Sharp's 65 and 52-inch AQUOS T-Series: world's first THX certified LCDs

Even though Runco announced their development plans first, Sharp appears to be the first to market with a THX certified television. In fact, they've got two: a 65-inch and 52-inch LCD for Sharp's new AQUOS T-series. That THX logo is meant to ensure the best match of brightness and contrast with video processing for a home theater level of video reproduction. Interestingly though, the rated 350cd/m2 brightness and 2,500:1 contrast is a step down from the AQUOS R-series' 450cd/m2 and 3,000:1. Sharp's explanation? They expect these panels to be used exclusively in the darkest of home theaters. Er, ok. As to the rest, you'll get a 1,920 x 1,080 120Hz ASV panel with 3x 1080p HDMI (plus 3x Japanese D5), 1x DVI, 2x Firewire, IrSS, and Ethernet. Both will be ready in Japan come September when you'll need ¥1,417,500 (about $11,599) for the LV-65TH1 or ¥840,000 (about $6,873) for the LV-52TH1. While we have a sneaking suspicion they'll be worth it, we'll be waiting for the reviews before dropping that kind of dough.

[Via Impress]

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Jul 20th 2007 4:47AM]

I'll pass on these displays and stick with a Pioneer Elite Plasma until SED's or OLED's hit mass market.

[MDB @ Jul 20th 2007 9:29AM]

SEDs are probably never going to see the light of day now, and if you're waiting for an OLED display, you'll be waiting for years.

The THX certification means nothing important. All it really assures the consumer of is that Sharp paid a hefty badging fee so they could put their symbol on the upper right hand corner of their TV. If you look on amazon, you can find THX certified speaker cable, which instantly makes them lose credibility.

Pioneer's new plasma line will rape these TVs and their supposed "best match of brightness and contrast with video processing"

[Chuckles McGee @ Jul 21st 2007 1:07AM]

Given the vast range in quality and price of "THX certified" products, one really has to question what THX certification means, especially on the home theater end.

[greatslack @ Jul 20th 2007 8:50AM]

So I can put this together with my THX certified computer speakers and open my own cinema?

[mcs hammer @ Jul 20th 2007 10:43AM]

The Runco plasma displays with THX certification (read large fee paid to Lucas) have been on market for several months. Great images but the Pioneers are ever so slightly behind.

[Guy @ Jul 20th 2007 11:25AM]

Low brightness is indicative of a LCD display with a much wider colour gamut. To display the full video colour pallet a LCD requires darker colour filters (to get the deeper richer colours), this darken the image overall leading to a reduced brightness capability.

You want a crappy screen with low colour gamut, go with a cheapy claiming high brightness. You want true colour capabilities; you have to accept lower brightness levels. Most LCDs don't come near to displaying the full video colour gamut.

Nature of the beast.

I tend to think the THX certification requires near full video gamut capabilities if nothing else...

[James Sonne @ Jul 20th 2007 11:35AM]

Also, there are only 256 shades of black on any LCD, so to say a unit has a contrast ratio of higher than 256:1 is fairly meaningless as far as level of blackness goes. What is important, as Guy mentioned, is level of detail within the blacks.

And if anyone here thinks that Sharp's picture processors are not as superior as you think, go look at one against any other LCD on the market. Other LCDs, especially Pioneers and Toshibas, will exhibit distinct and disturbing "feathering" on fast horizontal motion, indicative of a poor processor speed and refresh rate. Sharp have none of this. Mitsubishi's are the closest second.

[Stez @ Jul 23rd 2007 6:22AM]

"Other LCDs, especially Pioneers and Toshibas, will exhibit distinct and disturbing "feathering" on fast horizontal motion, indicative of a poor processor speed and refresh rate"

On a side note, Pioneer doesnt make LCD TVs and IMO are much superior to any LCD panel

[Dave DC @ Jul 20th 2007 1:23PM]

Now if they can only resolve those banding issues...

[chuck @ Jul 20th 2007 3:34PM]

How come there hasn't been one company that could have the best of all worlds. LCD has this, Plasma has that.DLP does this a lot better. Large screen and not enough inputs......What a game of double dutch for those on the sideline.

[Guy @ Jul 20th 2007 7:24PM]

"Also, there are only 256 shades of black on any LCD, so to say a unit has a contrast ratio of higher than 256:1 is fairly meaningless as far as level of blackness goes"

Just remember James that although there may only be 256 levels of black, there can be a wider brightness difference between each level on one set to another. This is what the contrast ratio is, not the number of black levels, but the difference between them.

[Mike Young @ Jul 20th 2007 10:13PM]

Agree with Guy...all contrast numbers are inflated by manufacturers to sell more products. THX might keep them honest.