40in LCD Picture Sound Features Usability Value Sharp's LC40LE821E demonstrates an exceptional colour performance compromised by a few minor niggles. Rating: 92%

Reviewed: 08 July 2010

  Unparalleled colour performance, menu system

  Some minor backlight inconsistencies

Design

While ultimately it may not challenge some of the svelte like designs which consistently appear from the likes of Samsung and LG, at least Sharp have now recognized the importance of visual appeal and the 'wow' factor.

The 40LE821E at 39mm deep is the slimmest TV we have seen from Sharp, and combined with a rather fetching rounded corner design, a polished finish and glass-like external trim, they may actually start to attract customers who place visual appeal high on their priority list when buying a new TV.

Features

Unlike some of the big manufacturers, Sharp have yet to become evangelists for 3D TV, although some form of extra dimensional technology will undoubtedly emerge at some point.

	Screen: 40in 16:9 Tuner: Digital Sound System: Nicam Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Contrast Ratio: 'mega' Other Features:100Hz processing, Freeview HD Quad Pixel technology. Sockets: 4 HDMI (1 v1.4, 3 v1.3), SCART (RGB), USB, CAM slot, Component Video, Composite Video, PC input, Ethernet.

 

For now, Sharp have chosen not to jump on the 3D bandwagon, but have been working on some interesting technologies which might actually turn out to have a more profound effect on our viewing experience and pleasure, in the short term at least.

On the surface, Sharp's Quad Pixel technology is remarkably simple - the concept adds another colour, 'Yellow' to the usual RGB (Red Green Blue) mix found on an LCD TV.

What seems straightforward on paper has actually taken Sharp four years to develop. New panels have been designed to accommodate sub pixels which are now around a quarter smaller than those found on your standard LCD TV (to accommodate the extra colour).

Sharp are making some pretty bold claims for Quad Pixel technology. They are saying that as a result of greater transparency afforded by the yellow pixels, these new screens are 20% brighter, and use significantly less power than a regular LCD.

More significantly, Sharp have indicated that Quad Pixel screens can produce a 1000 times larger colour range than RGB LCD TVs. This has the potential to create much more accurate colours, especially around the 'Yellow' spectrum and produce much smoother gradations across the whole colour range.

Lest we get too wrapped up in Quad Pixel technology, the LC40LE821E has others feathers to its cap. The screens are LED, which use an edge based implementation of the technology.

While 'Edge' based LED TVs (as the name suggests, contain an array of LEDs along the edges of the screen) may not be able to produce the precise picture control of 'Direct' LED lighting (where the LEDs are positioned all across the screen); the approach has enabled Sharp to produce this remarkably slim depth of screen.

The LC40LE821E also come with a built-in Freeview HD tuner for subscription free High Definition programmes direct through your existing aerial.

While the High Definition programmes currently available only amount to the BBC trial HD channel, ITV's equivalent, and Channel 4  (S4C HD in Wales), the number of channels will expand over time.

Bear in mind that Freeview HD services are currently being rolled out across the UK, so it is important to check via Freeview whether they are available in your area.

If you can access Freeview HD in your area, an 8GB built-in hard drive on the LC40LE821E will actually enable you to record those programmes. While 8GB will only hold around 45 minutes of HD or 2.5 hours of SD material, it is a useful feature to have nonetheless.

Elsewhere there are four HDMIs, an RS-232 control/system integration socket, a USB port for both JPEG stills and DivX video files (including HD ones) playback, and an Ethernet port.

Although the Ethernet port is DLNA compatible, allowing you to access multimedia files from a network PC, there is no Web functionality along the lines of Sony or Samsung's interactive services.

Definitely worth a mention is the 40LE821E’s onscreen menu system,  which when initialized shrinks the picture a little, enabling a double-axis menus style that wraps itself around the picture’s edges without sitting over it. This is an excellent concept, which allows you to carry on watching the TV in an almost uninterrupted fashion while browsing the menus.

Performance

While the sceptics amongst us were ready to dismiss Quad Pixel as just another of many over hyped marketing catch phrases, on closer inspection we discovered that this is actually a remarkably effective piece of technology.

Colour

We have to start by looking at the colour response of the LC40LE821 because it is here that Quad Pixel technology reveals itself as a genuine advancement in LCD technology.

The first thing that catches your eye is the sheer range of colour on offer, the breadth of which makes other LCD TVs look a little compromised in this respect. The more colourful the picture becomes the more you begin to appreciate the LC40LE821E's capabilities.

Not only do you get more colours, those colours are presented with a dynamism and purity that few LCD TVs can match. The effect is most pronounced, as you would expect with those hues closest to Yellow, but the impact is there to see across the whole spectrum.

It is also the subtlety with which the colour palette is blended even across intricate scenes that has such an impact. Even tricky areas such as skin tones are presented in a unique and wholly believable fashion.

Contrast

Sharp's claim for an increase by 20% in screen brightness seem to be more than justified.

The extra brightness has its greatest impact across darker scenes which deliver the kind of graduated detail we have only witnessed on some of the better plasma TVs.

Having got off to such a good start it is a pity that the LC40LE821E revealed just a small amount of backlight inconsistency along its edges, which tends to produce areas of greyness. The effect does not become apparent to any great degree, but it is there nonetheless.

Black Levels

Again, slightly disappointing is the black level response from a screen which employs LED backlighting; the performance in this respect is not a disaster, but alongside those inky blacks of the best plasma and LCD TVs the Sharp looks just a little muted.

The greyness may be present, ironically, as a result of the extra brightness afforded by the extra transparency of Quad Pixel technology.

Picture

Standard Definition pictures on the better LCD TVs have improved greatly over the past few years and the latest crop of panels from the big manufacturers present a largely noise free, stable SD picture. Sharp LCD TVs of the not too distant past were pretty average in term of their SD pictures, but have improved significantly in this respect of late.

While the LC40LE821E does not demonstrate the sharpness and fluidity of some of the better Sony's for example, place the Sharp along side and you will have to look hard to spot the difference; the issue being clouded by the remarkable colour performance from the LC40LE821E.

Sharp have to be commended for squeezing in an extra sub-pixel into the 1920 x 1080 screen configuration while managing to retain an HD performance that presents all of the detail, sharpness and clarity you would expect from a modern LCD TV. 

The only slight flaw we came across with standard or high definition pictures was some 'shimmering' around objects with faster on screen action.

Sound

Like most flat panel LCD TVs, Sharp have compromised an element of acoustic performance for style.

That slim profile cannot hope to include the apparatus that would be able to provide an authentically strong sound. The main problem is a lack of that deep 'bass' sound we are familiar with on CRT TVs and to be fair to Sharp, the LC40LE821 performs no worse than the majority of its flat panel competitors.

Conclusion

The Sharp LC40LE821 comes very close to being the best LCD TV we have come across for some time. Ultimately, black level ability and a touch of backlight inconsistency let it down; but the colour performance alone still makes this TV worthy of serious consideration. Overall the LC40LE821E is an excellent TV and in some respects quite exceptional.

  Unparalleled colour performance, menu system

  Some minor backlight inconsistencies