Picture, picture, picture, sound system, set up, manualand backlit remote. Enuf inputs.

None

I searched high and low to find what i wanted and this set is it. At $4k this set wins hands down to HDTV 34inch direct view. I have only played w/this about a couples and it is great. The sound system is fabulous w/out external hookups. Me, being not the one who likes to read manuals finds this easy. So many option to choose from in getting what you want out of this set. I just hooked mine up to the new DISH 6000 HDTV reciever and its great. Of course you only get HBO now but at $499. for the DISH compared to the top box from SHARP one saves any easy $1k.
All i can say is check out the SHARP ELECTRONICS website to learn more about this beast of a machine. You won't be disappointed.

Similar Products Used:

Compared this baby to the Sony hd1, panasonic, and toshiba.

Fantastic array of input options
Excellent picture in all modes after calibration
Separate video settings for all inputs
Fast, buffered input switching
Ability to upconvert 480i and 480p to 1080i
Tons of convenience features
Made in Japan (not in Mexico, Malaysia, etc.)

Minor buzzing sound from built-in speakers
Mesh covering on speakers may tear easily
Decent, but non-robust geometry controls
Slightly uneven flat color display
Can't seem to turn off doubler for 480i material

** ATTN WEBMASTER: PLEASE MOVE THIS SET INTO THE HDTV SECTION. THANK YOU! **

Buying an HDTV-ready direct view is probably the most difficult thing a consumer faces when upgrading their home theater. We generally have a good idea about what we want in terms of a receiver/amp, DVD player, VCR, speakers, and other related components/cabling, but when it comes to what you're going to physically be watching the related material on, deciding on a TV can be a headache and a case study in frustration. Luckily for anyone reading this, I've been through them all, so hopefully what I say here will help someone make the decision that's right for them... even though this review is quite lengthy. I'm not going to waste too much of my breath saying why I didn't go with any of the other sets, so instead, I'm just going to discuss this set and why I chose it for my own application.

Anyway, real quick on a couple of the 16:9 direct-views I've been through:

Sampo: fantastic picture, value, and geometry controls, but lacks any of the convenience features I wanted (including the most basic of which is a sleep timer!). Lots of good inputs and support of 720p. However, 480i on this set is pathetic, and you need to shell out cash for DVDO's iScan Plus v2 to do anything about it. A good choice if you're gonna do 480p-1080i exclusively (not me).

Panasonic: no RGB input at this price? No way. Nice picture, but this TV is already old news. Hard to build upon this set when the input options are so limited. You'd need RCA's VGA-to-Y/Pb/Pr converter ($130) to support VGA sources like a PlayStation 2 or Dreamcast, and at that stage, the image is downgraded. No thanks.

With that being said, I must admit that I never really considered a Sharp TV to be an option. I've never owned a Sharp product in my life, and I just assumed that it was a piece of junk (I equated it with value brands like Goldstar, Emerson, JVC, Aiwa, et al.). How wrong I was when I took a closer look at this set.

First of all, it had all of the inputs of the Sampo, and then some. The way they laid it out confused me at first, but that was until I discovered that you could do video switching on two of the inputs. For example, on Video 3, you can have both RGB/HDTV and S-Video or composite plugged in at the same time, and in the on-screen menu, you can switch between these two, effectively giving you another input. Same with Video 4, which also has the ability to switch. All told, you basically have 7 separate inputs available (Video 1-5 + 2). Specifically, these inputs include composite RCAs, 3 S-Video, 2 sets of component input (1 RCA, 1 BNC), and 15-pin VGA. Very few consumer sets in this price range offer this much connectivity. The set doesn't support 540p or 720p like Princeton's, so if those are important to you, then you'll want to take that into consideration. For most, however, 480p and 1080i are sufficient.

This set also sports a great set of picture controls, including the ability to turn off or adjust the rate of Scan Velocity Modulation, the 3D Y/C Digital Comb Filter, as well as an assortment of other settings. You can also adjust black levels independent of brightness, select color temperatures, and save 5 separate video settings (enough for all the inputs). I commend Sharp for giving this much picture adjustment control to the user. I would have liked, however, to have more control over picture geometry. About the only thing you can do is adjust rotation/orientation (geomagnet), as well as vertical size/position. Pincushion, horizontal adjustment, and other geometry controls are unavailable, although I am currently looking into service modes for this set. The picture geometry out of the box was spectacular, though; it's the best I've seen out of the sets I've auditioned, and required only minor adjustments.

