Sharp LC-60E88UN

When you walk towards the TV section of an electronic store, you will quickly recognize the largest displays in the area. There is no doubt that these massive displays look gorgeous and many of the top manufacturers have their own sleek designs so they look nice in any living room. Unfortunately, the prices of large models that have displays larger than 50-inches are priced too high for average consumers to reach and while downsizing to a slightly smaller model still provides the same high-resolution benefits, larger displays make better use of your living room space if it is big enough.

But size is not the only contributor to the expense since there are other elements such as the extra features and technologies that affect the quality of the display. These technologies ensure the most natural image quality. Going for a display that lacks these qualities may not give you the most complete experience, but you still get the home cinema feel due to the large screen. The best thing of all is that these displays are more affordable due to these missing extras. The Sharp LC-60E88UN tries to be that 60-inch display that is actually within reach.

Sharp LC-60E88UN

Features

Although this is basically a stripped model of the Sharp’s higher-end offerings, the LC-60E88UN is more than ready to integrate with your existing home theater system. There are a total of 6 HD inputs with 4 of them being HDMI and that should be more than enough ports for you to connect your various gaming consoles, media players, and even a few portable devices that run on HD technologies. It even has room for a PC D-sub port so you can use it as a computer monitor and some composite video ports and RCA inputs for older devices.

On the design side, the display is exceptionally thin and the piano black finish should match many modern home theater equipment. It has ATSC, QAM, and NTSC tuners built-in right in so you can access DTV content alongside some analog TV content. The speakers are mounted on the bottom and are barely visible but still deliver a fine sound experience.

Although the image enhancing capabilities are limited compared to the high-end LED displays, you can still optimize your visibility by letting the OPC (Optical Picture Control) feature do the work. This feature constantly adjusts the display’s brightness according to the ambient lighting so you do less manual work whenever adjustments are needed. So whether you are watching in a very dark room or during a very sunny day, you should be able to see a clear picture.

Technologies

The Sharp LC-60E88UN lacks the edge lit LED display that is featured in the pricier 60-inch models and goes for the traditional CCFL approach which makes use of fluorescent lamps. This does not add to environmental friendly, but the X-Gen LCD Panel still contributes as a technological enhancement. This is actually the same LCD panel type that high-end models use and it contributes mainly to the energy consumption which is good if you are replacing a smaller model and you are too worried with electricity consumption. Because this special panel opens up a wide aperture, additional light can pass through which reduces the number of backlighting elements to keep the display at its brightest. It also has fewer ribs than ordinary panel types so images look lighter due to most of the light being blocked.

The motion quality is better than average because it uses the 240 Hz Fine Motion Enhanced technology. Many displays support 120 Hz but having double the amount can come in real handy when playing intensive games or watching some serious action movies or sports games. This AQUOS display is also game-optimized so gaming graphics should look great especially on 1080p quality.

Extra Features

Like many AQUOS models, you can take advantage of the AQUOS Advantage Support which is a free service that only asks a bit of your personal information. Once you are in, you use your newly created account if you have problems setting up the TV or want to add more customizations.

Bottom Line

The original price for this display is around $2,399 so the size of the display is still a huge deal. Plus you still get a few convenience enhancements such as the automatic backlighting and very smooth motion flow. Even if you think you are missing out on features such as Internet streaming, you can always purchase a Blu-ray player that provides the missing functions.

Average User Rating:
Actual User Reviews:
• “At first I was nervous wondering if I should have paid the extra to get a LED TV. Once I received our Sharp 60″, and hooked it up it was nothing but impressive. The picture is great. As for the sound I would not exactly rate it a five. Awsome TV for the price, and Amazon, regarding buying with comfidence is second to none.

Just to ease my mind, I went to Costco and compared the Sharp LCD with a Sony LED. There actually is a slight difference in picture quality, but the Sharp is still an outstanding brand and the picture is great. I also play PS3 on this TV. I noticed that the games are more detailed now, and object dimensions are more obvious. This is our second Sharp TV. This first is a 46″ sharp LCD 120hz, which I have now put in our bedroom. Due to the first experience I had with our first Sharp TV, I bought this one knowing that I would infact be buying a great TV.

So far every person who has seen our new Sharp is nothing but impressed. This is my second Sharp TV, and I am nothing but happy with both LCD televisions.” – Hask, S (San Ramon, CA USA)

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• “Some of the other video options are interesting to play around with, but I found that most of them don’t work well enough to be used. A good example is Active Contrast. I wish this had different levels you could set for it because it makes things too dark.

My recommendation would be to change the video to “Movie” and turn off Film Mode and most of the other settings or go with “Game” mode (note that Film Mode is turned on by default). To do this, you have to open the bottom part of the remote that has more buttons hidden. You can also reset any of the video modes to their factory defaults if you mess something up with them.

Even with the above issues I do still recommend this TV as a cheaper way to get a high quality 60″ LCD 1080p TV. Black levels are excellent. Blu-rays look stunning. There are plenty of connections in the back to hook up all of your components (make sure you attach a good sound system as the TV speakers are horrible). The menu system is also very well done.

Overall – 4/5 ” – Jon (US)

• “Just received this TV and hooked it up to a Blu-Ray player and watched Avatar. All I can say is wow !. The picture is so clear and bright that it looks almost 3D. I saw Avatar in 3D at the movies and this is so close that I can’t believe it. The high Def channels on my Satellite system are so clear you can see every hair on a persons face. I can’t wait to get off work tonight so I can check out more stuff on my TV. When I watch movies that I have already seen on this TV it seems like I am watching them for the first time. You won’t go wrong buying this.” – Georganna Gilliam (Crescent City, CA USA)

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