By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
01/08/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/tvs/0,39037585,43539384p,00.htm

It's sure taken TV manufacturers a while to warm up to Asian digital broadcasts. The latest to join the fray is Sharp with its D83-series Aquos. Unlike its Korean competitors, the Japanese company has it right from the very beginning, too, by going with dual antenna inputs. This means you can enjoy the best of both worlds without the hassle of hot-swapping TV aerials.

Design

The latest LC-46D83M is based primarily on its 2007 analog TV tuner equivalent right down to every nut and bolt. Though a dated design, its sleek 95mm-thick bezel is almost onpar with the latest entries, such as the Samsung Series 6, second only to the 79mm LG Scarlet and 74mm JVC Superslim. An ultra-thin 1-inch LCD frame and streamlined bottom speakers give it an overall picturesque feel, while its frontal black piano finish, chrome lining and smooth corners are added icing to an uncluttered facade. The glossy treatment is extended to its sturdy, albeit fixed, pedestal stand which can be exchanged for an optional wall bracket.

Having recently reviewed the 47LG50FD and its poor side A/V input placement, it's a relief to try out the Aquo's right-mounted counterpart. Not only were the ports a finger away from the corner, they're also adequately concealed and updated with an HD-ready HDMI terminal. Lined on top is an array of roundish buttons, clearly labeled just in case you momentarily lose sight of the remote. Just like its predecessor, our major grip is the horizontal trench on the rear which houses the majority of its sockets. This can be a bottleneck for some oversized cords which have to be bent to route and fit through its cable management clip.

There's more to it than meets the eye for its strikingly familiar remote wane. Sharp has apparently thrown in full video playback control to supplement its Aquos Link one-remote multi-device function underneath a flap. To work around the hassle of a single input toggle key, there're now separate regular and digital TV shortcuts, as well as automatic detection and manual software filtering for external analog and digital sources, respectively. Putting aside these niceties, we're not particularly impressed by its spilt-second response lag and cumbersome under-the-flap layout for aspect ratio, picture modes picture-in-picture buttons, etc.
The Japanese company has further updated the TV software menu to reflect its new capabilities. This includes customization for the digital TV tuner, Aquos Link, and more importantly, backlighting adjustment for optimized black levels. The fundamentals are not forgotten as well, with contrast to color and noise reduction covered in the video submenu. That said, we did notice that there's no SpyderTV-friendly grayscale cut and gain common among higher-end models. If you care less about the technicalities, then perhaps you could stick to any of its six picture modes and sensor-based OPC (Optical Picture Control) dynamic backlight optimization.

Features

In a straightforward side-by-side comparison, it's not difficult to notice that this Aquos sports a rather humble 10,000:1 dynamic contrast. This is particularly lopsided if you pit it against LG's 47LG50FD or even the 2007 Samsung F8. Looking on the bright side, it does excel in response time courtesy of a blazing-fast 4ms rating and boasts a future-proofed full-HD LCD panel ideal for Blu-rays and HD broadcasts. As for viewing angle, its 176-degree specification is second only to the market leaders. We would've appreciated a little more to differentiate this new entry from its predecessor, but it turned out otherwise.

The Aquos LC-46D83M is your cheap ticket to free-to-air HD broadcasts now available in selected Asian countries. An example is Singapore's MediaCorp HD5. The high-resolution programs are received via an onboard DVB-T digital tuner and MPEG-4 video decoder pair. These not only replace an external settop box, but also the companion cable clutter. Other bonuses are a handy electronic program guide (EPG) for minute-to-minute schedule updates, as well as the dual antennas mentioned above. The latter lets you tap the analog and digital aerials to playback both standard- and hi-def content.

Making a return is its 100Hz Fine Motion Advanced function, originally introduced last year for the A53s and A83s to smoothen motion reproduction. On paper, it works by analyzing live feeds and inserting interpolated footages to double the standard frame rate from 50 to 100 frames per second--more on it actual delivery in the Performance section. To address the usually lackluster TV audio, Sharp is fielding a combination of high-power 15W digital amplifier and an array of four 10 x 40mm speaker drivers. These are further enhanced by software SRS TruSurround XT virtual surround and bass enhancer processing.

There're a couple of hits and misses when it comes to its A/V connectivity. Upgrading the HDMI trio to support Aquos Link enables a couple of nifty tricks if you own a suite of compatible Sharp products. For example, one-touch recording and video playback. However, ignoring the film-centric 1080p24-compliancy yet again is a bad call, especially when the Australian D83X has such a capability. Similarly, we weren't convinced by its 1080i-only dual component-video sockets and 1,366 x 768-resolution maxed-out PC jack. Nevertheless, there's a digital optical audio output which handles both stereo and Dolby Digital surround.

Performance

Trying to lock onto various Singapore DVB-T stations took us a little longer than expected due to its sensitive reception, but our perseverance paid off eventually. All the received channels showed clean grain-free pictures with the 1080i-encoded HD5 edging out in sharpness sans most common interlace-to-progressive conversion artifacts. These encouraging traits were also evident in analog broadcasts which were almost on par with our reference Pioneer LX Kuro, though mild pixelation was observed around contrasting portions of the programs. We had no major gripe with its functional EPG, except that the layout was not as sleek as its LG rival.

Somehow, Sharp must have tweaked the LC-46D83M because the previous black crush was resolved when we put it through the Avia grayscale tracking test. This pleasant discovery was, however, marred by a light red push detected during color decoding. Test driving the dark scenes in Blade 2 DVD more or less verified the Aquos' excellent shadow details, except that skin tones turned out surprisingly life-like despite the earlier flaw. 1080p upconversion-wise, its inbuilt engine was pretty effective at suppressing jaggies, but at the expense of some fine details as singled out in one of the HQV benchmarks.

The panel was another beast altogether when we tried the The Phantom of the Opera Blu-ray. Despite a misleadingly low contrast, it was able to produce vivid near-plasma-quality colors and good blacks. This, when coupled with its clean and sharp visuals, brought the movie's characters and intricate costumes to life. Turning our attentions to the HD flavor of the HQV benchmarks revealed silky-smooth diagonal filtering and a solid Video Resolution Loss test result. It did lose its footing during the Film Resolution Loss leg, flagging a potential bottleneck in resolving the moving 1 pixel-thick test pattern.

After hours of comparisons, we finally nailed down the Fine Motion Advanced function's subtle enhancements. It was not effective enough to completely eliminate judder, but it did bequeath Ridge Racer 7's in-game scrolling ticker with more fluidity. Switching in between PlayStation 3's HDMI and Xbox 360's component-video also had negligible impact on their complex graphics, both rendered in spot-on clarity. Inputting a 1,360 x 768-resolution PC signal to the panel was a revelation, too. Besides accurate border-to-border formatting, upscaled text was amazingly clear and readable from far, while color gradation was seamlessly smooth.

For viewers with a discerning taste for good sound, this little poppet will hardly disappoint with a blend of healthy bass notes, sweet vocals and extended trebles. You may need to crank up the volume to 60 percent full throttle, but rest assured you'll be rewarded by convincing stereo imaging. The Sharp Aquos LC-46D83M is a textbook example that specs are meant strictly for quick reference. It may look rather "unexciting" on paper, but this 46-incher definitely lived up to our expectations for its S$5,599 pricing. We would have gladly awarded it an Editors' Choice if not for glaring omissions such as the 1080p24 support found on its own Blu-ray player.