Official Sharp Aquos 42D62U/46D62U/52D62U Owner's Thread (NO PRICE TALK!)

enigma21 · 10-20-06, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrysDark

Guess I am one of the lucky ones, I either can't see it in my 46 or it's not there, colors are so vivid, my PC is gorgeous on this set.

There are good 46's out there, not all of them have these problems.

Can you post your serial number, please?

While we are at it, can anyone who has a "good" 46" panel please post their serial numbers?

jlarosa · 10-20-06, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpollagi

Got an e-mail from Sharp today:

I got the same email also. I replied to the email and mentioned that I am leaning to other vendors based on the responses that I saw on AVS Forum. I doubt if I hear back from Sharp.

2Channel · 10-20-06, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enigma21

Can you post your serial number, please?

While we are at it, can anyone who has a "good" 46" panel please post their serial numbers?

Also, are there any manufacture dates on the back of these sets? It would be useful info as well to know when the very first units were made.

sfhub · 10-20-06, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Channel

Also, are there any manufacture dates on the back of these sets? It would be useful info as well to know when the very first units were made.

On the older models, the first digit of the serial # is the year and the next 2 digits are the month of manufacturer. I don't know if it still holds with the newer models.

DaveyNJ · 10-20-06, 10:24 PM

Here are the pictures I sent to Sharp regarding my LC-52D62U. I'm sure I could find better examples, but I wanted to get them something quickly.

harshw · 10-20-06, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveyNJ

Here are the pictures I sent to Sharp regarding my LC-52D62U. I'm sure I could find better examples, but I wanted to get them something quickly.

Ouch ! That's bad ... you just killed any desire in me to do a pre order of the 52" here in UK. I'm going to wait till I see one for myself.

Shinraven · 10-20-06, 11:20 PM

DaveyNJ thanks for sending the pictures to sharp. that should help them to come up to speed and fix this issue.

now today I started my first round of my wanting to replace my set.

I had a client meet up in nyc then afterwards I headed to J&R.

on display

floor 46xbr3 next to some plasmas hitachis, and further down. 2 pioneer 42(50)70.

right below a 40xbr2. next to a sammy 4695 no sharp in the house. no biggie.

I started to compare. and ofcourse, the pioneers are indeed in a league of their own in terms of black and punchy colors. seriously no flaws. however for me.. standing 4 feet away I can spot the Herz flicker. it felt like I was looking at a CRT. yes my eyes are that sensitive and I can see 60hz flicker. somehow that effect is minimized on most if not all lcds.

so for me.....thats a no go. I will get headaches from it. I guess tha leaves the xbrs. sammy 4695 being the step child in this equation. never even crossed my mind.

watching Discovery chanl. hd on component multi fed in the store. there was a snake hunter( what crazy nut chasing snake heheheh ) show on. ( which conveniently is on my 8300HD cable box. I recorded that last night ) so I will get to compare at home.

the pios......to die for. if you are ok with minor flicker. flawless images.
sammy - noise ridden. no thanks. hints of blue / purples in the dark areas. ( ok ok i could tweak the sammy but did not bother to. not interested. overscan issue, plus Therese would dishone me

!!!!! yikes !

xbrs pretty good. not as black as pioneer but seriously nice for an lcd. off angles pretty good. nice blacks...nice colors. a bit noisy but i know from reading the sony thread, the xbr2/3 have tons of tweaks.

I then left and went to Circuit City. ( i have no life ) hehe.

on the wall. all the sharps 42-52. under xbr2 and 2500 sonys to the side. PERFECT just what i wanted to see.

so how did the sharpies do. well they held their own.

I have said this before I will say it again PQ wish sharp on the 46 and 52 is hard to beat. great blacks, great color, clean smooth SD / HD ( all on component. i seriously need to look into this HDMI washed look issue i have. )

42" mmmmm

off angle view problems. looks blue when I move to side a bit. yuk. keep it.

yes the xbr2 is sharper. crisper, punchier colors, juicier on HD. but the sharp has a nice more natural non digital feel to it. ( are we still talking about LCD or grilled chicken ? )

mine has a bit of washed out on hdmi - which i am learning to dial out. whereas component looks better. Using USER settings and - 4 sharpness and NR on mid.

