When it came to size, display screens are
covering all the possible available bases as it starts with tiny panels to
overly large form factors that demand for everyone’s attention. Take for
instance the tablets currently storming the marketplace now from 7in to 10in,
these devices use exceptionally bright and vivid screens to show off HD rich
content. The same can be said of the consumer variety of displays, which now
range from 42in to as far as 90in. The latter is the flagship of Sharp, which
decided it needed to ramp up the size game to stay relevant. Hence the arrival
of Sharp’s latest and largest Big AQUOS LC-90LE740X 3D Net TV.
Throughout
most of 2012, Sharp was the go-to company for plus-size LCD screens
Me biggest
Or so the tagline goes: From bigger to
biggest! Sharp has been the first to market the largest screen there is for LED
TVs in the Malaysian market. Having been the first to roll out an 80in display
panel, it is no surprise that Sharp decided to throw another 10in just to prove
that it is a force to be reckoned with. Can the LC-90LE740X live up to the
expectations it has been tasked with though? That is why I specifically went to
the Sharp Shah Alam plant to find out.
Waking the beast
It must be said that it is important to
always share the setting up process of a large TV set. There can be no
exceptions for this, especially when it comes to any display panel that is over
52in. It took almost the entire team in PC.com Labs to set up the 80in monster
and according to the Sharp product manager, the 90in required three burly men
to un-box, install, and hook up the LC-90LE740X in the conference room for the
half-day review. As for calibration, when set to basic or auto, the color
temperature is slightly over-saturated with maxed out cool hues. Setting it to
movie mode and adjusting the settings to balance the whites and blacks had been
easy enough though it was an interesting moment for me as I make my tweaks on
movie mode. Usually I head straight to basic and fiddle with the configuration
in advance mode. Once done, the colors turned out to be exceptional, with every
shade of black and white appearing like they should and the primary color
matrices nicely balancing out.
The
LC-90LE740X TV uses a Full HD 1080p, rather than Ultra HD, full-LED-backlit LCD
screen, and has a native 200Hz refresh rate
Not quad
For being a flagship model, one would
expect Sharp to pull out all the stops to make the 90in its mainstay flagship,
which means throwing in any and all of the innovations that had been recently developed.
This includes the Quattron color system, smart TV functionality, or smooth
motion flow technology. While these three are not present in the 90in, it does
not compromise the high quality performance of the TV. According to Sharp, the
hues and saturation are tuned to match Quattron specifications, ensuring that
there is almost no balance and color ratio loss. The claim proves to be true as
I noticed the yellows standing out clearly amongst the prime colors. As my
calibration works with native warm temperatures, the yellow hues and its
accompanying shades really blended in nicely with the three main colors. It is
the best compromise I could ask for since the Quattron platform is a dearly and
sorely missed feature in this review.
Movie magic
One would think that a 90in TV review would
mean putting action films and scenes of epic grandeur on the super large panel.
Rightfully I should and it is something I wouldn’t miss out on. I must admit
that I didn’t try any explosive films because, seriously, there is so much
clutter in those scenes, it wouldn’t do the TV justice. I tried everything else
though. From the dark scenes of Apollo 13, a couple of IMAX visuals, and a mix
of nature scenes, environmental elements, as well as Korean Pop music videos
(the ones singled out for great color mix and 3D effects), are used to test all
the capabilities of the LC-90LE740X. I must say watching Apollo 13’s launch,
the Moon pass-over scene right after, and all the other demo samples – both in
Digital 2D and full 3D no less – is quite a sight to behold!
According
to Sharp, the hues and saturation are tuned to match Quattron specifications
3D genie
Up-scaling has always been an iffy issue
with me. I never trusted the hardware (both Bluray player and TV) to properly
convert the video into pseudo-3D format. The Sharp 90in manages to do a good
job of it and does enough to convince me that 3D is not a dying breed but
something that has yet to be done right. With the LC-90LE740X – at the very
least – the entire 3D concept is done right to a point as 3D depth is
impressive and 3D imagery is equally outstanding. It could be the active 3D
glasses the TV uses or the fact that with the humongous panel looming over you
even at 10 feet away, the visual presence feels more encompassing somehow. The
sound system the 90in Sharp uses helped reinforce this feeling of being
surrounded with a rich HD stage. Now if Sharp would stop being so strict with
their timeline and start rolling out its 4K (or UD as some call it) models for
all to see.
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Specifications
§ Price:
$20,999 (90”)
§ Dimensions:
2054 x 1243 x 434mm
§ Weight:
68kg
§ Display:
Full HD LCD TV with LED Backlight, 1920 x 1080p (16:9) 24p
§ Panel
Type: UV2A X-Gen Panel with AquaMotion 200/240Hz / Fine Motion Advanced
100/120Hz
§ Multimedia:
Time Shift, AQUOS Link, Media Player, Web-browser / Social Media Ready, 2D/3D
Converter
§ Connectivity:
DLNA, Wireless LAN
§ Ports:
1x PC Input, 4x HDMI, 1x RS-232C, 1x 3.5mm Audio Jack (Shared Analogue Out),
1x Digital Out, 2x Video, 1x Component, 3x USB
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