Product Description

The 52 inch AQUOS LC-52D62U sets a new standard for large-screen flat-panel TVs. With Full HD Spec 1080p resolution, dramatically enhanced black level and an elegant new design, it produces a breathtaking picture quality that is second to none. The D62U Series utilizes the next generation of Sharp's proprietary Advanced Super View/Black TFT Panel with multi-pixel technology, providing 1500:1 Contrast Ratio, 6ms response time and wide viewing angles (176 degrees, horizontal & vertical). Both models are HDTVs with built-in ATSC / QAM / NTSC tuners and include 2 HDMI, compatible with 1080p signals, and 2 HD component video inputs. The D62U Series features a sleek piano black cabinet, with subtle, recessed bottom-mounted speakers and the included table stand easily removes for wall mounting applications.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31043 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: Sharp
• Model: LC-52D62U
• Dimensions: 34.20" h x 12.20" w x 49.75" l, 116.20 pounds
• Display size: 52

Features

• Full HD Spec 1080p (1920 x 1080) Resolution for the sharpest picture possible
• Integrated ATSC / QAM / NTSC Tuner
• Table Stand Included
• High Brightness (450 cd/m2) AQUOS Liquid Crystal Televisions maintin vivid color saturation and contrast even near windows
• Dual HDMI Inputs for the ultimate in terminal flexibility. Both inputs are compatible with 1080p sources

From the Manufacturer
The AQUOS LC-52D62U sets a new standard for large-screen flat-panel TVs. With Full HD Spec 1080p resolution, dramatically enhanced black level and an elegant new design, it produces a breathtaking picture quality that is second to none. The AQUOS LC-52D62U utilizes the next generation of Sharp’s proprietary Advanced Super View/Black TFT Panel with multi-pixel technology, providing a native 2000:1 Contrast Ratio and a Dynamic Contrast Ratio of 10,000:1 with Enhanced Picture Contrast Technology, 4ms response time and wide viewing angles (176º H x 176º V). The AQUOS LC-52D62U has built-in ATSC / QAM / NTSC tuners and includes 2 HDMI inputs, is compatible with 1080p signals, and has 2 HD component video inputs. The AQUOS LC-52D62U features a sleek piano black cabinet with subtle, recessed bottom-mounted speakers, and the included table stand easily removes for wall mounting applications.

The newest AQUOS series feature a next-generation Advanced Super View LCD panel that delivers full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution for the fastest response rates and highest contrast ratio for the sharpest possible picture.

Full HD Resolution
Simply put, nothing competes to the AQUOS 1080p full high definition experience. You enjoy HDTV in its purest, most exhilarating form. True 16:9 widescreen provides a cinematic experience optimized for your natural line of sight. And AQUOS 1080p delivers twice the digital and double resolution of 720p HDTV.

Resolution describes the number of pixels on a digital television screen. More pixels give the picture more lifelike detail. Higher pixel density provides added clarity for digital TV, DVD, and HDTV. This fine resolution means you can view the large screen even from a close distance. For example, you can comfortably view a 45-inch screen from about 5.6-feet away.

AQUOS Liquid Crystal Televisions deliver very high resolutions for a clear, smoother picture. Our widescreen models meet the highest standards for HDTV viewing and provide a true 16:9 aspect ratio. With stunning resolutions up to 1920 x 1080, they capture the full excitement and intensity of high definition.

Contrast and Brightness
Sharp's D62U series of liquid crystal Televisions offer the industry's highest native contrast ratio of 2,000:1 and highest dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000:1. With these superior contrast levels, you can enjoy a quality viewing experience in any viewing environment. Sharp's new proprietary Advanced Superior View/Black TFT Panel decreases color shift, enabling a high native contrast ratio of 2,000:1. Native contrast is the contrast within one image frame. Sharp's new proprietary Enhanced Picture Contrast technology results in a dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000:1. Dynamic contrast is the contrast between the lightest and darkest colors AQUOS can display. Enhanced picture Contrast detects the black level characteristics of the image source and dynamically adjusts the backlighting accordingly to display deeper blacks.