What did stand out was the off angle on the xbr2. simply....AWESOME> no color shift. just nice.

on light program i pointed minor banding streaks on the sharp. once the sale guys saw it they were shocked. shaking their heads. and ofcourse most seem to be sony whores " told you xbr2 is better...blah blah. ...." he then said..wow.....i no longer can take my eyes off it. once i know its there. " OHhhhh really now I thought "

more than ever i am a bit confused and wishful thinking. please sharp fix this damm issue. I love your panel and would love to keep it,

what a choice i have soon to make.

- Xbr3 - nice design, great colors, good blacks, great off angle viewing, similar price to sharp 52 , 6 in less

, ok pc input. vga and halo on text on hdmi., but 3 hdmi, 3 components. nice

_ Sharp - smooth colors, great design, good blacks, decent off angle - not as good as sony's sorry, awesome PC inputs, awesome SD/HD and random banding which ruins my showing experience. ( my main gripe. )

my short flirt with the pioneer is over. I have an xbox360 and soon will sell a body part to get ps3. so no plasma for me.

what a choice

lipcrkr · 10-21-06, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harshw

Ouch ! That's bad ... you just killed any desire in me to do a pre order of the 52" here in UK. I'm going to wait till I see one for myself.

Don't the U.K. models have the TruD Micronas chip?

mr stroke · 10-21-06, 01:32 AM

[
WOW, I just got my sharp yesterdy and love it , BUT I to noticed the banding issue, its not as bad as those pics but once you notice it, it is impossible to get it out of your head....hmmm don't know what to do from here as I am worried that if I exhange it I could run into the same problem....and this is one of the only 42' 1080p sets out there

mr stroke · 10-21-06, 01:45 AM

FYI to anyone out there- the 42' DOES have banding problems, my 42' has a big grey line(only noticable on grey and white screens) down the middle of the sreen ..

Samhatco · 10-21-06, 02:00 AM

Hey guys!

Please don't laugh to loud to wake everyone up at home.

I just purchased the 46" D62U from BB this evening and couldn't wait to get it hooked up. Well, I have no video via HDMI on input 4 or 5 from my H20 DTV box or my Denon S-301 dvd/receiver. I do get video from component from the Denon but not from the H20.

What I'm I missing? the manual really sucks

when trying to trouble shoot. Does anybody have the 1-800 number for Sharp support.?

Oh, I do get audio via optical from the H20 to the Denon. So I'm getting a sat. signal.

wtfer · 10-21-06, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr stroke

FYI to anyone out there- the 42' DOES have banding problems, my 42' has a big grey line(only noticable on grey and white screens) down the middle of the sreen ..

yes I was hoping the problem was only on the 46 & 52, but when I got the 42", it had a MASSIVE big vertical line on the right hand side bright as day & a less visible one on the left hand side of the screen.

sfhub · 10-21-06, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr stroke

FYI to anyone out there- the 42' DOES have banding problems, my 42' has a big grey line(only noticable on grey and white screens) down the middle of the sreen ..

If it is a roughly 1 inch wide of slightly brighter area, then that is just the way the panel is made. We went through this with previous generation sharps. It doesn't affect normal video usage.

What these other folks are talking about is different. These are dark bands that are quite noticeable.

harshw · 10-21-06, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lipcrkr

Don't the U.K. models have the TruD Micronas chip?

Yes, the European models are supposed to have TruD that does video processing for sharper images and more fluid motion. On the other hand that's marketing speak. It sounds more like all it does is 3:2 detection and some nice de-interlacing ...

Ahab53 · 10-21-06, 07:23 AM

EVERY press release or statement made by Sharp always refers to the D62s as a group, but always with asterisks for the 42". The brochure indicates that it is lower quality. Even the SharpUSA website not only lists different specs, but is worded suspiciously differently from the blurbs for its bigger brothers.

The panel clearly is 3-wavelength. Kateyama panels are 4 wavelength. The CR is markedly less. The RT is markedly less. It does not have quickshoot. It does not have multipixel tech. yadda yadda.

Goph[/quote]

The 42 also apparently doesn't have the banding/quality-control issue, at least judging my one observation in a BB and by the anecdotal evidence scattered throughout this long, long thread--which says, essentially, that a few 46 owners are satisfied and a few 52 owners are satisfied, and some 46/52 owners are dissatisfied, and a great many potential 46/52 owners are horrified, and the handful of 42 owners are sheepishly admitting to actually liking their "inferior" sets.

