Big TVs are not new, let’s accept this fact
and understand that large-size TVs has always been around for a long time. The
sudden craze for large screens is not exactly recent, it’s just been revived
for the second time, at least for LCD/LED display panels. Thankfully, the
upcoming models are packed to the brim with the latest bells and whistles. In
Sharp’s case, it’s 80-inch LED TV marvel is a good example of what a TV should
be like when it has been super-sized. Does it meet up to our expectations
though?
Sharp
LC-80LE940X 80” Aquos Quattron LED Net 3D TV
1. Giant Box
Moving the Sharp 80” is not an easy feat.
Taking it out of the box is an even harder task as it requires four sturdy men
(three and a half for PC.com Labs thanks to an over eager female colleague who
wanted to help) to setup the unit. Time-wise, it took us nearly 20 minutes to
screw in the base-stand, put up the 80 inch TV, power it up and get it going.
Take note: you will need the minimum of four guys to carry it as the entire TV,
sans stand, weighs at an impressive 55kg. Let me reemphasize this: the screen
is so heavy, the base-stand needed screws to make sure it is properly secured
to the table.
2. Monstrous TV
The weight and size of the Sharp 80” cannot
be properly described on paper. Even when these concerns had been brought up
during the logistics discussion, no one could imagine how scarily big the TV
could really be. When Sharp finally sent over the TV to PC.com for its review
run, everyone in the office had been awe-struck and stupefied with the
experience of seeing the 80-inch TV in the (figuratively speaking) flesh. Even
the most jaded of writers had been out-of-character in the presence of the
super-sized TV. To say the TV is monstrous in size is very apt as you physically
need to sit at least 15 to 20 feet away from the TV to fully appreciate the
video content it is playing. While I am very impressed with the chance to
review a TV of this class and size, I had to stop and wonder if such a size is
necessary. Perhaps it is due to my background in dealing with Home Cinema class
projectors and sound systems that makes me unexpectedly pause in my excitement
and put a sudden end to this sense of marvel I had at the time.
3. Rich Colors
Because this is a Sharp TV, I expected
nothing less than perfect for its color reproduction. Undoubtedly, Sharp met my
expectations as the visual processing prowess of the 8-inch did nothing but
impress. This is especially obvious when the primary colors appear on the TV as
each hue has that extra boost of contrast and warm tones. Even the deep blacks
and stark whites are given a richer tone, as impossible as it sounds. There are
even more visible shades of grey (fortunately not 50) in both the black and
white spectrum calibration test, which further proves the rich contrast and
saturation gradients of the Sharp 80” are top notch.
4. Unnecessary Calibration
Almost all the LED and LCD TVs I
encountered require some form of colour calibration. Even the Sharp 80” needed
some level of tweaking but not so much since the TV already had a nice hue and
saturation mix right out-of-the-box. Reds and blues are nicely balanced but the
green required some adjusting since Sharp made full use of its Quattron system
for the 80-inch TV to bring out the yellow hue. That means, I really didn’t
need to perform a thorough TV calibration to test its colour matrix.
5. Feature Frenzy
Like all smart TVs, Sharp also packed in a
bunch content based features that is supposed to put it on par with the rest of
the market. From the usual bunch of apps, like Youtube, Picasa, Twitter and
Skype, to the third party and proprietary apps that is available for download
off Aquos.net, the Sharp 80” is definitely not short off content and
entertainment to keep users busy as they explore and fiddle with the entire app
ecosystem that Sharp has to offer. Personal favourites include the social media
apps, Youtube, some platform and puzzle games, and the newscast programmes.
6. All Encompassing
The Sharp 80” is not like any other LED/LCD
TV I have ever reviewed. The size alone is enough to tell me that this is what
watching movies should be like if TVs had been made to look like cinemas in the
first place. Even 3D viewing is great as the screen size literally encompasses
your entire eye vision and quickly works to take you into the movie’s immersive
environment. This is further reinforced on viewers with the use of the 80” TV’s
audio system, which also uses Dolby Digital surround and an assorted list of
audio enhancements to create that “live sound-stage”.
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Details
·
Price: $9,450
·
Dimensions With Stand: 1862 x 1145 x 434 mm
·
Weight: 55.5kg
·
Display: Full-HD LCD TV with Direct LED
Backlight, 16:9 1,920 x 4 x 1,080 resolution
·
Dynamic Contrast Ratio: Mega Contrast
·
Features: Time shift (Digital Broadcast),
Aquos Link, USB (Video/Photo/Music playback, Teletext, Home network (DLNA),
Wireless LAN
·
Multimedia: Web Browser, YouTube, Twitter,
Picasa, Skype Apps Ready
·
Ports: 1x PC input, 4x HDMI input, 1x RS-232C,
1x LAN, 1x Headphone (3.5-mm mini socket), 1x Digital audio out/Analogue
audio out, 1x Shared Analogue Audio Out, 1x Shared Headphone, 2x Video Ports,
1x Component, 3x USB
·
Sound: SRS TruSurround HD, AudioEngin LSI by
Yamaha
·
3D: AN-3D 20-BX (USB chargeable) glasses
V: 8/10
F: 10/10
P: 10/10
D: 9/10
U: 10/10
Verdict: 9.4/10 score
It’s gigantic and performance worthy but is it necessary?
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