Sharp Aquos LC-46D64U Flat-Panel LCD TV Review
Aquos LC-46D64U - Flat-panel, Widescreen, 46″ LCD HDTV from Sharp
Sharp, the well known Japanese electronics manufacturer who are doing a great job in the fields of LCD TVs , solar panels, mobile phones , video projectors and a lot more. They manufacture LCD TVs under the Aquos brand. On that note, we are to review their Aquos LC-46D64U LCD TV, released on mid of august of the year 2007.
The skinniest of all:
Without any argument, Sharp’s LC-46D64U is one of the best looking LCD TV in the current market. When Sharp says “Slim-line”, it means it. It has a very slim body, with its dimensions being 27.6 X 43.3 X 3.7” (H X W X D) inches . The bezel around the screen was stunning and the cabinet was amazingly thin too. The frame under the screen has adequate area which sports a series of indicator lights, and silver gray speakers. The colour of the speakers is complimented by the thin strip that surrounds the width of the TV. It has a glossy black pedestal stand attached.
Adequate connectivity:
Sharp has provided LC-46D64U 46″ Widescreen LCD TV with excellent connectivity. It has two different groups of back panel inputs. One of which faces towards the side and the other downwards. There are two HDMI inputs, one AV input with component and composite video, an analog PC input with a maximum resolution of 1280 X 1024. An optical digital audio output, AV input with composite and S-video, a standard anaolg output, an RS-323 port in order to interface with the custom control systems and an RF cable or antenna input. Again, on the front, you will find another HDMI input with a second AV input with component video or composite video.
The traditional remote control:
Sharp has continued the use of its traditional remote control with Aquos LC-46D64U Flat-Panel LCD HDTV too. The remote control has a full orange back-lighting. The keys are logically placed and well spread. But some important controls including menu and mute have annoyingly small buttons, and though these buttons light up, the labels that identify them are not.
User-friendly menu system:
The menu system is very user friendly and each of the options have definite descriptions that are displayed in the bottom of the screen. The Sharp is reasonably easy to use. Text displayed in the on-screen menus is small but readable, and the menus themselves look good. Unlike other sets’ menus, the Sharp’s main menu does not disappear when you adjust a video setting, but that is not too much of a problem, since the menu does not take up much of the screen.
Features:
There were five colour temperature presets in this Sharp Aquos LC-46D64U Flat-Panel LCD TV. The colour management system is also available that allows you to play with the primary and secondary colour settings. The other interesting options that we noticed were the active contrast and fine motion. LC-46D64U LCD High Definition Television also features OPC, which is Sharp’s light sensing system that adjusts its brightness according to the brightness of the room. The display becomes brighter if the room is brighter and is dimmer in the low-light areas. The Sharp’s Aquos LC-46D64U has CEC support (Link Consumer Electronics Control), which allows it to control and be controlled by other Sharp devices.The PIP (Picture in Picture) feature, which is one of the most common features in the current Hi-end TVs is absent in Sharp and this omission is quiet disappointing.
Its display having the high resolution of 1920 X 1080 pixels, resolves every possible detail of 1080i and 1080p HDTV sources. Even the 720p HDTV, DVD, and standard-def Tvs are scaled in order to fit the resolution.
Control over picture:
Talking about the control over the picture, which is one of the major feature to consider in HDTVs, LC-46D64U performs averagely. It has seven preset picture modes, which includes brightness, contrast, colour, tint, sharpness, advanced and reset. Out of which, the first five can be adjusted, the sixth one cannot be and the seventh one is independent per input. It has a 32 step backlight control which allows the set to exhibit deep black ranges.
Power-saving feature:
Once the settings of the, Aquos LC-46D64U 46 inch LCD TV are adjusted in a proper manner, the TV exhibits its power saving qualities. It shuts off by itself in a time span of fifteen minutes when it does not detect any signal being received. It also behaves in the same way if the TV does not detect any user interaction for about three hours. This feature also helps in avoiding image retention. With this feature you will not have to worry if you had forgot to switch off your TV and had gone out.
The audio-only option:
The Audio Only option of LC-46D64U allows you to use the TV’s audio alone without switching on its display, in case you want to use your DVD player in order to listen to CDs. The units audio quality was not bad. The sound was clean sans noise and distortion. But, we never got the feel that we were listening to an expensive Hi-end TV.
Just satisfactory performance:
Consistency in colour and brightness evenly throughout the screen is one of the normal or rather default in the plasma televisions but this consistency is hard to be achieved in the LCD Tvs. Yet, in the current market, most of the leading LCD TV manufacturers have managed to achieve this in their products. But, Sharp’s previous models, LC-52D92U and LC-46D62U did suffer colour banding and was very much visible most of the times. Unfortunately, LC-46D64U also suffers from the same problem.
Talking about the performance, the Sharp Aqous LC-46D64U gives a good result as its predecessors. With excellent black levels and standard definition picture quality. But, as mentioned above, the negativity it has earned with banding alone has stopped it from being named as one of the high-end LCD TVs.
Verdict:
It looks great and it video quality is too good too. But, its price does not do justice to the products specifications. The banding is really a very big issue. For a wise decision, a LCD TV with excellent performance and more features can be obtained for the same price.
Sharp Aquos LC-46D64U Widescreen LCD TV Specs
| Manufacturer | Sharp |
| Model Name | Sharp Aquos LC-46D64U |
| Dimensions (H X W X D) inches | 27.6 X 43.3 X 3.7” |
| Weight | 54 lbs |
| Colour | High gloss black |
| Display size | 46 inch Widescreen |
| Display technology | TFT active matrix |
| Display Format | 1080p (FullHD) |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Image Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
| Image Contrast Ratio | 2000:1 |
| Dynamic Contrast Ratio | 10000:1 |
| Brightness (cd/m2) | 450 |
| Progressive Scan | Progressive scanning (line doubling) |
| Viewing Angle | 176 degrees |
| Backlight Life | 60,000 hours |
| Analog TV Tuner | NTSC |
| Digital TV Tuner | QAM , ATSC |
| HDTV Ready | Yes |
| Analog Video Input Signals | NTSC |
| Remote Control | Infrared |
| Sound Output Mode | Stereo |
| Audio Controls | Balance , Bass , Treble |
| Speakers Included | 2 x Right/left channel speaker - Built-in - 15 Watt |
| Connectivity | 3 x HDMI ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) 2 x Component video input 1 x VGA input 1 x S-Video input ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) 3 x Composite video/audio input 1 x Serial ( 9 pin D-Sub ) Audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) |
| Power Device | Power supply - Internal |
| Warranty | 1 year |
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