It seems to me that the 42s outsourcing to Chei Mei isn't necessarily a bad thing, for a two-grand product meant to compete not with the three-and-a-half grand XBR but with the grand-and-a-half Westinghouses and the like. At least Chei Mei--based, again, entirely on the anecodal evidence on this thread--seems to have its quality-control act together a bit more than Sharp, for the time being anyway.

stanford · 10-21-06, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samhatco

Hey guys!

Please don't laugh to loud to wake everyone up at home.

I just purchased the 46" D62U from BB this evening and couldn't wait to get it hooked up. Well, I have no video via HDMI on input 4 or 5 from my H20 DTV box or my Denon S-301 dvd/receiver. I do get video from component from the Denon but not from the H20.

What I'm I missing? the manual really sucks

when trying to trouble shoot. Does anybody have the 1-800 number for Sharp support.?

Oh, I do get audio via optical from the H20 to the Denon. So I'm getting a sat. signal.

I had to set my DVD player to output via HDMI. In my case it was a button on the fron of my DVD player. Perhaps you have to set your S-301 to output HDMI as well.

BostonsRule · 10-21-06, 10:07 AM

Well, I have been on the fence with my 46 too. Great picture quality on component, but the HDMI connection via my H20 is horrible and unwatchable. I tried a different H20 – same issue, horrible washed out PQ. I tried a new HDMI cable, same issue. So last night I tried a new DVD player with HDMI and the picture looked great. So I am thinking the washed out look on the HDMI connection is due to the H20 Sat box and must be a design issue for that particular box.

I really like this panel again. It looks very good with the DVD player on HDMI and component both. And last night playing PGR3 on the 360 the PQ was nothing short of stunning. And no banding on the 360, or Shrek/Finding Nemo on the DVD player on HDMI. I think those two DVD’s would really expose banding. I have looked and looked for banding on every type of source and simply have not seen it on this particular set.

The only remaining issues I have are 1) Still a slight wash out of the picture off-angle (this happens on component or HDMI regardless of source). It isn’t horrible, but there is a decline in PQ off-angle. 2) The buzzing sound that seems to come and go. It doesn’t seem to happen all of the time and it is only occasionally annoying when it does happen.

Right now, leaning towards keeping it as I must have gotten lucky as my 46 has no banding.

lorenzow · 10-21-06, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ahab53

At least Chei Mei--based, again, entirely on the anecodal evidence on this thread--seems to have its quality-control act together a bit more than Sharp, for the time being anyway.

The CMO QC process at work:

julio388 · 10-21-06, 11:05 AM

circuit city at union square nyc had the 42d62u on display in a home theatre setup. The picture quality was awesome. Compared to its bigger brother, both sets were about the same. The 42 was a bigger steal and best bet in owning a 1080p. They had it set up with a blu ray sony dvd player, the picture was sharp, colorful, and well detailed. Viewing angle was not so bad. Better than 37d41 or previous model. Looked like a great set plus under two grand. Expect the price to go further down by christmas.

GrantR · 10-21-06, 11:07 AM

BostonsRule - if you can't see it even when you're looking for it, then you might just want to consider yourself lucky!

It does seem weird that some components suck over HDMI, like your H20, while your DVD player, and my Comcast 6412 box and a PC all look great over HDMI. I'm not exactly sure what "H20" is, I assume it's a box for cable or satellite. Does your provider offer other boxes? Maybe you need to switch providers? Or maybe it's best to just keep running it via component, and then that gives you a spare HDMI.

I've had my 46" for 7 days now. I still totally love this set, but because I can see banding, and I know that Sharp should, and probably will, fix it, I will be wanting to swap it for a fixed version if/when that happens. So I'm going to head out to my BB today and let them know, so that can make a note of my intention to swap for a fixed one. Hopefully they'll let me extend the 30 day period (I do have the 4 year warrantee) so that I can just keep the current set until fixed ones arrive on the market. If an extension isn't possible I'll just return the TV before the 30 days are out and get my money back. Then, when the fixed TVs arrive, I'll re-purchase the TV again.

I don't want a Sony XBR2/3 - we have one at work so I have fooled around with it a fair bit, and I prefer my Sharp here at home - if I could just steal the smoothness of the backlighting from the Sony and stuff it into the Sharp I'd be 99% satisfied

(the other 1% is reserved for infinitely black blacks).

Is it worth starting a D62 picture settings/calibration type thread for people who want to discuss the qualities of using the tv, other than banding? that way this thread can be reserved for banding discussions. I find myself not wanting to post much in here because posts about the TV settings and the like are essentially "off topic" and get lost amongst the banding discussions.

