Customer Reviews

Sharp Aquos LC37D43U 37-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a college student with Xbox 360, I was looking to get into high definition without spending over a thousand dollars. At the time (last fall), this limited me to a 32" LCD, most of which were still significantly over my budget at brick-and-mortar electronics stores. I knew I wouldn't be buying Sony (too overpriced) and I refused to buy a brand like Vizio or Olevia because you get what you pay for, despite what owners claim. After doing about a half year of online and in-store research, I had narrowed my search down to Samsung and LG 32" LCDs, preferring the more expensive Samsung. I then decided to play the waiting game for prices to drop within my range. This year, though, using Amazon user reviews and AVS Forums as sources, I had to throw the new Sharp in with my prospective choices. About two months ago, a wholesale store had a sale on the 37" set that fell exactly at my price limit and I decided to pull the trigger.

I've used the set now for two months and I'm convinced that I made an excellent decision. Aesthetically, this television is beautiful and it is surprising how tiny the bezel seems. I'm still not used to the size of this thing, especially because I had been set on a 32" and I lived in a dorm room. I think that 37" is about as big as I could have gone because of viewing distance. I was worried about the fact that there were only two component and two HDMI inputs, but my amplified over-the-air antenna plugged into the coaxial jack and the digital HD broadcasts were phenomenal, with surround sound, too (Durham, NC area). If your cable provider feeds digital channels without a converter box, this set has a QAM tuner to pick those up, too, along with the mandated ATSC tuner and NTSC as well. At home right now for the summer I've got it hooked up to a Verizon FiOS set top box via HDMI and, with some adjustment, the picture is spectacular. Gaming with Xbox 360 is perfect, with vibrant colors and no perceived lag due to the 6ms response time - I couldn't be happier with that. Black levels are where this set really shines, and they look truly black, which has historically been the dealbreaker with LCD panels. With this Aquos, I get deep blacks without having ANY worries about burn-in, no matter how much plasma tech has progressed, one of my big concerns with the 360 and sports scores, etc. Standard definition is surprisingly good on the "Smart Stretch" setting, but it varies by channel. At 4:3, it is very comparable to a CRT, at least to my eyes. This is an LCD and it will look grainy/pixelated at times compared to hi-def stuff, but that's the nature of the beast.

I do have a few issues with the television. Like the Sharps have been known to do for years, there was a bit of a factory "red-push" that resulted in pinkish skin tones, but again, some tweaking fixed that. One issue I found annoying was the OPC backlight adjustment that dimmed or brightened the screen immediately after changing channels or going between commercials. Even on the "off" setting, this occurs, but turning it on and decreasing the range to 1 eliminated the problem. One widespread problem that I saw in my research is a sort of "popping" noise from the expansion of the TV casing as it heats and cools from turning on and off. I did experience occasional loud popping for the first couple weeks, but it had no impact on my experience and that sound has now completely disappeared. The speakers are fine for watching the news or a program on the Discovery Channel, but they really distort the low frequencies, even at a medium volume. Of course, these manufacturers have to assume that people who buy LCDs or plasmas have some kind of audio setup. There's no headphone jack, which I missed sorely because I couldn't watch television while my roommate was sleeping. At the same time, this TV isn't designed for anyone to sit sufficiently close for headphones, so it's understandable. I do have my desktop PC hooked up to the Aquos through the "PC Input" (RGB VGA), and it works well for playing video, especially HD, and viewing pictures. Be aware that by default, the TV is set to receive 1280x768 (which looks a little off) from the PC instead of its native 1360x768, so you'll have to change it in the menu; I can't figure out the reasoning behind that. Don't expect to be able to use it as a primary computer monitor - you'll have to upgrade to 1080p for that. Still, for video, I'm convinced that at 37" from regular viewing distance, 1080p is not discernible from 720p and therefore not worth the extra money. For example, 1080p on 52" has the same number of pixels per square inch as does 720p on 37".