Four Spectrum Color:
Sharp has added a deep crimson to the three standard primary colors of blue green and red on all AQUOS models. This four-wavelength backlight beautifully reproduces all the varied skin tones, making people's skin look fresher and more lively, and objects such as red wine look deeper and riper. This is only possible by broadening the color range.

Glare reduction:
AQUOS Liquid Crystal Televisions feature a low-reflection Black TFT panel that reduces the glare of ambient light, no matter where the light is coming from or how much light is present in the room. Even in a bright, sunlit room, AQUOS glare reduction ensures crisp images.

Fluid Motion:
AQUOS technology has improved its response time to 4ms, #1 in the industry for Liquid Crystal TV, and compatible with CRT technology. With less residual image on screen, AQUOS is perfect for watching fast-moving images such as sports, movies with subtitles, video games, and action movies.

Black is back. And better than ever.
In a world where color trends come and go, Sharp is excited to introduce its new contemporary classic—the D62U Series. With screen sizes of 42-, 46- and 52-inches, the D62U Series offers the most elegant, cutting-edge flat panel televisions available. This series sets new standards in HDTV style and innovation, with a striking piano black finish, subtly recessed speakers, brilliant color reproduction and spectacular picture quality. In addition to providing a high contrast ratio, the newest AQUOS® series includes a next-generation Advanced Super View LCD panel that delivers 1080p full spec HD (1920 x 1080) resolution for the sharpest possible picture. Plus, its Multi-Pixel Technology* significantly improves color reproduction at virtually every viewing angle. The dual HDMI™ inputs are compatible with 1080p sources such as Blu-ray™ players. All of this means that, through the AQUOS, there is always more to see.

AQUOS Advanced Technology
Great style and performance do not just happen. It takes a commitment to quality, an incredibly talented team of professionals and a vision for innovation. Sharp, a global leader in Liquid Crystal Televisions year after year, brings all of this and more to our technology, continually raising the bar for outstanding quality and high performance.

• Multi-Pixel Technology: By dividing each pixel into two sections and developing an advanced driving system, Sharp’s new Multi-Pixel Technology delivers more natural and accurate color reproduction when viewing the screen from virtually any angle. This technology improves extreme-angle viewing by approximately 60 percent.
• Next-Generation Advanced Super View LCD Panel: The purest whites. The deepest blacks. The most vivid range of color. That’s what comes with Sharp’s innovative LCD panel technology. The panel uses an enhanced color filter that allows greater light transmission—providing a greater native contrast ratio of up to 2000:1 and a response time as quick as 4ms for true film-like smoothness. This means richer color and a more accurate, more brilliant depiction of the world on screen.
• Four-Wavelength Backlight System: The conventional three-wavelength red, green and blue LCD backlight just got better. Sharp has vastly improved natural color reproduction with the development of its four-wavelength backlight system, adding a remarkably vivid crimson red to the palette—and changing the way LCD TV is viewed. The LC-57D90U takes the technology a step further with a five-wavelength backlight system, adding an even deeper green. With Sharp, the color possibilities are endless.

The most advanced facility for the integrated manufacture of LCD TVs.
The Sharp Liquid Crystal Television plant in Kameyama, Japan, represents the ultimate example of economic efficiency, social mindedness and environmental conservation. Combining Sharp’s vast experience and knowledge in R&D and mass production, including 50 years of TV and 30 years of LCD production, the Sharp Kameyama plant is a world-class facility for the manufacture and assembly of LCD panels.

Continuing its leadership, Sharp will open a second plant at Kameyama in October 2006. This will be the world’s first facility to adopt 8th generation glass substrates, which are roughly twice as large as the substrates used in the number one plant. Plant number two is specially designed for the production of glass for LC-TV screen sizes in the 40-inch through 50-inch range and will provide a steady supply of medium to large panels to respond to the growing worldwide demand for digital and high definition compatible flat panel televisions.

