Projectors Reviews, price and comparision

Sharp threw everything it could think of into the LC-60LE835U. It's a 60-inch, super-thin, edge-lit LED HDTV. It's a 3D HDTV. It's a Quattron HDTV with a fourth, yellow, pixel. It's a 240Hz HDTV with Web apps. It's an energy-saving HDTV that earns our GreenTech approval. A couple of minor flaws come along with all that, chief among them: a clunky menu system with few online services and a $2,799.99 list price that's a little on the high side. If you can afford it, this big-screen HDTV won't leave you wanting for cutting-edge tech or performance.

Design
Sharp's minimalism is downright striking with this set. A narrow, flat, glossy black bezel surrounds the 60-inch screen, punctuated only by a Sharp logo in the middle of the bottom edge and an Aquos 3D logo in the top left corner. The base is flat, black, and glossy, just like the bezel, and blends against the rest of the HDTV while offering a wide left-right pivoting range. Unfortunately, like the base on last year's LC-52LE820UN ($2,999.99, 3 stars), the base feels wobbly. Considering the 68.3-pound (83.8 pounds with base) screen is only 0.9 inches thick, it's clear this is a device better mounted on the wall than set on a stand. An inverted, illuminated "V" under the screen is the only lighted aspect of the HDTV, save the screen itself.

All inputs sit on a back panel a few inches in from the edge of the screen. Facing sideways, toward the left side of the HDTV, are four HDMI inputs and a USB port for loading photos and movies. Facing downward, from the same panel, are an Ethernet port for Web apps, a coaxial plug for cable, optical and analog audio inputs, and a second USB port. Facing straight out from the back panel are a VGA input, a component video input, two composite video inputs, and an RS232 serial port for controlling the HDTV over a network.

The 9.4-inch-long remote is slim and striking, half-matte and half-glossy black. The navigation pad and Menu/App buttons live on the matte black lower half, while the number pad and playback buttons are on the glossy upper half. The buttons are a firm rubber, and feel suitably different under the thumb; the navigation pad is a curved circle, while the App and Playback buttons are small and oblong and the number pad and Power buttons are large and square. The only complaint is a very small Input button, located in the middle of the remote; it makes switching between sources slightly slower than it could be.

The on-screen menu system could use a revamp. Instead of overlaying the menus on top of the picture, it shrinks the picture and forms a frame around it, distorting the image as you cycle through various menu settings. The settings are organized in columns, like Sony's XrossMediaBar (XMB) interface, but in a much less smooth and clean way. It's simple to navigate, but it's one of the least attractive on-screen menu systems I've seen in an HDTV in the recent past.

Fortunately, the Sharp's Web-based apps are accessible through a different menu, activated through the Apps button rather than the Menu button. The Apps menu is a much more conventional interface, organized in a simple pop-up row along the bottom edge of the screen. You can also link your favorite apps to one of three Apps buttons on the remote, so you don't have to go into the menu at all after the initial setting. Unfortunately, the Web-app selection on the LC-60LE835U is a bit sparse compared with other HDTVs. The set offers Netflix, CinemaNow, Vudu, Pandora Internet Radio, Twitter, and Facebook, but this library doesn't come close to the broad selection of services found on the Sony Bravia KDL-55HX800 ($3,399.99, 4 stars) and other Sony or Samsung home-theater products.

Performance
With excellent color reproduction thanks to Sharp's Quattron technology, which adds a yellow pixel to the standard red-green-blue tribunal of color, the picture on the LC-60LE835U looks great. We use DisplayMate to calibrate the screen to the brightest, most neutral picture settings and test image quality, and according to those tests the Sharp scored a very high 1:6384 contrast ratio and nearly perfect red and green color channels. Blue is very slightly off, but not to the extent that you would even notice it without a chromameter. Black levels are excellent, measuring 0.07cd/m2. Despite being an edge-lit LED, the LC-60LE835U showed little to no ringing or cloudiness along the edges.

The screen offers a 240Hz refresh rate mode, along with more standard 120Hz refresh rates and the television-standard 60Hz. Using our HQV Blu-ray Disc to test motion and upscaling, I found that the screen handled all tests admirably, without a trace of judder or tearing. It handled lower resolution input easily, upconverting the signal with no problem. Of course, when you open the menu, the screen distorts anyway because of the strange scaling effect; fortunately, you're unlikely to leave the menus open while watching TV or movies.

The 3D effect is great on the Sharp screen. While its built-in 3D test picture demonstrated some crosstalk, the 3D effect rendered perfectly with our 3D Blu-ray of IMAX: Under the Sea. The aquatic life seemed to pop off the screen, and while the active shutter lenses darkened the image (you should turn off the set's Advanced Energy Saving feature when watching 3D), it still looked top-notch. The only complaint is that the 2.2-ounce glasses feel chunkier and less comfortable than many other 3D glasses, and when Vizio's XVT3D650SV ($3,699.99, 4 stars) offers extremely light passive 3D glasses and Samsung recently announced featherweight active shutter glasses, chunky 3D glasses feel less and less acceptable. Samsung's PN58C8000 ($2,999.99, 4.5 stars) stands as our Editors' Choice in the realm of 3D HDTVs, with a superior picture and deeper blacks, thanks to its plasma display.

With the Advanced power conservation setting, the LC-60LE835U is as energy-conserving as its predecessor, last year's LC-52LE820U, consuming an average of 65 watts. With the Standard power conservation setting, which disables automatic backlight adjustments, that consumption almost doubles to 120 watts. Even this mode consumes less power than the 65-inch Vizio's 165 watts, and much less power than the power-hungry 58-inch Samsung plasma's 289 watts, earning this HDTV our Greentech Approval.

If you want an ultra-thin 3D HDTV with a great picture with a great energy saving mode, the Sharp LC-60LE835U is a solid choice. Its $2,800 price tag is a little steep compared with similarly sized HDTVs, but among 3D HDTVs it's in line. Be prepared to deal with a strange menu system and a less-than-impressive selection of Web apps, though. If you're willing to sacrifice energy efficiency for a better interface and wider Web content library, consider the Sony Bravia KDL-HX800, a high-end 3D HDTV that doesn't have the Quattron yellow pixel, but performed very well in our tests and sports a huge number of online services. The Samsung PN58C8000 surpasses that and earns our Editor's Choice by offering a wide selection of Web apps, plus extremely good image quality with very deep blacks. As such, if power consumption isn't an issue for you, the Samsung is the superior model.

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