On test: Sharp Aquos LC-32AD5E
Sharp is traditionally known as a premium LCD TV brand. Yet it's savvy enough to know that in today's market of downward-spiralling prices, you just can't afford to ignore the budget buyer. Cue the Aquos LC3AD5E: at just £450 -- or even less if you shop around online -- it's comfortably the cheapest 32-inch LCD Sharp has ever launched. But how many compromises has Sharp had to make to hit such a low price?
LCD TVs
Reviews on LCD TVs
"Sharp Aquos LC32AD5E"
Published on: 3/2008
"Loewe Individual Compose 40 40in LCD TV"
Published on: 11/2007
On test: Loewe Individual 40 Compose Full-HD+
Although Loewe will hate us for doing this, there really is no other way to open this review than to talk hard cash. For the simple fact of the matter is that while 40-42in flat TVs from most brands, including respectable ones like Samsung and Panasonic, are now routinely finding price points under £1,000, this latest 40 incher from Loewe sets you back three times as much. And that's only if you stick with the basic model. Lordy!
"JVC LT-42DV8 42in LCD TV"
Published on: 10/2007
On test: JVC LT-42DV8
We've recently checked out - and been moderately pleased with - sets from relatively low down JVC's current LCD TV range. But today we're pleased to say we've got our hands on something higher up the brand's pecking order in the shape of the LT-42DV8: the first JVC TV to carry that feature du jour, 100Hz processing.
"Samsung LE40M87BD 40in LCD TV"
Published on: 10/2007
On test: Samsung LE-40M87BD
Normally we're all in favour of brand's giving their TVs catchy names rather than horrible, impenetrable lists of letters and numbers. But we have to say we're a bit suspicious of the ‘Tulip' name Samsung bandies about when talking about its ‘M87' range of TVs. It just sounds a bit too genteel and effeminate for our liking. So for once it's perhaps just as well that Samsung doesn't use a name to market the 40in ‘Tulip' we're looking at today, after all. The LE40M87BD it is, then…
LCD TVs
The quality of LCD televisions has improved dramatically since their introduction putting them on equal footing with plasma screen for sizes up to around 37inches. In fact, LCD has impressed the public so much, that one in three consumers now opt for LCD when buying a new set.The internal electronics of an LCD panel are very complicated, but at its most basic level it is still the same technology that has powered those Casio calculators and digital watches since time immemorial. Light is passed through a series of polarizing filters which either blocks it or allows it to pass through, thus creating an image on the display. In LCD flat panel displays, this light is then sent through a series of specially arranged colour filters which, due to their close proximity, can fool the eye into thinking it is seeing a single blended colour, when in fact it is a mosh pit of individual prime colours.
LCD TVs are now sold for the same prices CRT televisions were going for towards the end of their lifespan, indeed CRT televisions are nowadays rarely stocked in the more upmarket stores and usually only available as bargain basement products from random east Asian rebadgers and second hand stores.
A good LCD television should have a low response time, high brightness and good contrast ratio. The contrast ratio will tell you how many shades there are between the lightest and darkest colour the set can produce, this will then allow you to see more detail in dark sections of a film, which was previously where LCD technology fell down. Today's screens are perfectly capable of producing perfect images and when paired with a decent surround sound system and DVD player, can make a very nice home cinema system.
- Start page
- > Home Entertainment
- > Televisions
- > LCD TVs