The most advanced technology to minimize environmental impact
The Kameyama plant was designed as a "Super Green Factory." A cogeneration system and a photovoltaic power generation system supply the plant with approximately one-third of its energy needs. Combined with a waste-heat recovery system that transforms waste heat into air conditioning, Sharp reduces CO2 emissions by 40 percent per year. In addition, the plant collects all the wastewater from the production process and recycles it using water purification technology. Via its Super Green Strategy, by the year 2010, Sharp plans to completely offset its production of greenhouse gas emissions by way of energy savings from new energy-efficient products and energy creation through the proliferation of Sharp solar cells.

Customer Reviews

Best LCD yet, but still room to improve...
Have owned this set for over a month, and overall am very happy with it. I carefully compared this to competitive Sony and Samsung models, and felt it was the best choice available on the market today. But it is by no means perfect...

Strengths:
-picture quality in all modes is excellent. Upconverting of standard def and 480p DVD's is best I've seen. 1080i from satellite box is simply stunning in clarity. 1080p via HDMI from PC is beautiful. Fast motion is handled without smearing. Don't be afraid of sitting close to this beautiful screen; I went with the 52" for an 8 foot viewing distance and it looks great from that distance even with SDTV.

Weaknesses:
-only two HDMI inputs. With Satellite, PC, high-def DVD and game consoles all ideally using HDMI, would like to see at least 3, if not 4 HDMI inputs.
-remote control. It's not really "universal". Doesn't control any audio except Sharp. Doesn't learn. Doesn't include DISH satellite codes. Has backlighting, but a lot of the buttons have the labeling on the adjacent, unlit surface of the remote, so in the dark you can't figure out which button is which.
-on-screen input labels. Sharp has improved this vs. my older 37" set, by allowing user to select from about a dozen different possible names for various inputs, eg. to replace "Input 2" with "DVD" or "Satellite". But inexplicably they didn't include among the choices "PC" or "Game", so two of my four inputs had to be left with generic labels.

And finally, the big issue with this set is the prevalence of very faint permanent vertical and horizontal "bands" in the image. This has been widely reported on other websites, so it is not just my set; it appears to be an instrinsic characteristic of the way the set is designed and/or manufactured. The bands are so faint that in most viewing situations you will not notice them. In fact the other members of my family aren't even aware of the issue, and I'm not about to point it out! But if you use it as a computer monitor where you frequently have a solid color displayed on the screen, you will notice a faint but clearly defined, almost plaid pattern of lighter and darker areas where you should see completely uniform brightness. The pattern doesn't move, suggesting that it is somehow related to the physical construction of the panel, perhaps the way the backlight is distributed, or maybe the way the panel is held in place. In any event, once you know it's there, you begin to notice it occasionally during normal viewing when the screen displays an area of solid color. I don't want to overstate this issue: my older 37" sharp doesn't have any "bands", but it also doesn't have the color richness, the deep blacks, the wide viewing angles, the fast response that make this new set so great. So on balance, I'd say even with this minor defect, I still consider the new set to have much better picture than the old one. But there is room for Sharp to raise the bar even further, hence the 4 stars instead of 5.

Wow, outstanding picture. A small quirks keep this set from being 5 star.
This TV has an absolutely outstanding picture. The picture will blow you away. It works wonderfully in a brightly lit room. I have it connected to a Dish Network 622 HD DVR and a Samsung Blu-Ray disk player that supports full 1080p. 1080p + BluRay = WOW! The Aquos replaced an older Hitachi 1080i HD rear projection set. The difference is astonishing. The change is easily as dramatic as going from an old CRT computer monitor to a flat panel LCD.

There is no sign of the horizontal banding that everybody is talking about. The set was purchased on the 10th of December. Apparently this is an issue that has been fixed. I even connected it to my PC and displayed various solid colors to see if there was any banding. There is none on my set.
RECENT EDIT:
After having this TV for a while, and being paranoid after hearing the comments regarding the horizontal banding, I have to admit, that I have noticed slight "banding" on very dark scenes, that are black or almost black (Like between commercials). Also, noticable in dark scenes is some vertical banding caused by backlighting irregularities. Let me emphasize that these bands are slight and are simply slight brightness variations. Under "normal" viewing, the picture looks perfect. The banding only appears between commercials when you don't care what you are watching anway. Still a great TV, especially for the price.