CrysDark · 10-21-06, 11:36 AM

Calibrations thread would be great!

wulff1 · 10-21-06, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveyNJ

Here are the pictures I sent to Sharp regarding my LC-52D62U. I'm sure I could find better examples, but I wanted to get them something quickly.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM SEEING ON MY 46D62U - I LOVE THIS SET IF IT WASN'T FOR THIS BANDING!

SHOULD I RETURN MY SET?? OR JUST LIVE WITH IT??

oldcarrot · 10-21-06, 11:55 AM

Well, BB delivered my 52" D62 on Thursday. So far I see no vertical banding. There is a small amount of horizontal banding which, I think, is mostly signal related. I have never owned a LCD TV before. I don't even have LCD panels for my 3 Windows XP desktops at home. My old iMac has one and I have them on my laptops (obviously). So I am relatively clueless about calibrating this thing. I would appreciate also a calibration thread. I got the HDTV calibration DVD listed in the forum ad, but it seems rather simplistic, although moderately useful.

It seems like each input needs separate calibration. And calibration is different for daytime (lighted room) vs nightime viewing. Does one need to dial in the settings each time the set is used ...and keep a card handy with all the settings listed. Or is there a way, once the best settings have been determined of having the set retain them separately for each input.

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but I am.

By the way, I also posted in the other D62 thread, but Circuit City ad for 10/22 shows the new D62 Sharps for significantly under MSRP...so if anyone bought from them at list and has a "keeper"...might want to get refund. They guarantee 30 day protection..and refund 110% of the difference. Sometimes they need to be reminded of the 110% part.

mark_1080p · 10-21-06, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinraven

sammy - noise ridden. no thanks. hints of blue / purples in the dark areas. ( ok ok i could tweak the sammy but did not bother to. not interested. overscan issue, plus Therese would dishone me

!!!!! yikes !

Shin - I ordered one, the noise issue can be tuned way down by reducing the backlight, contrast away from the ridiculous store settings (never would be used at home) when you have a lousy source or by having a decent source. Nearly all my sources will be pretty clean digital. But, the overscan is there. I may take Samsung up on a service call to reduce the overscan, we'll see how it is.

If I have to eat these words, get a noisy set, will report here, no purchase justification motivation, just my experience with the set in store, played with it for about an hour.

DaveyNJ · 10-21-06, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wulff1

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM SEEING ON MY 46D62U - I LOVE THIS SET IF IT WASN'T FOR THIS BANDING!

SHOULD I RETURN MY SET?? OR JUST LIVE WITH IT??

I have no intention of "living with it." I called Sharp and started a case. They transferred me to a technician who asked me to email pictures of the problem. I took the pictures which was no easy task as I wound up eventually putting black tape over the flash of my camera to get them looking decent. I cancelled plans I had in order to find the right shots, etc. I emailed the pictures to Sharp as requested.

On a side note in reference to the other member who didn't get an "Im Sorry" from Sharp I can say that I didn't get one either. That didn't bother me too much because asfter reading his experience I did not expect one.

However, I took the time to take the pictures and sent them very quickly. I asked them in the email to just reply to me so that I knew they got them. I asked them to let me know if they were adequate or if they needed more to email or call me and let me know. They did not do either. That got me annoyed because I feel I'm going out on a limb helping them. If they don't keep me informed or cannot comply with a simple "we have received your email" request then they can go pick up their tv at Best Buy and take all the pictures that they want!

Again, it is only with the help of this forum that I was able to find this problem so quickly. The banding can easily be mistaken for signal noise by an amateur like me. It takes a little investigation and time to see the difference. The fact that I found it quickly enables me to use the leverage of the 30 day return policy.

David

enigma21 · 10-21-06, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfhub

On the older models, the first digit of the serial # is the year and the next 2 digits are the month of manufacturer. I don't know if it still holds with the newer models.

If that holds true for the D62's, it appears most of these "bad" sets are showing up with September manufacture dates (609xxxxxx). We will have to be on the lookout for 610's.

Gad Zookz · 10-21-06, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinraven

...my short flirt with the pioneer is over. I have an xbox360 and soon will sell a body part to get ps3. so no plasma for me.

what a choice

Shinraven, you truly are a modern day Hamlet. LCD TV just isn't ready for you yet.

tonyve · 10-21-06, 02:56 PM

Does anyone remember why they abandoned the Sony KDL-46V2500 from their consideration for a 1080p flat panel that would be used in an HTPC setup?

