Sharp Aquos LC32D44U 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)I have both this TV as well as a Samsung LN-T2642H. It's very interesting to compare the two TV's performances. If you want the more balanced natural look, go with Sharp. If you're more interested in a vivid, colorful image go with Samsung. I also did an extended look at the Toshiba 26HL67.
There is a key difference between the panels Sharp uses compared to others. Sharp's TVs are made with panels called S-IPS while Samsung, Sony and Toshiba currently use a panel called S-PVA. This has everything to do with why Samsung, Sony and Toshiba have very strong color but one thing I noticed about Samsung is that when you look at it for a slightly low angle, the color gets darker and starts to invert. If you look it from above, the color gets lighter and starts to invert. With the Sharp, no matter what angle I look at it, the color doesn't change AT ALL! This is very impressive and cool!
I also notice that when I played around with the TV settings, it doesn't need much to look good, it almost always does. When you turn on the Active Contrast mode on the Sharp (it's equivalent to DNIe), it doesn't totally knock out the details in darker areas. At first, I had to keep checking to see if it was on or not because I was so used to the way the Samsung crushes black details even on the Low setting. Once again, I was more impress with the way this TV addresses contrast in fact I think the Sharp does a better job with contrast because of its black color.
The Sharp's black color is closer to black than the Samsung. The black color on the Samsung is more of a dark blue even on Warm temperature (it's especially noticably at slight vertical angles) but with the Sharp the black was much closer to real black.
The speakers on the Sharp doesn't distort at volume levels higher than 30. With the Samsung, when u turn the volume up pass 30, the bass tends to distort the fidelity of all the sound resulting in a buzz. This is probably due to the build of the unit and the lower wattage for the speakers. Sharp doesn't sound perfect either but it's definitely warmer and clearer at high volumes thanks to having 10 watts per speaker instead of 5. I would recommend everyone to get a 2.1 speaker for any LCD TV though. Take advantage of those sound outputs on the back of your TV! :) It definitely takes your experience to a higher level!
One minus I have with the Sharp was that it didn't have a headphone jack.
Overall, I think this is an excellent 32" TV. Sharp is definitely worth a look and probably my new LCD manufacturer of choice. It doesn't need as much tweaking when you switch between uses. I tested both TVs with PC (via DVI>HDMI), Xbox 360, HDTV, SDTV, HD-DVDs and upconverted DVDs. With the Samsung, I find myself always tweaking the settings between uses like changing the Energy Saving level, turning up the Digital NR for SDTV, turning it off for everything else, toning down the DNIe.
Thanks to Sharp's OPC, the backlight adjust very intelligently based on what's on the screen. I just leave the Active Contrast on because I know I'm not missing out darker details, the picture is very sharp and the panel is slightly faster thanks to the 6ms speed, which equals less motion blur with things like text and more solid image overall.
This Sharp is the real deal and reminds me much more of a CRT than the Samsung because the Samsung requires too much twinkering to get things comfortable. I think if the Samsung's black was more like true black and the vertical angle didnt distort so much I wouldn't tweak it as often.
So in summary, if you want the most vibrant colors and don't mind tweaking between uses by all means get a Samsung. (I still like the Samsung and would give it a 4 out of 5)
If you want a more, natural looking picture, that doesn't offer or require as much tweaking because it just plain looks good, go with a Sharp.
I think Toshiba and Sony TVs tend to do a better job with black crush and black color than Samsung but since the panels are the same technology (S-PVA), they still have the vibrant color and probably some vertical viewing weirdness.

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The elegant AQUOS D44U Series easily enhances the decor of any family room, living room or den. With a true 16:9 aspect ratio, HDTV resolution of 1366 x 768, and breathtaking color purity, it is a next-generation TV to carry you into the high-definition future. The D44U Series utilizes Sharp's proprietary Advanced Super View/Black TFT Panel providing 7500:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, 6ms response time and wide viewing angles (176°H x 176°V). Both models are HDTV's with built-in ATSC / QAM / NTSC tuners and include 2 HDMI and HD component video inputs as well as a D-sub, 15-pin input for PC compatibility. The D44U Series features a black cabinet and the included table stand easily removes for wall mounting applications. Features: 16:9 ASV LCD Panel from Sharp's state-of-the-art Kameyama factory producing 7500:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio and 6ms response time. True 16:9 wide-screen aspect ratio with 1366 x 768 HDTV resolution. Wide Viewing Angles (176°H x 176°W) Sharp's AQUOS LCD TVs viewing angles are so wide, you can view the TV clearly from practically anywhere in the room. PC Input conveniently turns your TV into a PC monitor. Enhanced Color Filter uses finer points to achieve higher throughput, enabling deeper, more vivid colors and 150% higher contrast ratio. High Brightness (450 cd/m2) AQUOS LCD TVs are very bright. You can put them virtually anywhere - even near windows, doors or other light sources - and the picture is still vivid. Built-in ATSC / QAM / NTSC Tuners provide access to DTV and analog TV channels.

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