Customer Reviews

Sharp LC46E77U 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Quality
I had another LCD Sharp for four years before this one. That one has survived two cross-country moves and the pixels are still perfect. My feeling is that Sharp's panels tend to have fewer dead pixels than their competition. Also, there are many fewer complaints about the sets suddenly not turning on after two months (in stark contrast to Samsung). So I regard Sharp as a high-quality but relatively cheap LCD TV maker.
Picture
The picture quality is fine (I'm not a videophile) and HDTV really is lovely. Imagine being able to see the food served on the Food network... to say nothing of a football or golf ball. I like the 120MHz motion de-juddering, but I have it turned to low rather than high. It really is quite unnatural in the high setting - everything looks like an episode of the Teletubbies. Maybe I'll get used to it. The "OPC" thing is annoying, but you can turn it off and/or stop the little leaves from appearing every thirty seconds. I think it has something to do with dynamic contrast, which takes the ambient light in the room into account, but I can't be sure. Suffice it to say, the picture is pretty good.
Sound
Also fine - how loud do you want it? Actually, the bass is a little overdone, but I've hooked up a soundbar and everything sounds great now. Nicely enough, this set acts a bit like a receiver: all my audio signals get channelled into the TV through HDMI connections and then I use a digital audio output to send it to my soundbar. I don't need multiple wires to connect my soundbar. I thought that was a nice feature.
Set-up
Easy. Clear manual. Good menus. Functional remote control (which also operates my other Sharp TV and looks almost identical!).
Why buy?
The styling is fine. It's not as thin as the latest Samsungs but it's only 40 lb (that's considerably lighter than last year's D85U, which this replaces) and the design works well.
It's energy efficient. Again, only the much more expensive Samsung LED-based LCDs are better, but they don't have even lighting across the whole screen. Oh, there's a Philips Eco-TV, too, but I never saw that in the shops.
It's high quality and does the job. Basically, it's a brand name product with the latest technology at a no-name price.
Why only 4 stars?
I wanted an LED set! No, seriously, this is a great TV with plenty of inputs (9 by my count, of which 5 are HDMI) and it's energy efficient and light enough to transport or wall-mount. It's not the lightest or the brightest or the loudest or the fastest, nor is it the cheapest, but it's a good compromise on all those things.

I got this LCD to replace an Aquos 42D65U; mainly because of my old set lacked a 10-bit panel and 120Hz video processor, features that are present with this set.

I am kind of picky regarding features and while some people might think Im a bit exaggerated regarding details this review is to address anyone whom needs to know specific details to help to decide about getting this set.

PROS:
-There are a lot of options in the menu that let you fine-tune the calibration of the image. If you own a calibration DVD or Blu ray you can easily achieve a perfect image and color balance that can also be tweaked to your personal taste.
-Input lag in GAME Mode is practically inexistent; I read that some brands have severe input lag while other brands also offer some sort of GAME mode to reduce such lag, but after personal comparisons SHARP manages it better.
-120Hz processing gives you a very smooth image and not as exaggerated as displayed by other brands and also NO artifacts!
many people turn this option off because it sometimes look unnatural, and I agree. Watching a movie that looks like a soap opera its not cool and sometimes it looks just plain silly and eerie, but this set manages it without going to the extreme and looks smooth and natural...and you can just turn it off if it bothers you.
Also note this: NO artifacts!

CONS:
note: I repeat, Im picky, maybe you wont notice these CONS and if you do you may not give a lot of thought to it as they are not catastrophic faults.
-that 10-bit panel promise of smooth transition between colors is not quite true. While it certainly alliviates some instances of color transition, that step between different shades of the same color are still present, not a deal-breaker issue, maybe you even havent noticed it.
-Light Banding, If you dont know what banding is, dont look for it, dont go fishing for problems. Old Aquos set had this problem and VERY more noticeable than it is in this set; also not a deal-breaker but mildly annoying if you look for it and visible only in specific panning scenes.
-Transitions of skin tones in faces sometimes look a bit posterized, or softened. Im stubborn and picky I want to see the pores on averyone faces, be able to count the eyelashes! But if you watch TV from the recommended distance then its absolutely no problem and also it might be a matter of personal taste for some people since professionals recommend to set the sharpness of the picture at low settings. Turning down the Fine Motion and dejudder settings dont alleviate this issue, but as I said, its only somewhat visible in skin tones at close-ups, otherwise the details of objects are spot-on.