After calibrating the set's picture with both the Video Essentials and Avia DVDs, this set produced images that were extremely vibrant, life-like, and consistent across all inputs, which is rare. I can only imagine what this set would look like after professional adjustment. I've found that with many sets, that the 480p DVD inputs tend to look 'washed out', or whites look too bright with a distracting blue halo around them, no matter how much you adjust the picture. Not so on this set. Using a Pioneer Elite DV-37 DVD player, images were gorgeous, and the only flaws I saw were the ones from the actual mastering of the discs (compression artifacts, etc). I have also read that this set possesses 3:2-pulldown detection circuitry, but am not able to confirm or deny this. I noticed a little bit of uneven color 'brightness' on solid-colored backgrounds (mostly blue), but then again, I have yet to own a flat CRT that exhibits perfectly even flat color distribution.

Analog cable and 480i material look great, thanks to this set's built-in line doubler, which displays them at 480p (I can't figure out how to turn this off, if it's possible). I tried several different video game systems, including the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, as well as VHS sources, and they all looked much better than standard 480i NTSC displays. You can also upconvert these sources further (including 480p DVD) to 1080i, if you prefer. It's a nice touch, and can help make certain material look "sharper" in 1080i mode, if you're accustomed to that look. There is slight flicker at close viewing distances, however, so be warned if your eyes are sensitive to interlaced material.

Unfortunately, I have not tested HDTV broadcasts yet, but the in-store material I looked at was breathtaking and blew away any rear-projection set I've seen.

In all modes except for RGB (which is displayed in 16:9 only), you can stretch the screen or opt to view them with black sidebars. This set's "Smart Stretch" mode works really well (gradually stretches the edges more than the center, like the Panasonic), and unless I was looking for it, I didn't notice its intrusion. Standard Stretch mode should be used for anamorphic DVDs or widescreen material (such as PlayStation 2 games), and there's a Cinema mode, that is equivalent to Zoom on other sets.

The only time I use a TV's speaker is when I'm either casually watching TV or about to go to sleep. I noticed a slight buzzing sound when I raised the volume above the "0" setting. It wasn't pronounced, but it was noticeable. The sound system on this set is about what you'd expect: it gets the job done but isn't anything to write home about. Manufacturers know that people aren't going to be using the built-in speakers when buying sets like this. If this is important to you, take a look at the Sampo. It has a built-in subwoofer and actually sounds really good. Be warned that the mesh covering the speakers looks and feels fragile, and is located in places where you're most likely to hold the set when moving it. I would have preferred plastic coverings integrated into the cabinet.

This set doesn't skimp on convenience features, either. It has dual-tuner side-by-side picture viewing (where you can enlarge one of the images if you want), favorite channels (similar to the Sony XBRs), sleep timer, picture freeze, single-button picture setting switching, and much more. While this set does not have direct input selection, it has a fantastic feature to compensate for it: buffering when you press the Input button repeatedly. What this means is that if you're on Video 1, and you want to go all the way to Video 5, tap the Input button 4 times rapidly, and it'll land there in a second or two. No need to wait for each one to display before you press Input again. This function works like a dream, and I wish more companies would employ something similar on sets with more than 3 inputs.

My main applications for this set are anamorphic DVDs and video games, and in both cases, this set delivers. I'm a stickler for a perfect picture, and the SharpVision 34NWF5H comes very close to giving the viewer exactly that. Very highly recommended!

Similar Products Used:

Pretty much everything in this range:
Panasonic CT34WX50 & CT36HX40
Sampo SME34WHD5
Sony KV36XBR400
Toshiba CW34X92
...and other comparable sets from Princeton, Philips, etc.

Wide Screen, HDTV Compatible (1080i), Superb Picture, Flexible Inputs, Quality Product

Some buzzing from the picture tube, as with all direct views - very heavy!

Overall, this is an outstanding direct view tv. I have used both a Progressive (480P) DVD player and DirecTV HDTV (HBO and demo in 1080i) Satellite system, and the picture is nearly unrivaled. I would not recommend VHS through this TV, as the poor resolution shows up badly on this TV. Stick with digital tv, DVDs, Laserdiscs, or quality cable broadcasts. Keep your old tvs for tape media.

