Sharp AQUOS LC-46SE94U 46" HDTV LCD TV

See the bolded items for an executive summary.

LCD TVs are a large expense, and early adopters of flat screen TVs have been changing TVs as often as 2-3 years over the past 10 years. My Sony Trinitron TV is over 20 years old and going strong today, and replacing it is just a matter of visual aesthetics. Is this worth $2000? I think the time is ripe.

With gas prices and inflation growing, a big screen TV will buy a savvy consumer more bang for buck for entertainment value that will last years, than a few weeks on a vacation this year. Before the economy tanks to make even electronic prices rise, now is a good time to take advantage of the glut of flat screen TVs. Mail order for such large items is possible, with little fear of trouble, saving substantially over retail markup and local taxes.

Big screen TVs have come a long way in just a few years from being expensive large screens of substandard performance, compared to film, to the cost of a good PC and film like performance. Confusion over plasma and LCD formats has pretty much disappeared. Extensive program material is available to enjoy high-definition resolution and a near ultimate resolution, 1080p, is now over 1 year in production with much of the bugs shaken out [almost criminal, just 2 years ago TVs that claimed 1080p could only output a custom 1080p and led to consumer lawsuits.]

Is 1080p the ultimate resolution? Its akin to the quality of CD playback over vinyl records, further improvements over the CD specification are no longer perceptible for audio, so in video resolution 1080p will no longer be visible for screens at least 65" or less. With the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD battle resolved for high resolution DVDs, better material are now due for this resolution, too.

Is LCD better than plasma? Its a close call and a very long story but in short, if you've decided between the technologies, and LCD is your choice, my review is just one to consider. The Aquos LC-46SE94U stands for Liquid Crystal 46" 'Special edition' model 94U notable for its further improved imaging capability. It has VGA inputs to connect a PC too to use as a large PC monitor, which is helpful. It has 2 limited use items, its Internet connectivity has little material that uses its functions and a serial port, not a USB port, to control the TV via a PC or a home theater system.


PROS

Video:

Many quality LCD TVs often ignore lower resolutions that are still being broadcast, and likely will continue to be so for some years. Watching such material is barely tolerable, and only a few TVs still pay attention to decoding this material exceptionally.

Aquos has consistent high picture quality across all resolutions, but at times consistently over saturated at 480i analog. The display easily rivals the look of film in a theater, to which I compare its video quality, not that of analog broadcast TV or competing digital technology, i.e., plasma or DLP.With available custom user settings, the SE94 allows one to set a custom preset 480i color compensation. All the following were reviewed via Cable TV setting, DVD player or using the tvblink.com test DVD.

color balance
image movement
still
sharpness
free of artifacts: jaggies, ghosting, image runs, especially in fast motion video

These are the settings I've tested:
480i via analog TV signal and digital
480p standard DVD output and digital TV
720p Broadcast HD digital
1080i Broadcast HD digital
1080p DVD output upconverting

Sharp's advanced video features are set at default, most are OFF. The test DVD showed a small amount of red color bleed and slight staggering in anti-aliasing tests, but no moire patterns.

I compared the video with input provided by a Sony NS700H/B DVD Player. The video is best on HDMI. Composite produces artifacts but there is little difference between component and HDMI input. I compared audio RCA cables instead of component cables on the component jack and was surprised by only a slightly degraded picture, so slight it would not be noticed unless it was compared against HDMI.

HDMI offers some convenience features: it auto selects the HDMI input once signal is detected, and turns off the device automatically once the TV is turned off.

Tuner:

Includes NTSC, ATSC and QAM tuners. The QAM tuner is the standard cable tuner you get with a 'cable box'. QAM accesses all free channels, analog and digital, including a lot of HD material sent unscrambled by many cable providers as teasers of their services. Although many free movies are complete, some are lower resolution, while others are only 15+ minute previews.

Shipment:

Via Amazon.com ordering, deliverer carefully followed sign off instructions to the letter: allowed me to examine the condition of the box at delivery, open box, and examine contents before I signed off on the delivery.

Setup:

Quick and easy. Attach speakers then mount stand, all screws or bolts supplied with tools. Plug into AC and cable coax, and the SE94 automatically detects signal and begins EZSETUP process. Follow onscreen instructions and when done, the TV is ready to watch cable or air broadcasts.

For Input jacks, equally easy. Just snap on the cables as color coded or the HDMI, then select INPUT from the remote until you receive signal from the device. On HMDI devices, it auto detects signal and auto selects that input first.

Setup is unique per input. The SE94 remembers the volume and video setting of each input.

The TV weighs 65 lbs. The 46" can be assembled and mounted on a stand by a single person, done carefully.

Packing:

Very durable and sturdy. The lower half of the box serves as a stand until you can assemble the enclosed stand. Importantly, the styrofoam pads never go farther than the metal frame of the LCD panel, and thus do not touch the glass panel anyway. It would be wise to save the box in case this TV needs to be returned, its very customized to the TV and difficult to provide the same protection for shipping as this box.

Instructions:

The Sharp manual is not as well written as a Sony manual. It seems to require more careful reading, whereas Sony's has always been user friendly.

Cables:

None supplied. I used or bought cables elsewhere.

Faux leather trim:

Is almost invisible, other TVs with shiny metallic borders often get dulled by fingerprints, the faux leather appears cleaner longer because it hides dirt and smudges better.


CONS

Remote layout is poor but provides access to all the TV's functions: related or frequently used buttons are not grouped logically together and often small; it can't be operated without looking at the keys, e.g. the universal controller has a toggle that lights up LEDs when its set for DVD, VCR, TV etc., whereas on a Sony, these are all unique buttons, and easier to find and press.

Bands: Using the detailed tvblink.com TV tests, slight bands [ i.e., LCD production artifacts] were detected on my SE94 using 'grey scale' test, its otherwise most invisible. On some LCD TV forums, there are rare reports of sizable bands in the SE94 series that are annoying and can be seen in regular video. Just how common these are is unknown.

Volume is a tad weak: at 15Wx2 its rated stronger than many competitor LCD TVs yet it output is weaker compared to my old analog TV. The emulating 'Surround' algorithm of Sharp is not as 'surround' as the SRS algorithm [See Wikipedia for details]. However, in the end a TV of this quality begs for a separate home theater audio system.

CONCLUSION:

Given the audio issue, I'd rate it 4.5 Stars versus 5. The video is so stellar and film like or better, it more than outweighs the audio drawbacks. Buyers should be cautious that rare reports of visible banding has been reported in the SE94 series, and it can be very troublesome.

Although I've had this TV for over a month, the durability reports of LCD TV for over a decade has been stellar: from brandless to top brands, malfunctions are rare once the 'burn in' period has passed. I will update the review if this TV does not live up to those expectations.

The SE94U series is not the only TV capable of a great picture, but given tough competition from products from Sony and Samsung, its one of the best bang-for-buck out there.