Sharp introduces 37-inch LCD 1080 HDTV

We kinda thought they'd have a bigger showing at CeBIT than a single 37-inch 1080 HDTV, but hey, here it is, the Aquos LC-37GE1E. Apparently it's got a 1200:1 contrast ratio, dual HDMI-HDCP connectors, and a backlight that makes use of a crimson tone, which should supposedly result in more natural seeming color representation. No word on price or date of release, or even whether it's going to dethrone Fujitsu / Hitachi's 42-inch as the world's smallest 1080p display, but you'll know when we do.

[elwierdo @ Mar 9th 2006 11:09AM]

Westinghouse has had a 37" 1080p HDTV monitor out for a while already for around $1700.

http://www.westinghousedigital.com/pc-26-7-37-1080p-monitor.aspx

[Keith @ Mar 9th 2006 11:10AM]

Uh? First 1080p 37"? Hardly? Westinghouse and others have had 37" 1080p sets for a while.

[Chiablo @ Mar 9th 2006 11:17AM]

^^^ What they said.

[ty @ Mar 9th 2006 11:25AM]

This is great. Ive been waiting for a smaller, higher pixel density, 1080 lcd from Sharp. Not everyone wants or has the space for a monster 1080 LCD panel.

[will @ Mar 9th 2006 11:28AM]

No tv station has 1080p programming. Most are 720p and a few 1080i. I guess it will be cool when blu-Ray or HD-DVD gets affordable. Is 1080p that much more superior than 1080i or 720p? I do not know.

[pete @ Mar 9th 2006 11:30AM]

I wonder if Sharp is using the same Chi Mei panel that the Westy uses...

/owns a 37" Westy
//loves it

[Andrew Camacho @ Mar 9th 2006 11:33AM]

#5, For movies and such I don't know how big of a difference it can make. But using a x768 display as a computer extension is kind of painful on the eyes sometimes. It will be nice once 1080p becomes standard so the TV's can double as a CPU monitor easily...

[Michael @ Mar 9th 2006 11:39AM]

"I wonder if Sharp is using the same Chi Mei panel that the Westy uses..."

I believe Sharp has a big LCD factory. They make there own screens.

[Scott @ Mar 9th 2006 11:44AM]

After months of research into 1080p LCD tvs, I still have no idea whether or not a 1080p tv will be capable of displaying a 1080p source, nor do I know if the differences in resolution (1080p v. 1080i) is noticeable in a 37 or 42 inch screen size. Any ideas?

[David @ Mar 9th 2006 12:01PM]

I think the general consensus is that for smaller sized screens (sub 50 inch) the difference with 1080i and 1080p is hardly noticable and you need a large screen size to really be able to see something noticable.

[Ben @ Mar 9th 2006 12:02PM]

I think the MSRP on this pannel is in the 3500 range.

[EnhanceYourCalm @ Mar 9th 2006 12:08PM]

I think their pricing is far too high. For $3500 I could buy two Westy 37" panels, or a Westy 42" with $1K left over. What can they possibly do with regard to picture quality that would justify this premium?

[Alex @ Mar 9th 2006 12:08PM]

1080p is critical in my mind - If I'm going to shell out for an HDTV, it had better be able to A) work with technologies like BluRay and others coming out over the next 5 years minimum, and B) be a good computer monitor at high resolution. All the 1366x768 pieces of crap out there are terrible as computer displays.

I've used a Samsung 46" and the Westinghouse 37" LCDs here at work (both 1080p), hooked up to MacMinis, and they are both great, especially using apple wireless kbd/mouse.

Thinking about the 37" Westinghouse for home, as the dual DVI inputs are great to have on the computer side. Has all the inputs for HD cable and BluRay that I'll want 6-9 months from now.

[Craig @ Mar 9th 2006 12:09PM]

Some say you can see the difference between 720p and 1080p even with 37" 1080p sets.

I wonder if the Westy set is also the same as the 37" Scepter set available at Costco?

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12_4/sceptre-37-inch-lcd-hdtv-11-2005-part-1.html

Cheers

[Stephan @ Mar 9th 2006 12:24PM]

Costco has had a 42" out

This 37" only costs $1500,
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11042448&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=
with built in ATSC and NTSC!

[Jeff @ Mar 9th 2006 12:26PM]

Ok, people.