The set will always convert 480i signals to 480P or 1080i, because of it's high resolution display. There are different stretch modes that can be confusing. The TV does not have a "native" format: You have to set it to Stretch mode for wide screen viewing, smart stretch for expanding 4:3 images, etc. The Auto View mode is not reliable. Would not recommend the Side Bar mode, as you could damage the TV; the Smart Stretch mode is excellent and expands 4:3 images nicely. However, you cannot mess with a digital signal. You will need to have the satellite box "stretch" 4:3 digital images when using HDTV mode, as the TV will lock into normal stretch mode. The HDTV converters will usually send "grey" side bars for 4:3 images, unless you set the converter to expand the digital signal to 16:9. The only HDTV drawback is that it does not support 720P - it upconverts it to 1080i (actually, my HDTV converter already does this before the TV gets the signal). This may be a factor in the future (years away), when they eventually come out with 720P DVD players and software.

The VGA (RGB) 15-pin HDTV input works great with the RCA HDTV (DirecTV) converter, without having to purchase an expensive VGA-to-component converter. A simple $20 VGA swithbox (male connectors on both ends) cable is all ya need for HDTV connectivity. It also has S-Video, Composite, Component, and Antenna connections.

The sound quality is decent, but Sharp knows the typical buyer of this set will be using a separate receiver for audio output, and the focus is clearly on quality video, which is what you want.

This is a TRUE TV, with dual tuners for picture in picture displays - in fact, there are several modes for this feature that would take forever to explain.

I was able to purchase this TV for less than $3,000. Like all equivalent direct views, this set is VERY Heavy - recommend you get a stand with castors for easy movement. Do not try and lift this set by yourself!

If you are looking for a high-quality wide-screen direct view tv, make sure you audition this excellent product.

picture clarity, contrast, color saturation, "smart stretch"
feature

blue halo on white screen and uneven concentration of blue color

The Sharpvision HDTV has absolutely astounding color saturation and image clarity with DVD and even conventional analog signal. Have not yet had the opportunity to pull in HD signal yet. The smart stretch feature is great for converting a standard format image to the widescreen proportion without appreciable distortion of the image.
The first set delivered to my home, had an intense area of blue in the upper part of the screen that was visible regardless of the underlying image. Efforts to clear the defect with a demagnetizer wand were unsuccessful.
The retailer delivered a new set which has a similar, but less intense, problem. Two Sharp authorized servicemen have checked the new set and feel there is a problem-but so far, no solution has been offered. Sharp maintains that there have been no reports of similar problems.

Similar Products Used:

none

Outstanding Picture Quality, Smart Stretch for viewing 4:3 images on widescreen format, built in speakers.

Slight humming sound from picture tube (not audible unless volume is on mute)

The picture quality of this set is simply outstanding! I used "Video Essentials" to calibrate my set and the picture quality is the best I've ever seen...wether I'm watching a DVD or non-HD programming. I purchased this Sharp because it is a direct view TV and direct views simply provide better picture quality over projection TVs. 34" is one of the largest direct view TVs you can buy and this Sharp delivers the best picture quality in my opinion.

The other outstanding feature of this set is the smart stretch option. Many of the "stretching" options I reviewed on other widescreen TVs were unnatural looking...however the Sharp's smart stretch is great. Even watching basketball looks good in this mode.

I originally was going to hook up a home threater speaker set with this TV, but the sound from the built in speakers is pretty good. Certainly the built in speakers DO NOT replace a 5 speaker set up with a subwoofer for a family room or living room...but if you are like me...and using this TV in your bedroom, then you will likely find the bass notes from the built in speakers are good enough to avoid having to add more stereo components to your bedroom. This Sharp TV had the best sound of any other units I looked at in this range.

Bottom line is that this TV is simply OUTSTANDING! I got an great deal because I purhcased a demo model for $2500. Typically these are sold for $3500-4000 at which price I'd still strongly recommend.

Similar Products Used:

First widescreen & HDTV

Unbelievable picture & contrast, deep black level, real depth in image.

None

Pretty awesome HDTV for under $4K. Direct view sets simply have better video quality than rear projectors, and the Sharp confirms it. On well-transferred anamorphic DVDs (Fight Club, Sleepy Hollow), the picture is almost cinematic. Replaced a 27" Proton 4:3 set, which continues to have a slight edge in terms of picture quality for cable, broadcast, VHS and LD. But the Sharp with an anamorphic DVD is a level above. Haven't tried HD yet on the set (not offered in my neighborhood), but saw the demo in the store and it was incredible. A great investment!

Similar Products Used:

Compared to several models of Mitsubishi