I realize this is off topic but I'm really getting maxed out on researching and reading and reading and reading etc.

Thanks in advance.

Jason Bourne · 10-21-06, 03:58 PM

All my sympathies to those experiencing problems with the D62Us.

I suppose I'm lucky in that my 52" seems not to suffer from any of the reported problems.

Sorry if anyone finds that annoying, but I feel obligated to report that there are certainly problem-free units out there.

rezzonate · 10-21-06, 04:07 PM

The V2500 should is fine for HTPC. It doesn't do full 1920x1080 over VGA tho, so it's not the Xbox360 1080P favorite. It will do dot by dot 1920x1080 over HDMI, so it works for HTPC.

Interesting... with the price drop on the V2500s the 40" sony is the same street price as the 42D62... anyone want to start a 40V2500 vs 42D62 thread?? heh.

10-20-06, 10:24 PM	#1355 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
DaveyNJ Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Monmouth, NJ Posts: 41 Classified Rating: 100% (1)	Pictures of banding Here are the pictures I sent to Sharp regarding my LC-52D62U. I'm sure I could find better examples, but I wanted to get them something quickly.

10-20-06, 11:20 PM	#1357 \| Link
Shinraven Advanced Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 619	DaveyNJ thanks for sending the pictures to sharp. that should help them to come up to speed and fix this issue. now today I started my first round of my wanting to replace my set. I had a client meet up in nyc then afterwards I headed to J&R. on display floor 46xbr3 next to some plasmas hitachis, and further down. 2 pioneer 42(50)70. right below a 40xbr2. next to a sammy 4695 no sharp in the house. no biggie. I started to compare. and ofcourse, the pioneers are indeed in a league of their own in terms of black and punchy colors. seriously no flaws. however for me.. standing 4 feet away I can spot the Herz flicker. it felt like I was looking at a CRT. yes my eyes are that sensitive and I can see 60hz flicker. somehow that effect is minimized on most if not all lcds. so for me.....thats a no go. I will get headaches from it. I guess tha leaves the xbrs. sammy 4695 being the step child in this equation. never even crossed my mind. watching Discovery chanl. hd on component multi fed in the store. there was a snake hunter( what crazy nut chasing snake heheheh ) show on. ( which conveniently is on my 8300HD cable box. I recorded that last night ) so I will get to compare at home. the pios......to die for. if you are ok with minor flicker. flawless images. sammy - noise ridden. no thanks. hints of blue / purples in the dark areas. ( ok ok i could tweak the sammy but did not bother to. not interested. overscan issue, plus Therese would dishone me !!!!! yikes ! xbrs pretty good. not as black as pioneer but seriously nice for an lcd. off angles pretty good. nice blacks...nice colors. a bit noisy but i know from reading the sony thread, the xbr2/3 have tons of tweaks. I then left and went to Circuit City. ( i have no life ) hehe. on the wall. all the sharps 42-52. under xbr2 and 2500 sonys to the side. PERFECT just what i wanted to see. so how did the sharpies do. well they held their own. I have said this before I will say it again PQ wish sharp on the 46 and 52 is hard to beat. great blacks, great color, clean smooth SD / HD ( all on component. i seriously need to look into this HDMI washed look issue i have. ) 42" mmmmm off angle view problems. looks blue when I move to side a bit. yuk. keep it. yes the xbr2 is sharper. crisper, punchier colors, juicier on HD. but the sharp has a nice more natural non digital feel to it. ( are we still talking about LCD or grilled chicken ? ) mine has a bit of washed out on hdmi - which i am learning to dial out. whereas component looks better. Using USER settings and - 4 sharpness and NR on mid. What did stand out was the off angle on the xbr2. simply....AWESOME> no color shift. just nice. on light program i pointed minor banding streaks on the sharp. once the sale guys saw it they were shocked. shaking their heads. and ofcourse most seem to be sony whores " told you xbr2 is better...blah blah. ...." he then said..wow.....i no longer can take my eyes off it. once i know its there. " OHhhhh really now I thought " more than ever i am a bit confused and wishful thinking. please sharp fix this damm issue. I love your panel and would love to keep it, what a choice i have soon to make. - Xbr3 - nice design, great colors, good blacks, great off angle viewing, similar price to sharp 52 , 6 in less , ok pc input. vga and halo on text on hdmi., but 3 hdmi, 3 components. nice _ Sharp - smooth colors, great design, good blacks, decent off angle - not as good as sony's sorry, awesome PC inputs, awesome SD/HD and random banding which ruins my showing experience. ( my main gripe. ) my short flirt with the pioneer is over. I have an xbox360 and soon will sell a body part to get ps3. so no plasma for me. what a choice __________________ http://elysiumcore.com

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mr stroke Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 386	FYI to anyone out there- the 42' DOES have banding problems, my 42' has a big grey line(only noticable on grey and white screens) down the middle of the sreen ..

