Had you asked me this time last year which of the competing flat-panel TV technologies I'd recommend, my response would have been quick and decisive: plasma. After testing a number of exceptional late-model LCD TVs, however, I can no longer hold that line. LCD performance has come a very long way. And some credit for that must go to Sharp, a company that seems dead-set on delivering LCD TVs with deep blacks — a characteristic that's traditionally been a problem for the technology.
Sharp certainly got the style part down with the LC-52D92U. Its screen is surrounded by a gloss-black bezel with metallic gray edging. A matching black stand comes with the TV, and Sharp also sells an optional wall mount for $349. The set comes with a horizontal speaker that you can attach to its bottom edge for built-in TV sound or leave off altogether.
The LC-52D92U provides a comprehensive array of inputs on its back panel. Along with three HDMI jacks, you get a DVI-I port, two component-video sets, and an RS-232C terminal for hooking up to a home control system. Its remote control has a fairly clean layout as well as a fully backlit keypad. To switch sources, you hit the Input button and scroll through active inputs using the remote's arrow keys. Depending on whether you're watching a standard- or high-definition program, hitting View Mode gives you a menu with appropriate aspect ratio selections. For standard 4:3 sources you can choose between Side Bar (displays 4:3 programs with no alteration), Zoom, Stretch, and Smart Stretch (stretches the picture edges and leaves the center intact). For high-def, you get the additional choice of Dot-by-Dot mode, which displays 1080i/p programs with no stretching or scaling.
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The Short Form |
| Price $4,500 ($5,300 LIST) / sharpusa.com / 800-237-4277 |
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Snapshot
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| Sharp's newest LCD delivers bright, sharp pictures with powerful contrast, but its color reproduction needs work. |
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Plus
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| •Crisp 1080p picture •Excellent black depth and contrast •No motion-lag on fast-moving images •Very wide viewing angle |
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Minus
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| •Too-cool color balance •Below-average standard-def upconversion |
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Key Features
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| •1,920 x 1,080 resolution screen •Adjustable backlight •Built-in HDTV tuner •Inputs: 3 HDMI, DVI, 2 component-video, 2 composite-video, S-video; RF antenna/cable; 4 analog stereo audio; minijack analog stereo audio; RS-232C •50 x 34.5 x 12 in ; 92.5 lb (w/stand) |
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Test Bench
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| With the Low color-temperature preset selected, the Sharp's grayscale tracked within ±1,540 K of 6,500 K from 30 to 100 IRE — a poor performance level. (A Sharp technician confirmed that a standard service-menu calibration of grayscale isn't possible with the LC-52D92U.) Measurements also showed a deficient green level throughout the set's grayscale, as well as oversaturated red, green, and blue color points compared to the SMPTE HD spec. Color-decoder tests revealed +15% red push on the HDMI inputs — a higher than average amount. Overscan measured 0% in Dot-by-Dot mode when displaying high-definition signals. The set fully resolved both 1080i and 720p test patterns via HDMI and component video. Screen uniformity was excellent when viewed from off-center seats, with no sign of the color "banding" we found in a 52-inch Sharp tested in 2006. Full Lab Results |
After adjusting the set with test patterns, I couldn't help but notice that colors still appeared overly rich and that whites had that familiar ultra-bright look that results from a too-cool color-temperature setting — and this was with the Low setting engaged! A Sharp technician I talked with said that the Low setting is factory-calibrated to track an even 6,500 K across the grayscale, matching the industry-standard neutral gray, but my measurements told a different story (see Test Bench). And, unfortunately, he also confirmed that a standard ISF-style grayscale calibration isn't possible with the LC-52D92U.
PICTURE QUALITY Having done my best to tweak the Sharp, I sat down to watch director Oliver's Stone's surprisingly straightforward World Trade Center on Blu-ray Disc. Right off, I saw the results of the TV's too-bluish grayscale and pumped-up color. While viewing a scene where transit cops first confront the initial post-collision chaos, for example, the blue paint on the sides of a city bus, the red of fire trucks, and the yellow of the rescuers' protective gear all had an oversaturated and somewhat fake appearance. Faces also displayed uniformly orange and pink hues, which served to eliminate subtle differences in skin tones among the movie's multiethnic cast.
In other scenes from World Trade Center, such as one where Officers McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Jimeno (Michael Peña) first find themselves lodged in the rubble, the set's solid black level delivered an authentic sense of being trapped underground in the dark, while its fine delineation of shadow detail helped bring out background objects in the cluttered, ruined environment. A slight uniformity issue could be seen in very dark shots like this one, with corners of the screen looking brighter than the center, but on most scenes from this movie and others it wasn't a problem.
Getting beyond blacks, another area where the LC-52D92U excelled was picture detail. Most high-def programs I watched on the set looked wonderfully crisp and 3-D-like. In a New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins hockey game, for example, I could easily make out the profusion of scuff marks on the surface of the ice. I can't say I noticed much difference in picture quality when turning on the set's Advanced Fine Motion feature — although the feature cuts the panel's response time to 4 milliseconds, the TV's normal 120-Hz display mode already seemed well up to the task of displaying fast-motion sports such as hockey.
Although it can do wonders with high-def sports, someone expecting the LC-52D92U to perform miracles with regular programs such as analog cable fare is bound to be disappointed. While Sharp's High digital noise reduction setting helped to smooth out grainy pictures, it also tended to smear detail and introduce ghosting artifacts in scenes containing fast motion.
BOTTOM LINE The Sharp Aquos LC-52D92U 52-inch LCD HDTV is the kind of bigscreen flat TV that many folks would be glad to have in their homes. It delivers a crisp, bright picture with an impressively wide viewing angle, deep shadows, and strong contrast. Where the Sharp comes up short is its below-average handling of standard-def programs and pumped-up, unnatural-looking color. That first issue is one that I imagine many people could live with, but the second one is something that discerning viewers will find hard to overlook.
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