Sharp LC-40LE811E (LC40LE811E)

This is part of the Sharp Quattron range.  They contain a fourth coloured pixel, which is a yellow pixel.  You have in a standard TV three pixels - red, green and blue.  On the Quattron range, you have a fourth pixel, which is yellow.  What that does is give you improved colour reproduction over the entire colour spectrum.  With having the additional yellow pixel in there, it gives you far more control over the gradiation from one colour to the next - which is unique to Sharp.  Any other TV just has the three primary colour pixels, which is the red, green and the blue; on this new Sharp Quattron range you have got that yellow pixel as well - and it gives an absolutely stunning image.

As I said, the specification is the same on both models.  They contain an HD tuner as well.  At the moment we are on standard BBC.  Even on standard TV, the picture quality is absolutely astonishingly good.  If we go through the different channels on here, it will indicate what channel we are on next - which is BBC2.  If we go through this range, to get to the HD channels, they are normally on channels 50, 51 and channel 52 - which is BBC HD, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD.

So if we just select channel 50 on here at the moment, it will switch over now to BBC HD.  So we have now got an HD broadcast showing on the TV.  We can click up from there to ITV HD and Channel 4 HD.  So on BBC HD there; up from there we have ITV HD, and then up from there again we are on to Channel 4 HD.

You get this free HD service just from your standard TV aerial.  You plug your aerial into the back of this TV and you have got a free HD service.  It has got Freeview and Freeview HD built into the TV.

The rest of the specification:  You are looking at full HD panels here, so it will do 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolution.  They are also 100Hz scanning.  So a standard TV scans at 50Hz, meaning there are fifty pictures per second making up your image; well on this range you have got 100 pictures per second making up that TV picture, which gives you really good, smooth control of any fast movement on the screen. 

We will go through some of the menus on the set now.  On the remote control, if we press the Menu button it puts us into the menus onscreen.  The good thing about the Menu Guide on the Sharp Quattron is that it leaves your picture on here, so you can still be watching the main content of the movie or whatever programme you are watching on here - you can have the sound on there as well, while somebody is searching down the menus on here as well.  It always leaves the full picture on there so the menu is not going actually over the picture itself. 

You have got an EPG facility; with having Freeview built into the TV you have got an Electronic Programme Guide in the TV.  If we jump down into that Programme Guide, it will give us then all the programme content on the screen.  So you can jog down to any particular channel; go through those different programmes, and if you highlight any programme on here, it will tell you the title of the programme - on there it is Undercover Boss.  If you then press the red button on the remote control, it will give us a brief description on what the programme is about.

If we just click Off there, and get into the rest of the Menu Guide.  As we go on from the EPG, we can get into the Tools Menu, which then allows us to adjust various settings for Picture and Audio.  If we go into the Picture Menu, you have got adjustments for the backlight.  This TV is an LED back-lit TV which means it is extremely slim.  It is only 39mm in depth - which in a moment we will spin it round so you can see the depth of the screen as well.

As we click down from there we can adjust the contrast - and all you need to do is highlight in that particular content for the contrast; and you have got Up, Down, Right and Left. If I click to the left on there, we can then reduce the contrast or make higher the contrast on there, depending on how you want that setting for your own liking.  You have got Colour, Tint and Sharpness - yet again, if you want to adjust, just tweak that up on there.  As you come down that scale, you have also got Advanced Adjustments as well. 

It is an extremely detailed, comprehensive Menu system you have on the Sharp TV.  If you do like sort of going through all the menus on your set, then you have probably got more menu adjustments on this TV than anything else that is out there at the moment.  You can start going through sort of individual settings there to the Advanced Settings such as the contrast, colour temperatures and so on in there as well.

If we go along from that particular menu into the Setup Menu, we have also got different sub-menus we can go into which give us various other menus in there as well.  If you are wall-mounting this TV, you have even got a setting in there for Wall-Mount Audio Setup as well, because the setup for the sound is different if you are wall-mounting than it is if you are just having it on the pedestal stand.  On the pedestal stand as well - it is a swivel-base; you have got a swivel-base on the TV. 

If we just come out of that menu now.  As we spin this set round, on this Sharp Quattron series every socket is recessed.  Now, the set itself is only 39mm in depth.  We will take the sockets from the top here. 

On the side of the TV you have got a USB connection. Down from there you have got Ethernet.  We have an Audio Output on here, on a 3.5 mini-jack connection.  There is also an AV Input there as well, on the same type of socket.  We have underneath that a VGA socket - if you want to plug your PC into this set you can do so via that socket.  You have also got four HDMI sockets - 1, 2, 3, 4 - running down here as well.  And below that there is also a CAM slot, so if you want any pay per view channels you have got that option as well.

As we come down from the CAM slot - if we just pan the camera down just a second for you, underneath the TV, underneath here, we then have the aerial connection, which is also recessed underneath the TV.  As I said, it has got a Freeview HD tuner built into it, so you have got your free HD channels on there as well.  There is also an Optical Out socket on here as well, so if you do want to feed the sound digitally out of this TV, into an external amplifier, you can do that via the optical sockets - you have got Optical Audio Out as well.

So, we have a new set here from Sharp - the Sharp Quattron, with this new yellow pixel technology, giving an absolutely stunning picture.  You get a really good natural flesh tone to the image.  It is an LED TV as well, so it is a very bright image; you get extremely good black levels, extremely good contrast, so you get an extremely good colour palette, great depth of field and good detail on dark scenes.   They are full HD; 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolution.  And they are also 100Hz scanning so fantastic control of any fast movement. 

There is a lot to talk about on this TV because they have loads of features, which is far too many to go through in this video clip.  If you want more details on this set, either call in and see it in the shop - it is a stunning picture; I can’t really tell you how good this picture is - you really need to come in and see it. 

Please give me a call on 01204 861 861 - my name is Chris - or go to our website, which is www.soundandvision.co.uk, or just click the link at the side of the screen.

Thank you.