TV Reviews

Two inches thick and less than one inch on the top and sides, the LC-52XS1U-S is the slimmest set available. It has a silver bezel trimmed in black panel. It can be wall mounted or placed on a stand. It has a set of removable speaker below the panel.

The set has a separate AVC system, which includes most of the sets' connections. A permanently attached power cord and a HDMI cable that links AVC system and panel contributes to slim size of the set. The IR receiver for the remote and the manual control of the set are located below the panel. All the processes like tuning etc are carried out in the AVC system.

The AVC holds no manual controls. The adjustments can be accessed only through the onscreen menus. One problem with this set is while selecting a control for adjustments; unlike other sets, the entire picture menu covers almost a quarter of the image.

LED backlighting and local area dimming. Unlike usual LCDs, the LC-52XS1U-S uses a cluster of LEDs arranged in many zones behind the screen. These zones work as per the requirements of the images improving both black level and shadow detail. The limited edition uses red green and blue LEDs and even filtered white LEDs.

Sharp claims to give 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, which is much more than what its competitors using same features offer. It provides eight different A/V modes for the input. You can use one for an input or many inputs.
It has an advanced picture setting menu. It hosts additional controls like color temperature, color management system which controls hues and saturation for a color. Unfortunately, it does not have a separate white balance control and a gamma adjustment.

The advanced menu also holds many advanced options like film mode, digital noise reduction active contrast and Fine motion. Fine motion smoothes the picture blur depending on its speed. The other features of the sharp are, it provides interactive control of components linked via HDMI.

You can use limited web access with a high speed connection without a PC by linking the Ethernet port to a home network. USB ports are provided through which you can view JPEG images by connecting a camera. The remote controls four components other than the set but doesn't support input selection. The backlight lights up only half of the buttons. A few page references in the manuals are not correct.

The sets' high definition processing (1080i to 1080p) is excellent. However, tests show that movies in high definition show minor problems from time to time. In the Low setting of the Color Temp control, the picture has a very slight blue shift. The default Enhanced Color Gamut setting is clearly overripe, even the Standard mode appears to be a bit oversaturated. But the set's resolutions of details are remarkable. The Sharp shows no signs of weakness.

Most people will agree that the best experience of viewing movies that they have ever had is by enjoying a great movie viewed on a high definition LCD screen, perhaps even more so than seeing the movie in the cinema itself.

Few people realize, but the video formats displayed by the latest high definition content are far higher quality that standard television content which was developed specifically for lower quality traditional TV sets. With LCD screens combined with the latest video encoding technologies, you are practically watching the movie in its original format.

These alterations to the way the content plays on your screen often results in significantly choppy playback but the MotionFlow technology employed in one of Sony's latest LCD, the unit compensates for this by enhancing the existing frames of the movie.

In addition to this, the KDL52W4100 features Image Blur Reduction and features which allow the LCD screen to apply the correct levels of enhancement to the video playback by using its highly developed frame rate technology. These features result in a smoother and sharper picture than ever before, making this LCD amongst the best and highest quality on the market today.

The KDL52W4100 also comes with an abundance of connectivity possibilities including four HDMI connections which allow for the highest quality uncompressed video and audio to be played back on the set.

HDMI is great because, since your media comes in a variety of different formats and resolutions, the system will automatically configure the display in a manner, which is optimal for the specific format you are playing. In addition to this, HDMI is fully backwards compatible with DVI so you will have no problem connecting older devices to the set.

In addition to its HDMI connections, the KDL46W4100 features Sony's latest Theatre Sync technology, which makes configuration and optimization simpler than ever.

The KDL52W4100 displays images at a resolution of up to 1920 x 1080 making it perfect for playback of the latest Playstation 3 content and, of course, the new Blu-ray format.

It is also important to remember when buying an LCD screen that optimal video playback is not just all about resolution. Though this is one of the most important factors in high quality playback, decent video processing quality is essential in preserving the high quality of the original content by cutting out blurs, judders and generally bringing about a more vibrant and realistic English.

The KDL52W4100 also features Dynamic Noise Reduction, which serves to solve the problems of interference caused by other electrical objects in the room. This technology automatically adjusts the settings of the screen including brightness and motion that may be being spoiled by this interference.

This set also includes Sony's Xross Media Bar for the user interface. This offers easy and attractive management of the options of your set with a simple icon-based navigation panel.

The set also has Sony's latest Digital Media Extender feature, which allows for expansion of the system by way of a digital connection that you can use to add additional options to enhance your LCD set even more.

The TX-L37G10 belongs to Panasonic's mid-range G10 series and this specific model comes in 37" and 32" versions. Being a middle-of-the-range set, it does not offer some of the connectivity features one can find on more expensive higher end screens but nonetheless, it comes with all the important features that most people will ever need. The level of features that this set does have mark it apart from the entry-level systems.

First of all, the screen resolution is optimal, 1920x1080, allowing for maximum quality HD playback in its original quality.

The G10 series also have built-in Freesat tuners, which allow for the viewing of more than eighty free TV channels, including all the major terrestrial channels such as the BBC etc. In addition to this, you will also be able to get the BBC and ITV high definition broadcasts that are currently exclusive to Freesat. Although free, Freesat does require a satellite dish.

The screens come with Panasonic's latest V-Real Picture Processing engine technology, the latest version being four. This technology significantly improves the signal from standard and high definition sources alike, providing for a better quality viewing experience.
As many of the higher end screens and plasmas have, the TX-L37G10 also features a dynamic contrast system, which means that the set automatically adjusts itself depending on how much light there is in the room.

In their sets, Panasonic also include the latest Intelligent Frame Creation technology, which doubles the number of frames per second from fifty to one-hundred frames per second. This allows for smoother and more fluid playback with more natural transition between each frame. This feature has its own array of setting but can also be turned off.

As for connectivity, the TX-L37G10 comes with four HDMIs and a D-Sub PC port for connecting your computer. There is also an SD card slot so that you can put your digital camera card into the set and view pictures straight from that to your screen. There is also an Ethernet port for broadband connections to your router so you can enjoy upcoming Freesat online services.

As with most other TVs made by Panasonic, the TX-L37G10 also boasts the Viera Link, which uses the HDMI connections to control automatically other enabled devices through a single remote control pad.

Finally, the set also features stereo speakers with V-audio surround to allow for emulation of a full set of 5.1 surround speakers.