Customer Reviews

Sharp Aquos LC-37HV4U 37-Inch HD-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When I started shopping I had the preconceived notion that plasma TV's had better pictures than LCD's, but this set proved me wrong. I spent over an hour in a store doing back to back comparisons of all the flat panel TV's. The EDTV plasma units were non-starters, with big pixels that made the viewing experience about the same as my conventional TV. I quickly narrowed the field to this Sharp Aquos 37" unit, and two 42" HDTV plasma units from Pioneer and Sony. I had heard that LCD's didn't respond well to fast motion, but I couldn't detect any ghosting at all from the Aquos during fast action sequences. I had heard that LCD's had narrow viewing angles, but actually found the brightness of the plasma TV's dropped more as I moved vertically -- a concern for my kids who sit on the floor while playing PS2. What I hadn't heard is how the LCD pixel size was so much smaller than even the HDTV plasma units, making the viewing experience much better from close range with the LCD. Finally, I convinced myself that this was the set to get.

Have had it for two months now, and am completely satisfied. Picture quality is simply stunning in the 480p DVD mode. I don't have an HDTV tuner yet, so can't vouch for 780p or 1080i performance.

Setup was easy, with excellent connection options on the back of included control box.
Nice features:
-the "smart stretch" feature works really well, filling the entire widescreen with standard TV broadcasts. It uses a non-linear stretch that leaves the middle of the screen looking normal, and applying most of the stretch to the far left and far right. Sounds wierd but it works. Also nice is the micro-position adjustment that allows you to move the stretched image up or down to choose what portion gets truncated: eg. for news channels I move the picture up a bit to keep the bottom ticker visible.
-The set remembers separate volume settings for each input. So as you change from antenna to DVD to satellite, the volume changes to whatever the previous setting was for that input.
-The twin tuner option to put two standard TV windows side-by-side on the widescreen is great. Much better than the PIP on my standard CRT TV.
-The universal remote is well laid out and had pre-programmed codes for most of my gear.

Minor gripes:
-like many universal remotes, this one doesn't have Dish Network codes. But it's a learning remote with all the right buttons so after a few minutes I had it working fine with Dish.
-I wish the headphone jack was accessible without flipping down the control-box access panel. When I'm using headphones the open door creates a messy appearance and potential for door damage.
-I wish there were FOUR sets of inputs on the back of the control box instead of THREE. I have a DVD, VCR, PS2 and satellite receiver that I would have liked to connect individually, but instead I had to use the video switching capability of my receiver to combine two of them. Using the front panel inputs for the PS2 would create a wiring mess, and force me to leave the access door open, inviting damage. I don't have an HDTV tuner yet, and one reason is that unless I go for one of the very expensive combined satellite/HDTV receivers, I'll be wishing for FIVE inputs on the back.
-I wish I could customize the onscreen menu that selects the input so that instead of having to remember that the DVD is on "Input 3", I could make the menu more descriptive, like "Input 3: DVD". Wife and kids are forever shouting across the house asking what input to select for whatever they want to do.
-I preferred the overall aesthetics of my second choice, the Sony Plasma KE-42TS2, which has the speakers below the screen. The Sharp's side speakers make it VERY wide. But now that it's been sitting here for two months, I'm used to the wide look, and in long term I may appreciate the flexibility of having removable speakers that allow a very clean look if I decide to use it just as a monitor.
-At this price, I'm surprised an HDTV tuner isn't built in.
-Too bad it's "only" 37". The picture detail is so fine that even a 50" version of this screen would look great in my relatively small viewing area (viewing distance = 8 feet). I wouldn't say the same about 50" HDTV plasma screens.

Overall, this machine really is outstanding. I can't imagine anyone being unhappy with this purchase.

Excellent colour and overall image quality. Very easy to install and set-up. The separate A/V connection box is a great feature, since it minimizes the number of connections to the display and maintains the clean lines. Compared to a similarly sized plasma (i.e. up to 42"), it has noticeably higher resolution, generates much less heat and should last longer (I hope!).

I preferred not to install the included speakers, using an external set instead. I found the manual to be well written and informative. I really can't find much to criticize, other than the remote being a bit bulky (and I use a HTM MX-500 learning remote for the system, so this is not a problem).

From my experience with this 37" Sharp AQUOS, LCD's are the future for home entertainment!

PC Mag ranked this 37" LCD TV an "editor's choice." Their profesional reviewers liked the excellent image quality, the solid build, the styling, the generous number of inputs, and the ease of use. They also gave it 5 stars.

I've spent way too many hours staring at this screen at my local Best Buy, where it's selling for $1000 more than here on Amazon. The 37" size just looks so much BIGGER than my 30" LCD at home. When you watch sports on ESPN, you can see not only the sweat beads, but the reflections in the beads. The 37" size is best when you are 8-10 feet away from the screen. I highly recommend getting an HDI-capable DVD player, too, if you watch a lot of DVDs. (Recommended: Denon DVD-1910 for $250.) The Denon can significantly improve DVD image quality when you use the all-digital DVI connection between the the DVD player and the screen.

Sharp's Aquos line represents the best in LCD TV technology and the company's coming out with better panels as well as larger panels -- a 63" just came out in Japan. Their jaw-dropping image quality and styling make you the envy of your block (unless you live on Sunset Blvd. or next to Bill Gates).

