Product Description

Sharp's LC-45GD6U AQUOS is a breathtaking 45" widescreen HDTV that can easily enhance the decor of any family room, living room or den. The LC-45GD6U is the largest LC-TV on the market today, and it displays all content in full HD spec resolution, the highest of the DTV resolutions. With an unbeatable resolution and vivid color purity, it is a next-generation TV to carry you into the high-definition future. The LC-45GD6U utilizes Sharp's proprietary Advanced Super View/Black TFT Panel, which provides high brightness, contrast, and wide viewing angles.With a fully integrated HDTV tuner and CableCARD compatibility, the LC-45GD6U is a complete state-of-the-art HDTV. This means you can "plug and play" with any HDTV-capable Digital Cable Ready cable TV system, without requiring a separate cable set-top box. The LC45GD6U features an elegant new titanium design with detachable speakers to ensure the sound is as outstanding as the picture. In addition, the table stand (included) can be easily removed for wall mounting applications.

Product Details

• Brand: Sharp
• Model: LC-45GD6U
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 35.50" h x 16.00" w x 47.60" l, 100.00 pounds
• Display size: 45

Features

• Sharp TFT Advanced Super View LCD widescreen TV with 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution; 42.7 x 25.4 x 4.2 inches (W x H x D) without stand
• Onboard ATSC HDTV tuner permits off-air high-definition reception; 2 digital-video inputs (1 DVI-I, 1 HDMI)
• Ultra-high 800:1 contrast radio, ultra-fast response time: less than 12 ms
• Wide viewing angles (170 degrees horizontal/vertical) and high brightness (450 cd/m2) allow placement near windows
• Detachable bottom-mounted speakers and table stand, 10 watts per channel x 2

Amazon.com Product Description
Sharp's stylish LC-45GD6U may be projection-sized in its screen, but the 45-inch LCD TV is a picture-frame thin 4.2 inches, letting you mount it in spots where a projection set would never fit. The HDTV- and PC-compatible Advanced Super View high-definition television houses both NTSC and ATSC (HDTV) tuners and all necessary inputs and outputs, so there's no need for supplementary components; the detailed, 1,920 x 1,080-resolution television is ready to go right out of its box.

The AQUOS LC-45GD6U offers a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio to match your favorite movies, and full compatibility with high-definition video sources up to 1080i. Mounted just below the screen are 2 detachable, high-aperture aluminum speakers powered by 10 watts per channel.

A handy PC Card slot lets you record still images and video on a PC Card and view them on the TV, and Sharp's proprietary Quick Shoot video circuit ensures a lightning-quick response time of less than 12 ms for smooth-as-silk video and gaming graphics (easily one of the fastest screens available). The set's authorized CableCARD ability means the set will also receive digital cable television systems services directly from the cable operator without requiring a bulky, external cable box.

LCD screens offer a number of benefits over CRT monitors and televisions, including general ease of use, freedom from eye strain (no screen flickering or radiation emissions), quiet operation (no high-pitch "flyback" noise, an issue with CRT TVs), accurate image geometry (no curvature distortion or susceptibility to magnetic interference from, say, speakers), long screen life (no risk of image burn-in), space savings, and light weight/easy positioning. They also tend to be cheaper and, to some eyes, slightly more natural looking than their plasma flat-panel counterparts, which usually "spec" higher (higher brightness, higher contrast ratio).

The LC-45GD6U's Advanced Super View/black TFT (thin-film-transistor) screen offers exceptionally wide (170- by 170-degree) viewing angles and an extraordinary contrast ratio of 800:1 for super-black blacks. Its high brightness (450 cd/m2) ensures wide dynamic range for vivid colors, great depth, and realism. You can place it anywhere--near windows, doors, or other light sources--and its picture will remain vivid. And, with its 60,000-hour lamp life, the backlight life is long enough to give you viewing pleasure for many years.

Connections consist of 2 high-definition component-video inputs, 1 DVI-I (Digital Visual Interface-Integrated) input, 1 HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) input, 2 i.Link (IEEE 1394 inputs), 3 composite-video inputs, and 2 S-video input. An audio/video output (composite- and S-video with stereo analog audio) facilitates hookup with a surround receiver, DVR, VCR, or other destination.

DVI-I is a direct-digital DVI terminal capable of transmitting both analog and digital video data from PCs and video cards. HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a lossless, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface to link any audio/video source (such as a set-top box, DVD player, or AV receiver) with your TV or monitor. HDMI supports standard-definition (SD), enhanced definition (ED), or high-definition (HD) video, plus multi-channel digital audio--all using a single cable. It transmits all ATSC HDTV standards and supports up to 8-channel digital audio, with bandwidth to spare to accommodate future enhancements and requirements.

What's in the Box
LCD TV, detachable speakers, a table stand, a remote control, remote batteries, an AC power cord, an RF coaxial cable, a cable clamp, 2 wall bracket units, and a user's manual.

Customer Reviews

Spectacular monitor...but not obsolescence proof
The 45" Sharp LC-45GD6U is a spectacular LCD HDTV monitor, with superb picture quality that stands up to anything currently on the market. Unfortunately, despite being one of the first 1920x1080 displays, it's not as obsolescence proof as you might think as it doesn't support 1080p resolution at this time without major workarounds. In English, this means that next-generation DVDs won't be displayed in maximum resolution and some HTPCs will have problems. Still, this is a marvelous HDTV; its just that if you're paying this much for it you shouldn't compromise at all - meaning I mark it down 1 star - and the one-year warranty is skimpy enough to take another half-star off. If you want better protection against obsolescence, look at the LC-45GX6U, which has an easier 1080p workaround.