MOVIE and GAME modes are my recommended settings since I found both DYNAMICs, STANDARD, PC and USER modes more of a chore to calibrate and ultimately pointless since movie/game work perfect for me.

The picture is gorgeous, Blu Ray movies look amazing and both Xbox and PS3 also have excellent image quality and no lag. The price is really accesible compared to other brands and it might not have LAN connectivity or included content as weather widgets or cooking recipes as competing sets but you might already have several devices that offer those functions and its not a big deal.

So if you are disappointed in looking around the web or forums for those very specific details regarding this LCD I hope this helps you.

Just setup the tv last night to watch the Blazer game (thumped Denver!!!). Incredible picture and the faster processor kept up with the action pretty well (120hz). Setup was a snap, very intuitive if you've plugged in most any other electronics/gaming systems.
The only knock on this set are the speakers which if turned up are flat and tinny. That is not a concern for us as we've wired for surround however if you do not have a sound system I would consider a sound bar.

I actually own the sister version of this product (the Sharp LC-52E77U), but the information in this review is equally applicable to this TV since they use the same, albeit smaller, panel.

Since I have owned this TV for a few months now, I thought it would be helpful to share a few tips and tricks I have learned:

PROBLEM: INCOMPATIBLE AUDIO SIGNAL

All my A/V devices (360, PS3, Wii, Samsung DTB-H260F) were connected to my Onkyo TX-SR607 receiver with HDMI, which was set to output to my Sharp Aquos LC-52E77U. And, although the receiver was set to "Audio TV Out" off (and even with it on), the TV kept popping up this error:

"Incompatible audio signal has been received, please check the output signal."

It only pops up for a few seconds, and only when I would switch devices or resolution or whatever. Still, pretty annoying. Connecting the devices directly to the TV via HDMI caused the same error - the only time it didn't happen is when there was 2ch 44.1/48Khz PCM involved.

Unfortunately, unlike every other TV I have ever owned, the Sharp doesn't have a menu option to disable audio. Muting didn't help, either.

The solution? Set the audio volume to 0. No more error!


PROBLEM: NO DEVICE DETECTED (DVI -> HDMI)

When I first got this TV, I plugged in my Mac Mini, using a DVI -> HDMI cable. After using it for a bit, the TV would stop recognizing that the Mac Mini was connected. It turns out that, whenever the Mac Mini would be rebooted or would go to sleep, the Sharp would refuse to recognize that it was connected anymore.

The solution? Physically unplugging and plugging in the TV (not just pressing the power button), and disabling sleep on the Mac. I still have to do this unplugging dance occasionally - like for system updates - but not as often as when sleep was enabled. I guess that's the price you pay for a beautiful 1080p HDMI signal, as opposed to a letterboxed 1600x1200 VGA signal - the max this TV supports.


CALIBRATION SETTINGS

This TV has some definite problems with blues in areas of high contrast. Here are the best settings I have found, in order of their appearance in the menus:

OPC: Off
Backlight: +6 (you can adjust up or down a smidge if need be)
Contrast: +36
Brightness: -6
Color: +1
Tint: +1
Sharpness: -1

CMS Hue/Saturation/Value: 0
Color Temp.: Low (leave at Mid for color managed devices like Macs, or OTA TV)
R Gain: +11
G Gain: 0
B Gain: -10
Fine Motion Enhanced: Off (leave on for sports if you prefer)
Active Contrast: Off
Gamma Adjustment: 0
Film Mode: Off (I used Advanced(Low) for sports)
Digital Noise Reduction: Off
Monochrome: Off
Range of OPC: +16 Max, -16 Min (it is off, anyways)

I Spent a lot of time in stores and reading countless online reviews before I bought this tv looking at all makes, models and brands. This one, LC46E77U, stood out from all others from across the room in a sea of other TV's of all price ranges. I bought the unit from another retailer but I was compelled to tell how happy and satisfied I am with this TV.
The picture is perfect and HD programming is amazing. The speakers aren't bad and OK to listen to regular programming but I have a Yamaha surround system for serious listening.
I would highly reccomend this panel to anyone who wants high end features without the high end prices demanded by the so called "bigger name" manufacturers. There's plenty of inputs and outputs but the most important feature, image quality, cannot be beat.
STOP SHOPPING AROUND AND BUY THIS TV!