Overall, this set is fantastic for my needs as a college student and gamer, especially for the price I got it for. I could not be more pleased with the quality of HD programming, but make sure that at least a good chunk of your viewing will be in HD. With the 1080p version getting to be only a couple hundred more expensive than this one, I feel that I might have some buyer's remorse because of the PC display difference. Buyers should know that because of how big retail stores split their video signal to multiple displays and the lack of fine tuning, what you see may not be what you get. This TV admittedly did not look good in the store, but once I got it home, I couldn't imagine taking it back. Despite its flaws, my satisfaction is undoubtedly five out of five.

The LC37D43U is my second Sharp Aquos this year and I have to say that I cannot think of any reason to purchase any other brand of LCD Television. When I purchased the other one (26")8 months ago I did not have HD yet and only bought that TV because physically it fit my needs so when I got the HD boxes from Comcast last month it was sort of a gradual transition.

The 37D was purchased to replace a 32" CRT in my basement. I prepared the HD box by getting rid of the damn coax cable and plugging in the HDMI cable for when the TV arrived and set it to the Discovery HD Channel. Plugged the TV into the power strip, hit the power button and almost fell over at how gorgeous the picture was.

As almost every other person reviewing LCD HD's, I will say that SD is tough to look at when switching from an HD channel, but 5 minutes after the channel change the picture on the standard channel still looks substantially better than the CRT! I also want to mention the 6ms refresh rate. I know a lot of people don't put any credence in this, but I see a lot of complaints about ghosting in the reviews I read on other (mostly 8ms)LCD's.

I watched 20 minutes of a hockey game last night which is substantially more fast paced than ANY football game you could watch and it was clear, vivid and completely lacking any ghosting or weird imagery!
6ms refresh rate?? I'm no expert, but it seems like a valid feature to me!


Pros:

-2 HDMI Inputs (Finally I can take advantage of this on my DVD player)
-Easy to use remote
-default settings options on ANY configurable criteria. Mess around with picture, volume or input settings and make a mistake? Hit the reset button and start over...Beautiful!!
-Sturdy construction


Cons:

-Switching from HD to SD and from SD to HD channels takes a little longer than I would like as the image needs to resize, but switching HD to HD and SD to SD is as fast as you would normally expect. This may be normal, but I did not see it on the 26".
-The remote does not have any codes that I could find to control the Motorola cable box that Comcast hands out for HD.
(If anyone out there knows of a fix for this I would appreciate it)


Again, this is my second Sharp LCD in 9 months and I would recommend this brand and this model to anyone wanting a solid, quality LCD TV!!

The title lets you know what I think.
Did my homework. Did not want to step up to the plate and pay the price so, I settled for a "cheaper" TV. ...Hated it! Took it back and did what I should have done to begin with, dig deeper and buy one of the best. Sharp is offering us a superior product. ... Worth every cent. Oh, details: (1-10 1=bad / 10=Great): Picture quality-10, Ease of hookup-10 (unbelievable number of component options), Speaker/Sound quality-6 (Picture quality this good deserves an outside source. Ours is a Bose system. Combine the 2 and no need to go to the movies), Appearance quality-10, Warranty-10, Latest features-10 (Just came out), Remote control features-10, OVERALL: 10,10,10,10,10,10,10, and TEN! Thank you Sharp. Give those engineers a raise!

I thoroughly investigated LCD vs. Plasma and decided that LCD best suited my needs. But the job was only 1/2 over - I had to select the set. I read specs, checked prices, read more specs, went to electronic forums and asked specific questions about various sets, visited stores so I could see and compare images and finally settled on the Sharp Aquos 37". I've had it for over 2 months now waiting to see if anything is going to go wrong, but it's just great. It's been tested hard so far and the picture on HD is amazingly clear - I can only imagine that some news casters would prefer analog since every molecule of every mole on their faces can be clearly seen! (Well, a little exaggerated but the HD picture is truly very, very good). The colors are beautiful. We don't have it wall-mounted - sits in a TV cabinet. No problem with the viewing angle or distance. I wouldn't go any larger if you are closer than 14 feet or else the picture will look pixilated. A big LCD screen with a short viewing distance is not the way to go.