To properly display 1:1 pixel mapping on an LCD from a 1080i source (and really, there's no point in doing anything else), you *have to* have a full 1080p display. Other display technologies are different, but you can't have an interlaced LCD. On an LCD, either the whole panel's on or it's not.

That doesn't mean every LCD is a 1080p LCD. A lot of LCD's are not capable of displaying a 1080p source. But that's because of the video processor, not the panel. Those screens are just wasting a whole bunch of pixels.

As for whether you can tell the difference... who cares? Why would you take a digital signal and run it at anything but its native resolution? I don't care if I can tell the difference or not, I want to see a clean signal the way it was intended to be seen, without scaling.

Obviously that means 720p material (and regular DVD's) will be scaled up, but most HDTV is 1080i and all BD and HD-DVD's will be 1080i or 1080p. And given that you're buying an HDTV presumably for the better PQ of high definition, you should match the set to the highest standard you can get.

"I wonder if the Westy set is also the same as the 37" Scepter set available at Costco?"

The panel may be but the video processor is not. There are big problems with the Sceptre sets when hooked up to PC's running at 1080p. I'm not sure if they've fixed this problem yet.

"After months of research into 1080p LCD tvs, I still have no idea whether or not a 1080p tv will be capable of displaying a 1080p source,"

This one will, as will the Westy and also the Sceptre models (though the Sceptres are problematic, as I said).

The trick is not to look at something that says it's a "1080p LCD", the trick is to look at the *inputs* and what *they* specifically support. For example, go to westinghousedigital.com and see how they specify the inputs on their 37" (and the more impressive 42") model - they specifically say what inputs accept 1080p and what doesn't.

[jp @ Oct 3rd 2007 1:29PM]

I am shopping for my 1st HDTV and would like to know just how bad a 720 looks when used as pc monitor. I planned on buying a 37" toshiba (720p)and hoped to also use as monitor mainly for internet. Any info would be helpful...

[Judah Stroud @ Mar 9th 2006 12:31PM]

I've had the Sceptre 37" 1080p HD LCD since last August, and yes no matter what she tells you, size (pixel resolution) does matter :)

[NoSsy @ Mar 9th 2006 12:31PM]

The Westinghouse 1080p/i 37inch LCD is pretty nice as a computer display in bright rooms, black levels are poor when the lights are off, as with any LCD. It has two DVI HDCP input although only one of them is capable of 1080p while the other one is 1080i. It has a native resolution of 1920x1080, but will scale anything up to fill up the screen, unlike many computer LCD screens. For $1500, it's a good investment for video games (Xbox360 games looks great by the way) and computer display unit.

[Big Ice D @ Mar 9th 2006 12:43PM]

I have the 37"1080p Westinghouse. It has a great picture.It is smaller then the Sharp. The manual says it " accepts " 1080p over the DVI1 and VGA inputs. I've tested them both with some WMV 1080p source and it looks really nice. Better than 1080i/720p? Not until they start making that DVI/HDCP AV dongle for my 360 ;)And I can start playing back my games and Movies brought down the pipe via xbox/windows live.....don't let me down Bill.

[Judah Stroud @ Mar 9th 2006 12:52PM]

choosing a display (including resolution capabilities) depends on "exactly" what you'll be using it for. for example, if you built a media center PC that can do pretty much everything (as I did) and will connect digitally (DVI-HDMI) to your LCD monitor, you would definitely want the highest possible native resolution setting you could get in a monitor. hence the 1080p displays. 37" sounds like a monstrosity for a computer monitor but it really isn't. the Sceptre 37" I have has a few quirks, but not the probs that the 2nd batch ran into. I�d buy it again in a sec (for even more money). bar none this is the best monitor i have ever seen at any price, on any level. there is nothing that even compares at this point. i am sure the 37" sharp will rival it though. by the way, i am an avionics engineer and work on the most expensive flat screen and tube monitors for nearly ten hours a day, every day, for the past 15 years, i have a good eye for this. if you want a LCD for just viewing TV, even the HD TV signals, this is not for you or for anybody whose sole source will be a cable box or even over the air digital signals. there is not enough content out there to support the ridiculously high res. trust me here too, i've been thru directv, comcast HD, and now charter HD. it will be a while folks so don't rush out and buy one (unless you�ve got a computer). my suggestion is buy something that supports the 1080i but has a lower resolution, that way you'll get the best of both worlds, meaning you can still watch "standard" def channels without being pissed off cause you can see all the flaws. plasma still does this very well and it�s inexpensive. anyway good luck and try avsforum.com, there's a lot of great info there.

