Official 2012 Sharp LC-XXLE640U/XXC6400U - Page 38

Well, I'm even more pleased with my 640U then.

I have an LG 65LW6500 that's very glossy. I mean glossy. Reflections are terrible. It was a prime reason to move that TV to the living room and get a 70" 640U for my HT.

I don't quite understand why Sharp would do that with this year's 650U model. It's not like the 640U couldn't put out enough light. It's a real light cannon on standard setting and the backlighting needs to be turned down anyway.

Z-Mad; Just one Question, In Game mode or standard mode you have Range of OPC any, however if you lower (say go to-12 or lower the picture definitely gets darker. Shouldn't the Range of OPC be Max 0 and Min- 1? Am I being dumb? Or missing something?

Hey evening flyer, actually as long as your OPC is off, the range of OPC does not matter, which is why the settings say "any". When you enter the OPC range and start playing with the values, the brightness on your TV will be changing with the change of values only to demonstrate how bright is the brightest OPC setting, or how dim is the lowest OPC setting based on how you are tweaking these values. So it's just a "demo" of brightness levels between which your TV would fluctuate IF your OPC was turned on. As soon as you exit the OPC range settings, your brightness will return to whatever the original picture settings are.

OPC is basically automatic picture brightness adjustment that the TV sets based on the brightness of your room. So in the evening it may dim the picture a bit, and during daytime it may increase the brightness to compensate for the brighter room. The OPC range simply sets how far down the OPC feature should dim the picture and how far up it should brighten it depending on external lighting conditions. But OPC is usually not so smooth and can cause brightness fluctuation that many find disturbing. It is best to leave it off, in which case the OPC range setting does not matter...

Judicious use of the feature can be helpful.
My recommendation is to calibrate the set in a darkened room and then select 'O' for dimming and '100%'
for brightening on the OPC scale. Your best picture will appear whenever your viewing conditions are ideal
and the set will add Contrast to the picture for any room light above darkness. There may be some clipping
of white levels at maximum, so play with that value to obtain the best compromise of clarity and accuracy.
The problem with OPC develops when you go dimmer than your ideal picture -- this causes muddiness.
At least that was my findings with a lot of tinkering. I haven't touched the settings in many months of viewing:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1444684/sharp-lc-70le845u-calibration-including-3d

Yeah, some people utilize this feature, but frankly I personally find it that the right setting with proper picture attributes in terms of brightness, white and black levels, etc. do not really need such constant auto-adjustment. I just don't think that the TV knows which level of contrast and brightness my eyes need whatever the lighting conditions. Most calibrators will commonly disable such auto-adjustment features, and I am also a believer that the properly set picture shouldn't be messed with by such features that are trying to predict what the proper contrast should be for my room and my eyes. But that's just me, it may work for some people...

Thanks ZMAD. Your explanation was thorough and clear. Thanks for taking the time to explain the display function of OPC. I get it now.

Johnfull; I also want to thank you for explaining the manufactures intent regarding the OPC feature.

It also depends on your own viewing environment. Mine is in a room with south and west windows, so there is significant glare and ambient light when blinds are open.
'Judicious' use means to set it just to the level that allows a clear bright daylight picture. It operates without any hint of artifact if it's set properly. I was surprised that it
works as well as it does. But that's just me and my own environment...

Has anyone had a chance to compare this Sharp with the new Samsung "F" models (6300, 6400, 7100)?
I'm interested in either the Sharp 70" 640/6400/650 or the Samsng 65" in one of the above models.
Any opinions will be appreciated.
Edited by Frank_K - 5/21/13 at 6:53am

I got a new, sealed box 52” 52LE640U for $695.98 +tax at Target.

Sears listed a few stores with floor models & the prices varied. When I called the stores I got transferred to their national call center, which of course cannot tell you anything about the TV’s condition. I went to look at one for $559 but it was sold the day before. Went to see one that was called a New floor model for $799 but it had a scratch on the screen.

Target’s website listed a few stores with limited stock. One was near me so I called & they had a new in box and a display model both on clearance for $695. I went & picked up the new one right away & will set it up & play with the settings later.

You are welcome

Sure, the feature is completely based on lighting conditions, so some may find it more "necessary" to use it like in your case. I personally rather suggest to people with big lighting difference between day and night (due to very bright room like yours), to rather create 2 settings: 1 for daytime viewing and one for nighttime viewing, so rather than the TV fluctuating in a wider range, it's better to just have 2 solid settings and switch between them when you feel the lighting requires it. This is the approach I would personally take if I had enough lighting fluctuation to require it. Anyway, just food for thought. If OPC works well for you, that's certainly one way of dealing with lighting conditions...

I suggest reading up on the models you are considering on CNET. They do a very nice review of each TV with pro equipment measured performance, like black levels for example. Black levels are probably the most important aspect for overall good picture quality at this range of TV's. Sharp tends to perform better than comparable Samsung models as far as I remember, but you might want to check the reviews which should be helpful in your final decision. Good luck...

You are right. I am talking about a specific brand and a specific set of conditions. Categorically, you are correct to err on the side of caution.
I might add that the use of the OPC required some very careful fine-tuning of the 10 point color temperature scale at the top (bright) end.
The daylight boost was adding a bit of greenish hue to blond highlights in Diane Sawyer's hair on ABC World News. Clairol would not approve.
The top setting doesn't even appear on the calibration disc, so I was on my own to crank red up and green down enough to return the color to yellow.
Also, the 3D setting has a brightness boost which I leave set to middle value. It benefited from an adjustment at the top of that scale as well.
The Standard setting and the 3D setting are very punchy, which can throw color fidelity off if you're not careful. Blue-tinged magentas and green hair
are a couple of horrors to avoid whenever possible! ;-)

How do you get this set to display blacker-than-black in order to adjust brightness (black level)?
I tried several different menu settings but so far cannot get calibration test patterns to display their B-T-B bars in order to do a calibration.
What am I missing here?

