but the colors aren't the most realistic. Even after tweaking, they seemed a bit to harsh. Also, the TV does not have PC input so you might have problems connecting your PC to it. I tried using a VGA to DVI to HDMI cable but it wouldn't accept the signal.

If you need 1080p this might not be a bad way to go. I'd recommend going to a local store, checking it out and seeing if you like what you see.

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AMAZING LCD TV THE BEST FOR HDTV

Strengths: amazing 480p picture , beautifull casing, amazing menus , hdtv at its best so far, connections ,easy setup, decent sound

Weaknesses: quite heavy, stand wasnt easy to screw in, some black issues, standard digital signal is ok.

Summary: just bought yesterday, currently at work and cant wait to get home to watch something on espnhd. let me tell you, you really feel like in the game with this set. unless you have a crazy big entertainment room you need the 46 or 52. this one for mine was perfect wanted the 46) and like somebody said it looks bigger in your room than AT THE STORE. got for $1881 at circuit city(i mentioned another store had it for that price they equalled it and no payments for 18 months.pretty good. what else so far its amazing, number one pick in price and quality and size of 1080p hdtv displays, some people at a local store said that i should chose the samsung 40 1080p(i hope this can be displayed) more expensive and 2 inches less.didnt buy cause they were too annoying. sharp has been working hard last couple of years to bring out the best. So if you want amazing hdtv, gaming and of course have blu ray in mind to shock friends with your tv this is your choice. if not look somewhere else like plasmas(you cant believe how cheap they are now) are they fading away?? too bad for all the people who spend 10000 at the beggining.

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Questionable Initial Quality and Testing

Strengths: Excellent 1080p picture in terms of clarity when using Blu-Ray media. Very nice looking piano finish case. Packaged well at the factory for truck-line shipping.

Weaknesses: Questionable initial build quality. Questionable initial quality control and testing at the factory. Blacks are not as sharp as Plasma displays. Obvious dots in picture if sitting to close.

Summary: I purchased this item through an online retailer and had it delivered via a truck line. The exterior of the box looked as though it had been handled somewhat roughly, however the packaging from the factory is so good that the television inside was completely protected. However, upon setting up this television for the first time, there was immediately a thin blue line running from top to bottom in the screen about 6 inches from the left side. The line was present regardless of the input and it was even visible in black bars. This was an obvious initial manufacturer's defect in the actual LCD panel intself. Since the television is larger than 20", the retailer would not exchange the set and required that I contact Sharp for warranty work. Sharp immediately realized that it was probably a panel problem that could not be fixed and requested digital photos to be sent in showing the problem. After 3 days, Sharp decided to replace the television. Processing time is an additional 3 days and then replacement time is an additional 7 to 10 days. In the end, it will have taken 1 month from purchase date until the date of having an actual television that works properly. This problem is 100% the fault of the manufacturer as this is an initial quality issue and it shows a lack of quality control at the factory. Just turning the televsion on at least one time and looking at the screen would have been enough for the factory to see the problem. I have heard nothing but good things about this television and it is on several top 5 lists for all LCD televsions on the market. However, the price is too steep to be encountering the type of problem that I came across with this manufacturer. My only other LCD HD television is a 23" Samsung and it has been great from day one without any problems whatsoever. I wish I could say the same for my new Sharp AQUOS.

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Nice LCD but the hum is annoying

Strengths: Pleasing to the eye. looks very sharp sitting in your living room. 1080p. Hd looks incredible.

Weaknesses: Standard tv is horrid. Humming or hissing sound coming from the set. Other forums say that you need to turn up the backlighting up to 11 and it will go away. but doing this may reduce lcd life.

Summary: I purchased this tv from bestbuy for 1700 a couple weeks ago. Great deal. pricematched to circuit city 10% off coupon.

I've got directv hd and it looks good coming through this tv. Xbox is also very fun on it.

One problem is the annoying hum that comes from the tv. I just started noticing it last week and its driving me insane. I just read you can up the backlight setting to 11 and it should go away. I'll have to try tonight. but doing this could also risk the hours the tv may have. If the settings do not work I am taking this back to BB for an exchange.

I'll keep you informed. Right now I'm only giving it a satisfactory because of the hum. If it goes away i'll give it a 4 or 5.

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Sharp 42" LCD television

Strengths: Clear picture, easy controls and remote control. It was easy to do the initial set up although we haven't begun to explore all the features available.

Weaknesses: NA

Summary: We purchased this television a few days ago. The first one received was defective-- had no picture, only audio. The store replaced it within a day and we have had no further problems.

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• The LC-42D62U was introduced Oct/06 and the review is dated Jan/0...