It has plenty of outputs/inputs on the back with easy access. I had to make a call to Sharp Technical Support about an input question and they were very helpful and friendly. He also told me that since the set was considered a large one and would be difficult to carry to a repair shop if a problem occurred which would require repair, that they would send someone over to the house free-of-charge for one year to fix it! I also like the fact that Sharp is reputable company and stands behind it's products. I avoided the disposable sets despite the raves about picture quality for fear I would have to dispose of it within 2 years if it needed repair. I hope to be watching this set 10 years from now.

If an electronic device is going to go bad, it usually does so within a year. I have had the set on for 10 + hours a day. I don't plan on keeping it on that much in the future, but I work from home and I like to hear the background noise. My only complaint is with the sound when
on digital stations and when watching DVD's. It is very weak and still hard to hear even when it is cranked full blast. I will probably get external speakers to remedy that. However, when on analog stations the sound is very loud and easy to hear. I don't know if the weak sound is due to the set or the station's/DVD's digital signal.

What I love also is the fact that if a movie has been filmed in a dark environment - night, cave, or dark interior of a house - it is still easy to see what is going on. On my old analog set I missed much of a movie due to dark scenes which we could not adjust to be seen. Try watching, "Clan of the Cave Bear" and you will know what I mean.

And you don't need a professional calibration to adjust the picture. The menu is straight-forward and easy to understand. It's well worth taking the 15 minutes or so to carefully go through all of the picture options and selecting those which make the picture good for you. It will be glaring when first out of the box so take some time to adjust it.

The only minor complaint I have so far is the wait between channel selections. I'm used to going instantly from channel to channel and there is a lag time of about 1-2 seconds. NO big deal.

I like this TV a lot, and have ordered my 81 year old mother a 20" Sharp Aquos. It hasn't arrived yet but I will certainly critique it at a later date.

UPDATE: September 1, 2008

This set has been heavily used. It is on more hours of the day than it should be. It has worked perfectly. I still love this set. No problems ever. We watched the Summer Olympics games in China and couldn't have asked for a better set with which to view them. The opening ceremony in Beijing was truly awesome and no details were missed.

Crisp picture, good blacks, good contrast, easy set-up, sound is acceptable though we've hooked up external speakers so that the audio will be as excellent as the video. Before we purchased it we read reviews of comparable sets and are pleased that we chose this one. The first set we got had a vertical line on the screen, so we called Sharp's customer service, and they very quickly picked up the set and brought a replacement, which has been perfect. We are pleased both with the quality of the tv and the responsiveness of Sharp's tech support/customer service. The only thing we would change is the glossy cabinet because of the glare and because it has to be dusted so carefully and so frequently; would prefer matte black. We purchased a Toshiba 19" lcd hdtv/dvd combo about the same we got this Sharp, and were unhappy with the washed-out picture; we exchanged it for the 19" Sharp combo, which has a much, much better picture and was so much easier to set up. Happy all around.

I've been using the same 27" CRT TV for years now and I finally decided it was time for an upgrade. I looked around for a long time and then I saw this awesome TV. I then went into Best Buy, where they don't have this exact TV, but a similar one, and it just looked beautiful. Not only is the picture awesome, the TV itself is as well!!! But I expected all of that, what took me by suprise was how good it actually sounds. You would expect with the speakers being as small as they are, that they would sound well...small. But they really don't, they have a very nice solid sound to them. So if you aren't willing to commit to buying or connecting a sound system, it's not a must.

The ONE thing I don't like about this TV, and it's minor, is the remote. I just don't like the way it's laid out. Like I said, nothing big, but if I'm having to find something to complain about...