I picked this TV up recently from Dell with a coupon. Picture quality is very good on any input. It handles regular cable reasonably well for a big tv. It's watchable compared to some other big LCD's out there I've tried. Any input (I've done regular DVD, Windows Media Center, Blu-Ray at various resolutions including 480P, 720P and 1080P) looks excellent. The dynamic screen stretch actually works quite well to take whatever you're playing and scale it correctly to fill as much of the screen as possible. There is no blurring on anything I've watched and the response time seems to be no issue on any source.

The color adjustment is in-depth (if you want to really tweak it) and the auto-brightness/light monitor works well to adjust the screen brightness depending on the light sources in the room. I've seen others (Sony in particular) where this stuff just works half the time (especially the V4100/5100 series). Sound output is reasonable for a flat panel. It won't blow you away but it was sufficient in my 15x20 basement.

Overall I think this tv is a great bargain. It only weighs about 42 lbs so it's easy to mount. The settings are easy to use and change. The channel changing is pretty fast even for digital channels (between 1-2 seconds). OTA digital reception is good. If you can get it for $1200 or less, it's a good deal.

Spent time in stores before i bought this tv looking at all makes, models, brands. There are not alot of Sharp Aquos tvs in my area but plenty of the more expensive Sony and Samsungs.
Luckily for me my buddy bought the 52" 60 hz refresh of this model and I was able to see the beatiful picture.
Once I got the HD Direct tv service installed and adjusted the many picture related settings in this panel to my liking I am totally satisfied with my purchase.
The picture is, in my opinion perfect. HD programming looks so good its almost painful.
I have a PC in my living room attached to the panel via a DVI to HDMI cable. 700 MB DVD rips look flawless on this panel. No pixelation or atifacts with vivid vibrant color and lighting.
I dont use the speakers on the panel though i do use it to feed my Sony surround system with fixed output. It does not negatively impact sound quality.
I would highly reccomend this panel to anyone who wants high end features without the high end prices demanded by the bigger name manufacturers.
Most importantly image quality (once adjusted) cannot be beat.
The dynamic contrast and backlighting do a great job of changing picture settings with changing room lighting. I did find it best to limit the range of the OPC (auto backlighting feature) as I prefer a very bright picture.
The movie playback quality is unbelievable, especially considering the sometimes poor quality of video Im feeding it.
Spend some time adjusting this TV and you will be well rewarded.

wow, i compared this side by side to the 46" Sony LCD Bravia and the Sharp kicked its butt...truely !! It really is a better looking T.V. than the Sony as well. I cant comment on the sound cuz i have it hooked up to my Bose 24/7. I was all prepared to buy the 46" Sony at Costco as it was only $999 after instant rebate and this sharp was $1200...but i took a closer look and here's what i saw...
1) Sharp housing/frame looks much nicer than the Sony
2) Sharp colors are bright and painfully beautiful...Sony is nice but not as nice
3) Sharp has newer processing technology all around
4) Sharp has power, input, volume, channel on the side...sony has none !!
5) Sharp has swivel base, sony's base does not swivel !

All this made me want to shell out another $200 to buy a friggin Sharp over a Sony !! OMG, who knew !

BTW, the model at Costco is the LC-C4677UN which is exactly the same as this model...just ask Sharp...they told me this. Take care and compare !

The blacks aren't as dark as other sets. It took a little tweaking to make the colors look right but in the end everything looks great. The on screen menus aren't entirely intuitive and I still haven't figured out how to manually remove a channel I never want to watch. Overall a good tv at a great price.

I bought my LC-46E77U to serve both as a TV and as a monitor for my living room computer (Mac Mini), so I was deeply disappointed to experience the same problem April King (11/7/09) and other internet reviewers have described: the unit would not consistently recognize the MacMini video signal via a DVI-to-HDMI cable. I'd have to power-cycle the TV, time the Mac's reboot, all kinds of nonsense simply to get a picture. Pretty darn useless as a monitor, no?

GOOD NEWS: Sharp's software update appears to have fixed the problem. Now that my E77 plays well with my Mac, I can happily give it five stars. The procedure is simple:

1) [...] / customer support / product downloads
2) LCD TVs / LC-46E77U / Firmware
3) Select firmware update for your set and save onto USB drive. Unzip and place in root of drive.
4) Follow installation directions in manual, page 30 (or just insert drive into TV and press MENU / Digital Setup / Software Update)

If it works for you as it did for me, your beautiful and expensive doorstop will turn back into an excellent monitor. Thank goodness -- I was thinking of returning it.