[Tucker @ Mar 9th 2006 1:04PM]

I have had no problems displaying PC content at 1080p to my Sceptre 37" 1080p set that I've made no updates or changes to since I bought it in August.

As for Engadget's terribly erroneous "world's smallest 1080p" comment, I believe they're making the mistake because that 42" PLASMA display is the smallest PLASMA display to do 1080p. And that's probably a record that's going to be held for... ever... since I don't anticipate seeing sub-42" plasma displays... ever.

[Big Ice D @ Mar 9th 2006 2:02PM]

Yeah.. www.avsforum.com is the best place for researching different displays and what will work best for you. But don't forget to keep up with what's coming out soon here on engadget. It's probably worth it to wait for most people if they don't have an HD monitor yet. The contentent is simply not there. Unless you have the 360;)

[bonmot @ Mar 9th 2006 2:32PM]

I've got a 24" 1080p display. It's called a Dell 2405, which you may be more familiar with as a monitor. I'm not sure if it will do 1080p over component, but it definitely will over DVI.

[gizmondo_hater @ Mar 9th 2006 3:10PM]

only problem is that monitors don't have hdmi connections, i think. A HDtv with dual hdmi-hdcp is awesome, and combined to make 37" 1080p with excellent sound is good enough for me.

Response time is also 6ms

[Jake @ Mar 9th 2006 3:22PM]

Sharp actually announced this TV (and its 65, 57, and 45 inch brethren) at CES in January. They officially killed the 45 for the US market earlier this week, but the rest are still on the way, with a May 2006 release target. This set has a $3499 MSRP.

http://sharpusa.com/products/FunctionPressReleaseSingle/0,1080,569-34,00.html

PDF of the whole Aquos Line (1.8MB): http://www.sharpusa.com/files/tel_dow_AQUOS_Full_Line_0206.pdf

[Jake @ Mar 9th 2006 3:48PM]

Whoops, my bad! Just noticed the different model number. CES = LC-37D90U; CeBit = LC-37GE1E.

Why TF would they intro two identically spec'd (and looking) 37" 1080p LCDs within two months of each other?

[Tucker @ Mar 9th 2006 4:22PM]

Jake - because they're just pimps like that. Seriously, though, it has to do with the markets. I can across similar weirdness when researching one of their lower-res 37" panels back in Aug. I was confused because I saw what appeared to be identical models at Amazon and Costco. I called around, and the final answer was that sometimes retailers or markets request or require different model numbers - something to do with price-matching, distribution numbers and crap like that. Other than a few changes to the plastic, the two TVs I was looking at were identical. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same situation.

[Chris @ Mar 9th 2006 5:20PM]

I think this is a european model, it's listed on the Danish Sharp website:
http://www.sharp.dk/produkter/produkt.asp?id=1033&kat=35&hkat=6

[Ed @ Mar 12th 2006 11:07PM]

Mitsubishi LT-3780, 1080p, outboard media box connected with HDMI/RS232C, card readers, excellent video processing, and plays 1080p recorded and stored material beautifully. $2999.99

[Ciro @ Mar 20th 2006 9:59AM]

I try in Europe the TV LCD 32" HD 1080p, exist ?
regards

[Dan True @ Apr 28th 2006 1:51PM]

The Westy sounds good and a good value, but needs a tuner for broadcast channels. What would be the system response time, important for displaying action, for a Westy with, say, a Samsung SIR-T451? Sceptre advertises 8ms, Sharp used to be 16ms but I think I saw 8ms recently, and others seem to fall in this range.

[Daniel Daly @ Jun 11th 2006 5:54AM]

Tucker, did you say:
"And that's probably a record that's going to be held for... ever... since I don't anticipate seeing sub-42" plasma displays... ever."?
Where've you been? Panasonic has had a 37" Plasma for quite some time now.
Will there ever be a 1080p 37" Plasma?
...Haha, probably not for a long long time. They can't even squeeze 768 verticle resolution in that thing. I guess that's fine though, because it displays 720 natively without scaling to 768... But it's not a very bright set in comparison to it's 42" cousin.
However, put up against ANY lcd... it still wins.
Color-wise that is, not resolution.