10-21-06, 02:00 AM	#1361 \| Link
Samhatco New Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 6	HELP!! I'm so stupid, Oh, I know it's only 1:00am Hey guys! Please don't laugh to loud to wake everyone up at home. I just purchased the 46" D62U from BB this evening and couldn't wait to get it hooked up. Well, I have no video via HDMI on input 4 or 5 from my H20 DTV box or my Denon S-301 dvd/receiver. I do get video from component from the Denon but not from the H20. What I'm I missing? the manual really sucks when trying to trouble shoot. Does anybody have the 1-800 number for Sharp support.? Oh, I do get audio via optical from the H20 to the Denon. So I'm getting a sat. signal.

10-21-06, 07:23 AM	#1365 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
Ahab53 New Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Maine Posts: 9	EVERY press release or statement made by Sharp always refers to the D62s as a group, but always with asterisks for the 42". The brochure indicates that it is lower quality. Even the SharpUSA website not only lists different specs, but is worded suspiciously differently from the blurbs for its bigger brothers. The panel clearly is 3-wavelength. Kateyama panels are 4 wavelength. The CR is markedly less. The RT is markedly less. It does not have quickshoot. It does not have multipixel tech. yadda yadda. Goph[/quote] The 42 also apparently doesn't have the banding/quality-control issue, at least judging my one observation in a BB and by the anecdotal evidence scattered throughout this long, long thread--which says, essentially, that a few 46 owners are satisfied and a few 52 owners are satisfied, and some 46/52 owners are dissatisfied, and a great many potential 46/52 owners are horrified, and the handful of 42 owners are sheepishly admitting to actually liking their "inferior" sets. It seems to me that the 42s outsourcing to Chei Mei isn't necessarily a bad thing, for a two-grand product meant to compete not with the three-and-a-half grand XBR but with the grand-and-a-half Westinghouses and the like. At least Chei Mei--based, again, entirely on the anecodal evidence on this thread--seems to have its quality-control act together a bit more than Sharp, for the time being anyway.

10-21-06, 01:32 AM	#1359 \| Link
mr stroke Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 386	[ WOW, I just got my sharp yesterdy and love it , BUT I to noticed the banding issue, its not as bad as those pics but once you notice it, it is impossible to get it out of your head....hmmm don't know what to do from here as I am worried that if I exhange it I could run into the same problem....and this is one of the only 42' 1080p sets out there

10-21-06, 10:07 AM	#1367 \| Link
BostonsRule New Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 6	Well, I have been on the fence with my 46 too. Great picture quality on component, but the HDMI connection via my H20 is horrible and unwatchable. I tried a different H20 – same issue, horrible washed out PQ. I tried a new HDMI cable, same issue. So last night I tried a new DVD player with HDMI and the picture looked great. So I am thinking the washed out look on the HDMI connection is due to the H20 Sat box and must be a design issue for that particular box. I really like this panel again. It looks very good with the DVD player on HDMI and component both. And last night playing PGR3 on the 360 the PQ was nothing short of stunning. And no banding on the 360, or Shrek/Finding Nemo on the DVD player on HDMI. I think those two DVD’s would really expose banding. I have looked and looked for banding on every type of source and simply have not seen it on this particular set. The only remaining issues I have are 1) Still a slight wash out of the picture off-angle (this happens on component or HDMI regardless of source). It isn’t horrible, but there is a decline in PQ off-angle. 2) The buzzing sound that seems to come and go. It doesn’t seem to happen all of the time and it is only occasionally annoying when it does happen. Right now, leaning towards keeping it as I must have gotten lucky as my 46 has no banding.