The high points are:
1. 1080p - Need I say more?
2. LCD - No burn in, 60,000 hour backlight
3. Good response time on LCD for fast movement (sports)
4. Good over the air HD tuner. Locks in stations that my Dish 622 can't
5. Beautiful, bright picture.
6. Flat (duh)
7. 52" for a "almost reasonable" price. The price was low enough for me to blow a bunch of bucks on one. Comparable price to plasma of lower resolution. The 57 and 60" LCD sets are 2 - 3 times the cost.

If you want to be very picky, I have a few gripes..
1. The backlight is a bit inconsistent. It is only noticable on almost completely black scenes where you can see 4 vertical, not as black, bands. Again, the only time it is noticable is on a almost completely black picture with the backlight intensity cranked all the way to the flame thrower setting.

2. The response to the remote is a little slow. It seems at times that the processor, or whatever is in there, is doing something else for a second or two when using the remote. Sometimes when I press a button, and don't get an immedate reaction, I press the button again, then I get the effect of pressing the button twice. The problem is with the set, not the remote, for I get the same response using a universal remote. This isn't a big problem, though, because I rarely go into the menus.

3. Channel surfing using the built in tuner is slow. I think the set is locking on to the digital signal or something. This slowness results in tedious channel surfing because there is maybe a 2 second delay between channels. I only use the built in Tuner to receive over the air brodcasts that my satellite provider does not give me, so this is not usually a problem.

4. This set only has 2 HDMI inputs, but also has 3 component inputs. I would prefer another HDMI.

5. The built in sound system sounds... a bit flat. It's not as good as my old rear projector with that nice big cabinet and big speakers. But, this set is usually running through a surround system anyway. A nice feature is the digital audio output to connect back to a surround system.

Despite these few shortcomings... I very happy with my purchase.

Vertical Banding is a problem
I purchased this set thru Amazon after reading the usual reviews. Delivery was quick (before Christmas despite being told it may be until January). Delivery was by truck with two fellows unloading and offering to remove the TV from the box, take all the junk, and deliver the set inside. I was very pleased with the delivery.

The TV was mounted on a wall and worked perfectly for the first two days. Beautiful picture. The colors were accurate, blacks very acceptable, and no hint of "ghosting" with movement. We tried cable TV (our HD is not yet installed), video games and DVD's. Picture with each was very good, especially the DVD.

However, on day three a green vertical stripe, about four inches wide, appeared on the right side of the screen. Also, the color on the right half of the screen is distorted. In addition, a slight purple band sometimes appears to the left of the green one. Fine vertical lines were very evident separating the bands.

I called Sharp and was told "They are aware of a banding problem with this TV", so this problem is not the imagination of other reviewers. I was instructed to take digital photos of the screen and email them so their engineers can determine what to do. I am now awaiting contact from Sharp as they determine what the problem is before dispatching repair service.

I am disappointed that this problem has occured, and it may be isolated problem. Perhaps I was just unlucky to receive a defective unit. I am waiting to see how rapidly Sharp can resolve this. I was told that I am eligible for in-home service.

My new Aquos arrived on February 2, 2007. Delivery was delayed because the TV was out of stock. Sharp dispatch called me twice explaining the replacement delivery delay and the date of delivery (although I had to wait a half hour on hold each time I called them)

The delivery truck driver and I unloaded the box, unpacked the new Aquos, and repacked the old one.

The new set works perfectly (one week) with no hint of banding.
I love this set because I have large windows opposite the wall it is mounted on and there is little or no reflection (unlike the plasmas I looked at)
I am very pleased with the Aquos and would now give it 5 stars *****
My only gripe is the difficulty of attaching cables once the Aquos is mounted on a wall.