Like others have written, the unit has more than enough inputs and outputs; the picture quality is excellent and it looks really nice athletically. The thing I was most concerned with was the analog audio outputs (rca's), so I have the freedom to use any external amp of my choice for audio. It also has the single rca digital audio out. The unit looks beautiful (piano black) and I could not be happier. Thank you Sharp

I was skeptical about buying a TV over the Internet, but went ahead and took my chances. Mine was sold by Amazon and shipped by Eagle services. I tracked the Eagle shipment and noticed it had arrived at the airport in the city which I work on a Friday evening around 4:30. I called and asked them if I could come by and pick-up the TV since I knew it would be Monday (or later) before they delivered it to my house 60 miles away. They said, no problem. So, I went to the airport and got my TV from the Eagle hub. This is where I took another chance. Amazon's White Glove service brings the TV into your house, unpacks and verifies that it works. With me picking up the TV from Eagle, I forfeited that insurance. After inspecting the box and noticing that it was in perfect condition, I decided to bring it home. No problems since the TV works flawlessly.

The TV was easy to setup, including mounting the base. The main reason I bought this TV is because our entertainment center is 36" wide. This is the largest LCD that I could find which was less than 36" wide. It fits perfectly.

I'm using the TV for Directv HD/SD and air/antenna HD. Off air, widescreen, HD video and sound are fantastic. I've ready complaints that you can't stretch HD pictures in 4:3 (box) format. This is true on a Toshiba I own, so apparently this is common.

Pros:

*Nice bright, crisp picture on HD broadcasts. SD stations are fuzzy, but that is common on HDTV's.
*Lots of inputs
*Remote is well designed (and lonnng)
*plenty of setup/configuration options.
*Manual appears to be well written but I never used it since the TV is that easy to figure out on your own.

Cons:

*Changing air/antenna channels is a "little" slow but I can live with it since I seldom watch more than one air channel at a time. If you are on a dish, changing channels is as fast as your satellite receiver can change. Tuners have been around for decades. Surely Sharp could have done better in this area.

*SD channels don't look as good as they do on our Toshiba Regza 32", but I think this has to do with the extra screen width. The larger the TV, the worse SD channels will appear.

*Our Toshiba has better sound, I think, but the Sharp is not bad at all. I hooked up an old set of Logitech Z-2300 speakers to the TV and now it sounds much better.


*The HDMI inputs are in a weird location, at a right angle which is not easy to get to. Make sure you get an HDMI cable of sufficient length just in case you have to move the TV out of its spot. Being at a right angle, the HDMI cable connector will bend, destroying the cable and possibly damaging the HDMI port on the TV.

Rating: Minus one star for the issues mentioned. Other than that, kudos to Amazon for shipping (free) the day after I ordered and to Eagle for a safe, four day trip to my local hub.

I recently purchased the 37" Sharp Aquos and am pleasantly surprised with its performance. This tv was a steal for under $900 with free shipping. If you do not have Direct tv with the HD package or an HD antenna you might be disappointed with the picture quality of regular cable television. The picture will look better on a 10 yr. old tv than an lcd. Get Direct HD package. The Aquos has tons of inputs and has a nice bezel. The built in speakers are fine, but if you love movie watching you should pick up a surround sound theater system. The shipping service was great! The package arrived promptly from FedEx home shipping and was well packaged. This tv is a must buy. I would recommend it for anyone who lives in an apartment.

I got the LC37D43U on 5/30/08, by Nov it had a red line thru it from top to bottom. I called Sharp for warranty service, they came out and said the screen needed to be replaced. It would be 10 days. I called them 25 days later and found out they had not even ordered the part yet. In the end it took 7 weeks, they replaced the TV today.

Pros:
The PQ is fine. Colors good, chrisp images
Good remote compared to others, easy to use menus.
Good sound for TV speakers

Cons :
Quality, it should not fail in a couple of months
LOUSY customer service, NO follow up, no calls...zero
The tuner is slow to change channels
The side HDMI connections are not easy to connect to unless you have a small hand
Sharp is famous for having banding issues on larger sets

Reccommend ; The Samsung 37" instead. It is a better TV ( I've seen it ) but was not available when I got the Sharp. Not many choices in 37"