Sharp Aquos LC-52D85U Review

 

The Sharp Aquos LC-52D85U

When it comes to LCD HDTVs, brand names like Samsung, Sony and Panasonic come to mind readily, but Sharp, although relatively not as prominent as the others, has been making LCDs ever since 1988, which gives it an edge over the other companies. This edge is most apparent in the Sharp Aquos LC-52D85U.

Design

The design of the LC-52D85U is relatively simple, with nothing to make it stand out from the rest of the crowd, which is why it is one of its weak points. Its remote control also falls short in its design, with buttons that are rather small but not all cramped together. Its backlight illuminates only a few buttons, the labels of which are located on the body of the remote and cannot be seen in the dark even with the backlight on. On the upside, the remote control is a universal remote control and can handle up to four other devices other than the TV.

The menu system of the Sharp Aquos LC-52D85U also falls a bit short. The menu remains fixed on the screen, preventing you from getting a better view of the picture as you adjust the settings. When trying to switch between inputs, you may be confused at first because the inputs are only labeled as Input1, Input2, etc instead of more descriptive names like A/V input or HDMI. But once you figure out which input is which, you have the option to rename them to more descriptive names.

Screen/Picture Clarity

The picture quality on the Sharp Aquos LC-52D85U is comparable to more expensive LCD HDTVs. It comes with a standard 120Hz refresh rate, which coupled with

Sharp’s Fine Motion Enhanced, gives you scenes that do not get blurry with high motion as with other LCD HDTVs. This LCD HDTV also comes with a 10-bit LCD screen, which you find in higher priced HDTVS, that gives you smoother gradients in colors. The picture quality can also be enhanced due to the menu option which gives the user greater control over the hue and saturation of each color.

The only weakness of the video quality of the LC-52D85U is the black levels. The blacks are not as deep as those found in other LCD HDTVs. Other than the bright blacks, this LCD HDTV provides crisp, clear pictures with high detail and vivid colors.

Features

The Sharp Aquos LC-52D85U comes with the standard connections found on any other HDTV, except that it comes with an extra HDMI connection which gives you the

option to connect five HDMI devices to the TV. Though it was nice of Sharp to include another HDMI connection, it does not come with a USB, ethernet or card reader that would allow you to show off your pictures. This TV also comes with a backlight that can dynamically change according to the ambient lighting of the room, which means no more manual adjusting of brightness whenever the light changes in the room during the day just to see the picture on the screen. Along with the Optical Picture Control, this TV not only gives you good quality pictures, but also helps you save the environment and money by cutting down its power consumption.

Another added feature on the LC-52D85U is the Aquos Link. Much like Panasonic’s Vierra Link, the Aquos Link gives you the option of controlling your HD devices with just a touch of a button. So after watching your favorite Blu-Ray movie, just turn off your HDTV or your Blu-Ray player, and all other HD devices will shut down, saving you the trouble of turning off each device one at a time.

The LC-52D85U does have some design issues especially with the remote control and the system menus. Even with such shortcomings, though, the relatively lower price and very high picture quality of the Sharp Aquos LC-52D85U more than make up for its weak points.

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