Never mind I found the problem.
Edited by Mike99 - 5/22/13 at 12:06pm

Motion Blur and SOE - what does it take to fix either or both of these?

I’ve been tweaking this new set all afternoon & feel like I’m getting nowhere in regards to these issues. I’ve read most of this thread & also searched it. I think I’ve tried every combination of Motion Enhancement & Film Mode setting in both Standard & User modes.

I did see that some use Game mode but I’m not sure if that should be used for TV programs shot on video or on film. And do you change to Movie or another mode when watching Blu-rays? I didn’t try Game mode yet & noticed some settings are grayed out & I also got tired of experimenting.

So we watched a recorded TV program (Motive). It’s new & my wife wanted to check it out. She immediately noticed the SOE so I made frequent setting changes throughout the program. She now has headache from watching it so I’m taking a break.

It seemed no matter what I did motion never looked quite right. It may be the program or the settings, I don’t know. It’s like there was always some SOE or judder.

I see 4 basic scenarios:
1) Video TV such as the news, sports, or a music award program.
2) Film TV such as a scripted program like CSI.
3) DVD movie.
4) Blu-ray movie

Is there a consensus of opinion on which Film Mode & Motion Enhancement settings to use for each of these?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Mike99, you are discovering what most of us have gone through with our sets too. Motion handling is not great on this TV, there is no other way to say it. The fact that you notice some SOE no matter what settings you choose for motion enhancement and film mode is one of the biggest griefs I (and many others) have had with this TV. Even when you completely turn off motion enhancement and film mode, some residual SOE is still noticeable,

This is the reason why some of us use the game mode, which is the only mode that has no SOE at all. The reason is that this mode uses Sharp's so called Viper Drive, which cuts out all "fancy" picture enhancements, so there is no delay, no motion enhancement or film modes, etc. That's why these things are grayed out in game mode, but since you wouldn't want them anyway (if you hate SOE like many of us), this shouldn't bother you. The game mode is perfectly fine for watching movies or TV content, the only downside being that you can't do anything about some blur in potentially fast moving scenes. This is where the motion enhancement would help somewhat, but SOE automatically comes with it unfortunately, so it's like choosing the lesser of 2 evils. Actually I don't necessarily notice too much blur in game mode (certainly less than how much I notice the SOE in other modes), so I'm fine with that in general. When I really need to watch some fast content or sports, then I use the standard mode with motion enhancement on high, but film mode always off (film mode generates the biggest SOE). You can try my calibrated settings (from post 1108) if you like, which are for game and standard modes.

This TV is certainly not "perfect", but one couldn't really expect it to be either for the money. But that doesn't mean it's not a good TV overall and a great value. Good news is it actually produces very nice picture with the right settings, and you get used to handling a bit of motion blur or SOE depending on which settings you are using. Hope this helps

Z-Mad,

Thank you for the reply. I'll see what I can accomplish tomorrow & hopefully come to a workable solution.

My first post on this thread. My BF just bought a LC-52LE640U last night from Sears. Not even out of the box yet, but we have been looking at sets for a while now, and he finally decided on this one. I was looking at the reviews online and one of them mentioned that since the remote operation was not great, a wireless keyboard would be useful.

I've looked at the manual online, and don't see any reference to this, so I thought I would ask here. Does anyone know if you can use a wireless keyboard with this set?

Looks like a keyboard works with the 7 and 8, but not the 6 series. Have you tried hooking one up anyway?
http://answers.sharpusa.com/answers/8303/product/LC70LE847U/lc70le847u-questions-answers/questions.htm?page=2&sort=helpfula

Thank you for your interest in the LC70LE847U. This can only be accomplished with models that have the Smart Central feature, which is the 7 & 8 series. This was a feature that was not advertised, but is compatible with most USB keyboards for these limited applications. The only kinds of wireless keyboards that may be supported would be ones that have a USB dongle that they communicate to. The reason we do not advertise this in the manuals or on the website, is because we do not guarantee all types of keyboards will work.

If you have any further questions, please contact 1-877-SE-AQUOS. One of our AQUOS ADVANTAGE Advisors would be happy to assist you.

Thanks. No, I don't even think he's taken it out of the box yet. We don't have any wireless keyboards. I hate to go buy one and then not have it work.

Out of curiosity, what would you use the wireless keyboard for on this TV? The 640-series Sharps do not have the internet browser, and even if they did, the TV browsers are frankly terrible and a total gimmick. If you plan on doing web browsing and such, hook up a laptop or home computer to it and then you can use the wireless keyboard, have true browsing capability, use all the apps your heart desires, etc... Just my 2 cents worth....

Thanks Mike99. I called Target and found a new one for the same price. The 50" LE650 is now on sale for $899 as a comparison (although smaller). I hope there is a good Game setting to avoid SOE.

The wireless keyboard would be far better than using the remote for the apps - searching and typing letters. I have a Sharp myself...and half the time I don't bother trying to search on YouTube because the remote is such a PITA. Hooking up the laptop is certainly an option...if you have one that is not being used at the time. That isn't always the case for me.

I see... Was just wondering, cuz I find the apps on TV's to be kind of a gimmick less functional and less convenient than what I can do on any computer. I have a home computer hooked up to mine, sort of like an entertainment center, so I don't bother with TV apps... Again, that's just me; I can imagine a keyboard being much better than the remote if one was to use the apps... Hope it works out for you, as I wasn't sure if this TV had wireless keyboard capability... Cheers.