I looked at almost all the mid sized, flat panel TV's from "High End" places to Best Buy and the Sharpe 37" LCD had the best, most consistent picture. The prices varied from $5500.00 in a retail store to $3700.00 on the Internet. I had several reasons for choosing LCD over Plasma. 1) Plasma displays have considerably bigger pixels (even on smaller screen sizes) than LCD making it harder to watch at close distances. 2) Plasma's have the problem of not being able to re-produce "negative black" (-7.5ire). The result is that even an extremely clean live video feed has a kind of "haze" over the picture that simply can't be adjusted out without compromising sharpness, brightness and color intensity. It's just the electronic nature of Plasma. It's especially annoying when watching HDTV movies or broadcasts where clarity and sharpness are so important. After all that's what your paying for, right? LCD screens however are capable of reproducing negative black quite nicely so consequently don't have the "washed" look of plasmas. Plasmas are fine from a distance of say 15' or more but my viewing distance is only about 9 ft so the choice of the Sharpe 37" LCD was clear in that regard.

I am responding to the question from James Tepper
Sharp LC-37HV4U, April 4, 2004
Reviewer: James Tepper (Boonton Township, NJ United States)

Those of you that have purchased a HDTV, regardless of whether a Plasma or a LCD should strongly consider using 2 cable boxes. The first, a regular definition cable box for low def signals (also known as NTSC - broadcast for 95% of all channels) and another HDTV box for the HDTV signals (A.K.A. ATSC).

The difference is very very significant. The problem with viewing a regular definition signal through a HDTV cable box is that the HDTV cable box "up converts" the regular TV signal to a high definition signal. This up covert is being done by a very cheap $200 box, not a high end video processor (AKA "scaler" or Faroudja, etc. which costs at least $5,000).

Low definition signals look very good on your HDTV set through a standard defination box (AKA NTSC). High Def looks extraordinary.

I rented a second box through Cablevision for an extra $5 per month. It's well worth it. The Sony box is the best for low definition. For high def, they only offer the Scientific Atlanta 7200HD which works fine.

We've had our LC37 for about 2 months now. We are driving it with an HDTV cable box and a Sony progressive scan DVD -player. We looked at nearly every available plasma and LCD HDTV before settling on the Sharp which looked much better in the showroom than any of the plasma sets, even those that cost twice as much. However, after getting the set home and playing with it for a couple of months, while there is no doubt that the LC37 knocks the socks off of every conventional (non-HD) TV that I have every seen, it doesn't seem nearly as perfect as all the other reviews that I have seen.

It does have exceptional brightness, clarity, contrast and color. The on-screen menu set-up user interface is obvious and works well. The set is well-made and easy to use.

I have two major complaints, though. The first is that while still or slowly moving scenes of HDTV are spectacular, there is something not-quite-right about scenes involving motion, especially fast motion. I have heard rumors that this is due to the relatively slow refresh rates of LCD displays, but I am not sure if this is in fact the cause of the problem. All I know is that it is annoying, sometimes a lot, sometimes and little.

The second thing that bugs me is that non-HD TV, and some DVDs (even the best DVDs do not come close to HDTV programming in terms of picture quality) do not look so great, no matter how you adjust the monitor. Sometimes there is a display artifact that resembles what happens on a computer LCD monitor when you set the screen resolution to less than the value that the monitor was designed for. Text and some lines get sort of chalky looking as the display logic tries to interpolate down to the reduced resolution. I see something that looks a lot like this on my LC37 on some (but not all) regular low-def channels, especially in the background of scenes shot with a lot of depth of field.

It is possible that some or all of these artifacts are caused by the fact that neither my HDTV cable box nor my DVD player connect to the Sharp through the DVI port. Both are using component video inputs, because that is all that is available. This means that the originallly digital program source is digital to analog converted by each source, then sent to the TV which re-digitizes it. I am curious to know if there is anyone who has this TV and has compared the DVI and component inputs, and if this is the source of the problem.

Addendum 1/19/05: I tried to change the star rating to 5 but I couldn't (bug in Amazon's review entering software I guess). We are extremely happy with this HDTV. I don't know why, but the movement artifact no longer bothers me, or my wife at all. This is by far the best-looking home TV picture I have seen anywhere. I would buy another one in a second.

This discontinued model was one of the largest LCD TVs when it first came out last year. Now others have surpassed it in size, but Sharp's quality is still the best. The viewing angles are admirable, the colors from DVDs are vibrant and true, and pixelation, although still apparent at times as is with *all* LCD screens (due to liquid crystal response time -- do not believe the "below 16ms" hype from some non-Japanese Asian manufacturers), is quite acceptable. The images displayed on this are just breathtakingly beautiful. Since this model is discontinued, you can find it at bargain prices, or get one of the newer big Aquos LCD monitors.

This TV was easy and quick to install. It helped of course that it is so light. The picture is absolutely beautiful on HD or DVD sources. Brightness,contrast,colors are all excellent. Has the best HD picture I've seen. I've had the unit for about 7 months now, and I have absolutely no complaints. The side mounted speakers are excellent as well; you don't really need to connect to your stereo if you don't want to.

Highly recommended.

I've had this TV for about 4 years and it's broke. I've researched online and other people have the same experience with this TV as me.. about 4 years of use and it breaks.. out of warranty.. so it'll cost a lot to try to fix it..
I bet lot of those 5 star rating are people giving those reviews without using for more than few months..

What a waste of money. WILL NEVER BUY OR RECOMMEND SHARP TV AGAIN!!!!

I actually own the 22" version of this TV and the picture quality absolutely blows away everything else I have seen, including plasma. Plasma generates more heat and you have to sit relatively further away from the plasma to get the best picture. I am using the surround sound on my dvd player which is actually a little better than the one in the TV. The speakers built into the TV however are awesome. There are two models, one with the speakers on the sides and one with speakers at the bottom. Either way you can't lose.