10-21-06, 11:05 AM	#1369 \| Link
julio388 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 269	circuit city at union square nyc had the 42d62u on display in a home theatre setup. The picture quality was awesome. Compared to its bigger brother, both sets were about the same. The 42 was a bigger steal and best bet in owning a 1080p. They had it set up with a blu ray sony dvd player, the picture was sharp, colorful, and well detailed. Viewing angle was not so bad. Better than 37d41 or previous model. Looked like a great set plus under two grand. Expect the price to go further down by christmas.

10-21-06, 11:07 AM	#1370 \| Link
GrantR Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Wellesley, MA Posts: 187	BostonsRule - if you can't see it even when you're looking for it, then you might just want to consider yourself lucky! It does seem weird that some components suck over HDMI, like your H20, while your DVD player, and my Comcast 6412 box and a PC all look great over HDMI. I'm not exactly sure what "H20" is, I assume it's a box for cable or satellite. Does your provider offer other boxes? Maybe you need to switch providers? Or maybe it's best to just keep running it via component, and then that gives you a spare HDMI. I've had my 46" for 7 days now. I still totally love this set, but because I can see banding, and I know that Sharp should, and probably will, fix it, I will be wanting to swap it for a fixed version if/when that happens. So I'm going to head out to my BB today and let them know, so that can make a note of my intention to swap for a fixed one. Hopefully they'll let me extend the 30 day period (I do have the 4 year warrantee) so that I can just keep the current set until fixed ones arrive on the market. If an extension isn't possible I'll just return the TV before the 30 days are out and get my money back. Then, when the fixed TVs arrive, I'll re-purchase the TV again. I don't want a Sony XBR2/3 - we have one at work so I have fooled around with it a fair bit, and I prefer my Sharp here at home - if I could just steal the smoothness of the backlighting from the Sony and stuff it into the Sharp I'd be 99% satisfied (the other 1% is reserved for infinitely black blacks). Is it worth starting a D62 picture settings/calibration type thread for people who want to discuss the qualities of using the tv, other than banding? that way this thread can be reserved for banding discussions. I find myself not wanting to post much in here because posts about the TV settings and the like are essentially "off topic" and get lost amongst the banding discussions.

10-21-06, 11:36 AM	#1371 \| Link
CrysDark Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 181	Calibrations thread would be great!

10-21-06, 11:55 AM	#1373 \| Link
oldcarrot Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 34	Well, BB delivered my 52" D62 on Thursday. So far I see no vertical banding. There is a small amount of horizontal banding which, I think, is mostly signal related. I have never owned a LCD TV before. I don't even have LCD panels for my 3 Windows XP desktops at home. My old iMac has one and I have them on my laptops (obviously). So I am relatively clueless about calibrating this thing. I would appreciate also a calibration thread. I got the HDTV calibration DVD listed in the forum ad, but it seems rather simplistic, although moderately useful. It seems like each input needs separate calibration. And calibration is different for daytime (lighted room) vs nightime viewing. Does one need to dial in the settings each time the set is used ...and keep a card handy with all the settings listed. Or is there a way, once the best settings have been determined of having the set retain them separately for each input. Sorry if I sound ignorant, but I am. By the way, I also posted in the other D62 thread, but Circuit City ad for 10/22 shows the new D62 Sharps for significantly under MSRP...so if anyone bought from them at list and has a "keeper"...might want to get refund. They guarantee 30 day protection..and refund 110% of the difference. Sometimes they need to be reminded of the 110% part.

10-21-06, 02:56 PM	#1378 \| Link
tonyve T-Bone Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ann Arbor,MI Posts: 38	Anyone Remember? Does anyone remember why they abandoned the Sony KDL-46V2500 from their consideration for a 1080p flat panel that would be used in an HTPC setup? I realize this is off topic but I'm really getting maxed out on researching and reading and reading and reading etc. Thanks in advance.

10-21-06, 03:58 PM	#1379 \| Link
Jason Bourne Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 408	All my sympathies to those experiencing problems with the D62Us. I suppose I'm lucky in that my 52" seems not to suffer from any of the reported problems. Sorry if anyone finds that annoying, but I feel obligated to report that there are certainly problem-free units out there.

10-21-06, 04:07 PM	#1380 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
rezzonate Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 20	The V2500 should is fine for HTPC. It doesn't do full 1920x1080 over VGA tho, so it's not the Xbox360 1080P favorite. It will do dot by dot 1920x1080 over HDMI, so it works for HTPC. Interesting... with the price drop on the V2500s the 40" sony is the same street price as the 42D62... anyone want to start a 40V2500 vs 42D62 thread?? heh.