LCDs and plasma each have their own camps; plasma offers better blacks and brighter pictures, where LCDs are easier to break in, have longer lives with a fairly simple repair, and don't wash out in the sunlight. (You need to watch for yourself to make up your own mind.) What's also neat is that (unlike plasma) there are now several LCDs that have reached the limits of HDTV broadcasts with 1920x1080 resolution; there are more coming in the next few months, but for now the three 45" Sharp 1920x1080 LCDs are tied with Samsung for the best native resolution and offer better picture quality comparable to the best plasmas. The difference between the models is minor. The GD4U has detachable side speakers and is silver, the GD6U has a detachable bottom speaker and is titanium, and the GX6U's tuner and scaler are in a standalone box (the GD4U and GD6U have an integrated one) and is also titanium with a detachable bottom speaker. I personally prefer the titanium look and the bottom speaker as I find it works as a cheap center surround speaker, although with the significant price difference between the GD4U and GD6U you might as well ditch the side speakers on the GD4U and buy your own center channel speaker. It surely will do better than the GD6U's 10 watts.

Picture quality is nothing short of spectacular. The blacks rival plasmas, there's no noticeable streaking, and you pretty much can't complain about how this treats any HDTV signal. There still aren't a lot of 1920x1080i HD signals out there (in fact, DirecTV and others just disappointingly cut their signals to 1280x1080i), but those that are display nicely and the 720p signals look good too. (For those slightly confused, HD transmits either in 720p (720 horizontal lines non interlaced) or 1080i (1080 lines interlaced)). One added benefit is that the hardware actually does a good job upscaling both standard broadcasts (480i) and DVDs (480p) to make them look decent. Can't argue with that, although you can tell the difference between the quality of this TV's integrated upscaling versus that of a separate $1000 high end scaler like the DVDO Iscan. Several other features are also useful. CableCARD is a good cheap second tuner (even though this version 1.0 doesn't support sending a signal back to the cable company, which means you can't buy PPV with it). This is also one of the few tuners whose Firewire connection works out of the box with the JVC DVHS VCRs - important as this will save you immense amounts of pain trying to save digital recordings. (Timeshifting is another matter as Sharp skimped on a program timer, but there are current workarounds and HD Tivo will be out in a year anyway.) Essentially, for anything you want to watch today this is about as good a toy as you can get.

So why not 5 stars?

The problem is that Sharp decided that the best you should be able to do with their hardware is to display a 1080i signal. That's fine for today, but the problem is that within a year there should in fact be numerous 1080p sources (in fact, there were several displayed at CES this year) and what's worse is Sharp is somewhat guilty of false advertising as the units are still advertised on Sharp's website as 1080p. In addition, if you're trying to hook up a PC to this the best the tuner will let you display is 1280x1024 resolution - an issue for those with HTPCs. To some extent this is a moot point - the competition is stuck at 1364x768, and it may be hard to tell 1080i from 1080p on a monitor as small as 45" - but there's really no excuse for a monitor that can display 1080p but can't because Sharp wanted to save $100 on hardware.

The good news is that the unit with a separate tuner (the GX6U) will happily display 1080p resolutions through the monitor's DVI input...but only if you disconnect the tuner and put your own source in. As a workaround its simple, but also requires a separate $250 DVI switcher if you don't want to constantly connect and disconnect. Unfortunately, with the GD4U and GD6U it's not nearly that easy as you can't bypass the integrated tuner. Furthermore, reported solutions have had notable degrades in picture quality. Sharp has mentioned they may push out an upgrade that would solve this, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Sony wants $3000 for their 1080p upgrade to the Qualia, which should tell you why Sharp hasn't yet implemented this.

Finally, the one year warranty (compared to three for most plasma units) is pretty skimpy, although reports of trouble with these monitors have been significantly less than plasma units.

Still, for today's signals, this can't be beat. I just think that if you're going to spend this much on a TV you should not have to think about buying another one for many, many years to come. Only the GX6U offers that for now, which is why I recommend that instead of the GD4U and GD6U. In any case, if you're patient, you should see prices come down on all three fairly shortly with increased competition and lower manufacturing failure rates. For now, though, the best game in town.

After 4 years still not satisfied with HD quality
For the pro side: this set has been trouble free since 2005.

For the Con side: In 2005 I read the above "Spectacular Monitor" review. At the time the Sharp LC-45GD6U 45-Inch AQUOS Flat-Panel LCD TV with Integrated HDTV Tuner was the largest LCD TV available. I bought one in November 2005. The picture quality never matched my sister's Sony 32" (largest Sony at the time - 2005) nor many later brands of LCD large screen HDTVs.

The Sharp factory service was called within days after delivery and set-up. A local Sharp contractor said the picture was fine however my cable reception was weak. "Raise the signal strength and the picture would improve." The cable company made a valiant effort, eliminated splitters, added a signal booster and raised the signal strength as much could be expected on the third floor of an apartment building.

Believing what the Sharp service representative said, several months later I installed a satellite service. The HD picture quality barely improved, more importantly picture quality was lacking compared to other large screen LCD HDTVs. It appears this Sharp model did not meet the published specifications.

This television cannot display a 1080p signal (Blu-ray, PS3, PC)
I am terribly disappointed. I feel as though I've been lied to. Everywhere in their literature, Sharp touts their ability to display 1080p on this device. Unfortunately, the device doesn't accept a 1080p signal as input. It can accept a 720p signal and up convert it to be displayed as 1080p but that adds no quality, it just resamples the image at a higher resolution, often looking worse than the original source image. I've owned the TV for more than 30 days and just recently tried to display a 1080p TV but I'm still going to try to return the TV.