Sharp Aquos LC-37HV4U 37-Inch HD-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV
Better than Plasma!
When I started shopping I had the preconceived notion that plasma TV's had better pictures than LCD's, but this set proved me wrong.  I spent over an hour in a store doing back to back comparisons of all the flat panel TV's.  The EDTV plasma units were non-starters, with big pixels that made the viewing experience about the same as my conventional TV.  I quickly narrowed the field to this Sharp Aquos 37\\" unit, and two 42\\" HDTV plasma units from Pioneer and Sony.  I had heard that LCD's didn't respond well to fast motion, but I couldn't detect any ghosting at all from the Aquos during fast action sequences.  I had heard that LCD's had narrow viewing angles, but actually found the brightness of the plasma TV's dropped more as I moved vertically -- a concern for my kids who sit on the floor while playing PS2.  What I hadn't heard is how the LCD pixel size was so much smaller than even the HDTV plasma units, making the viewing experience much better from close range with the LCD.  Finally, I convinced myself that this was the set to get.<br />Have had it for two months now, and am completely satisfied.  Picture quality is simply stunning in the 480p DVD mode.  I don't have an HDTV tuner yet, so can't vouch for 780p or 1080i performance.<br />Setup was easy, with excellent connection options on the back of included control box.  <BR>Nice features:<BR>-the \\"smart stretch\\" feature works really well, filling the entire widescreen with standard TV broadcasts.  It uses a non-linear stretch that leaves the middle of the screen looking normal, and applying most of the stretch to the far left and far right.  Sounds wierd but it works.  Also nice is the micro-position adjustment that allows you to move the stretched image up or down to choose what portion gets truncated:  eg. for news channels I move the picture up a bit to keep the bottom ticker visible.<BR>-The set remembers separate volume settings for each input.  So as you change from antenna to DVD to satellite, the volumechanges to whatever the previous setting was for that input.<BR>-The twin tuner option to put two standard TV windows side-by-side on the widescreen is great.  Much better than the PIP on my standard CRT TV.<BR>-The universal remote is well laid out and had pre-programmed codes for most of my gear.   <br />Minor gripes:<BR>-like many universal remotes, this one doesn't have Dish Network codes.  But it's a learning remote with all the right buttons so after a few minutes I had it working fine with Dish. <BR>-I wish the headphone jack was accessible without flipping down the control-box access panel.  When I'm using headphones the open door creates a messy appearance and potential for door damage.<BR>-I wish there were FOUR sets of inputs on the back of the control box instead of THREE.  I have a DVD, VCR, PS2 and satellite receiver that I would have liked to connect individually, but instead I had to use the video switching capability of my receiver to combine two of them.  Using the front panel inputs for the PS2 would create a wiring mess, and force me to leave the access door open, inviting damage.  I don't have an HDTV tuner yet, and one reason is that unless I go for one of the very expensive combined satellite/HDTV receivers, I'll be wishing for FIVE inputs on the back.<BR>-I wish I could customize the onscreen menu that selects the input so that instead of having to remember that the DVD is on \\"Input 3\\", I could make the menu more descriptive, like \\"Input 3: DVD\\".  Wife and kids are forever shouting across the house asking what input to select for whatever they want to do.<BR>-I preferred the overall aesthetics of my second choice, the Sony Plasma KE-42TS2, which has the speakers below the screen.  The Sharp's side speakers make it VERY wide.  But now that it's been sitting here for two months, I'm used to the wide look, and in long term I may appreciate the flexibility of having removable speakers that allow a very clean look if I decide to use it just as a monitor.<BR>-At this price, I'm surprised an HDTV tuner isn't built in.<BR>-Too bad it's \\"only\\" 37\\".  The picture detail is so fine that even a 50\\" version of this screen would look great in my relatively small viewing area (viewing distance = 8 feet).  I wouldn't say the same about 50\\" HDTV plasma screens.<br />Overall, this machine really is outstanding.  I can't imagine anyone being unhappy with this purchase.