Official Sharp LC-90LE745U Discussion Thread [No Price Talk] d - Page 7

I am not going to argue this further because its not the place but I stand by what I saw with my own two eyes. He has shown me cost for the elite, 632, 844 and several others, all spot on.

so lets agree to disagree and leave it at that

Fine with me. Just didn't want anyone operating off of incorrect information.

well no matter what, as a seller I hope you get plenty of buyers. However for the rest of us common folk we lay in wait

Sharp Imposes UPP On New 90-Inch Aquos TV
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 6/20/2012
Mahwah, N.J. - Sharp Electronics is imposing its first unilateral pricing policy (UPP) on the 90-inch Aquos LC-90LE745U FullHD 1080p LED LCD TV introduced Monday, a Sharp spokesman confirmed.

In a statement, Sharp told TWICE: "Sharp launched UPP on the 90-inch to support their retail partners, knowing the floor space commitment, product knowledge and service level needed to provide the end-user with a great purchase experience. They are not planning to expand the UPP at this time."

As previously reported here, the set carries a $10,999 suggested retail and a $9,999 estimated street price, and Sharp said the set would not be open to Internet retailing.

Sharp also said the set is being distributed "to a subset" of the core Aquos big-screen retailers now carrying the 60- and 70-inch models, reflecting more limited of the product.

Both Samsung and Sony have announced UPPs on select lines of high-end consumer electronics products including TVs and other products.

Sharp had said that it would continue to watch the market before deciding if it would follow with similar programs of its own.

Some specialty A/V retailers and custom installers have vocally supported UPPs to help them preserve profit margins on sophisticated new technologies that require expensive demonstrations and educated sales training to sell before mass merchants like Walmart and Costco and e-commerce giants like Amazon and Sears.com undercut pricing with minimal contribution to the selling and promotional process.

Commenting on Sharp's move in an analysts' memo Wednesday, Janney Capital Markets said, "This is important, as it highlights another large/key manufacturer realizing that in order for profits to be restored to the industry, pricing constraints are critical... We have to believe this is a very positive sign for the continuation of UPP."

As for Sharp's distribution plans, Janney memo said: "Look for both [hhgregg] and [Best Buy - Magnolia] to have this product, while other nationals like [Costco] to not have it as of yet. We believe [Walmart] may have a very, very limited supply in very few stores. Other local buyers may have it as well."

I tend to believe Suzook, given the known cost of the 80" you can extrapolate the dealer cost on the 90" to be around 6.5-7K. The business model may be changing as the super large display size approaches used car prices. Hell, if Sharp just give a certain dealer money back for shipping to them and then the end customer that is $200-300 right there. Then you probably have hold-backs, spiffs, volume seller discounts, geographic payment incentives, etc.

Sharp UPP simply means if the set sells well you wont see a discount any time soon. If not..............

I mean we had the same thing when the 844 launched and that lasted what all of five days with you only needing to call and ask to get the low price.

Hey MR2,
Which BB in NoVa did you see this displayed?? Thanks.

Thing is, in the short run, they are targeting very small sales figures. They'll sell all they wish to at $10K. I believe the sales target for the U.S. for the first year is <10K units total. The primary reasons they are doing the 90" at all is:

1) They can and there is obviously some pent-up demand which no one is satisfying
2) They want to sell more 70s and 80s and they re-frame the equation by having a 90" to show off
3) The whole 70/80/90 story is impressive and carves out a market for Sharp in a world where no one else in LCD really has product over 60". There are a few 65" Sonys out there (not many) and a Panasonic plasma, but really Sharp is trying to be the new Mitsubishi. Given that their biggest competitors are moving capital to OLED and have no plans for 10G on either LCD or OLED, it's certainly an interesting plan. But it only works financially if they can sell more than a million units in the category vs. the less than 250K they sold in 2011.

Guys,

While I appreciate the merits of your debate over dealer cost, it would be nice if we could keep this thread more centered on the performance and impressions of this beast of a TV.

Y2J

Watching the video linked on CNET as they went down the row of TV's, I was surprised how similar the 90 looked to the 80, at least in vertical height. According to display wars it's 44.12 inches vs. 39.22. Considering the doubling of price, you really have to want the biggest.. Which I do....

Could you post a link to the video?

Nevermind here it is.

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/sharp-lc90le745u/4505-6482_7-35332514.html

The current price of the 80" is going to make it a hard sell. Somebody will eventually take the plunge, but I think many are waiting until July to see if they announce a 90" Elite with local dimming. Also, Wal-Mart supposedly got allocated some units and no way are they going to go by the UPP.

Manassas

There is one of these on display at BB/Magnolia in Costa Mesa, CA as well. Very impressive for its size and better picture than I thought it would be. I did noticed some stuttering at some of the fast scenes (Act of Valor was playing), but we tend to look for faults when looking at these things. So it may not be as noticeable during regular viewing as we might be too wrapped up with what we are watching. I went back home to watch the same scenes on my 70" Elite and it was sharper, more depth, and handles fast motion much better obviously. Still, for the size it's very very tempting and love that alum. bezel on the 90" and I do remember it looked better than the 73" and above Mitsubishi.

Please Sharp make this an Elite or equal in PQ!!!!!!

Just our of curiosity, Sytech, what makes you believe if Sharp were planning to announce an Elite version, it would happen in July. I am not challenging you, I am simply curious as to why you believe this?

Thanks ;-)

Jake

I would think the first step for Sharp on the Elite line would be to announce an 80 inch Elite. I sure hope they do.

I may drive over to Manassas and see the 90 inch.

I believe that is when the 2012 Elites were announced, back in July/August of 2011. There was no mention of them at CES and then Sharp made the announcement that summer. I would assume July/August again would be when they show the 2013 lineup. Rumor has been there will be a 80" Elite, but nothing has been seen. The was a Sharp professional signage 90" LCD with FA and LD that was actually seen a few weeks ago that could be easily be re badged as an Elite, so that is were the rumors of a 90" model come from. Besides the prototypes of 70" Sharp 4K at CES, there has been no sighting of a 4K resolution Elite. So it look like the rumors may not pan out and will probably have to wait for the following year for 4K.

I can tell you that you aren't wildly off, but cost isn't 6460. I just checked it today (I'm a current BB employee) and it's higher than that.

Haven't seen too many links in this thread.

The Verge has a hands on and a photo gallery.

Sharp USA has a LC-90LE745U page up.

well it was a few weeks ago when he showed me so maybe pricing has gone up. Either way, its good to know its close

nice catch.

I am going to go out on a limb and say this. Its just like the 844 and the 632. A nice picture when its a high quality source for 7 feet away or more.
When the source isnt so high quality, thats when things can get troublesome. However most who can afford and fit this size will likely be 10 feet or
more. Not for everyone but certainly for some, especially those who want the biggest.

Me personally, I was ready to empty the accounts, write bad checks for this etc but I am holding off. The mention of a local dimming version of this (elite or not) has me holding my breathe......and bucks

I spent some time today at the San Francisco BB checking out the all-new 90 Sharp, and here are my observations.

It is a beauty. I realize this sounds weird, but my favorite thing, beside the enormous size, was the skinny, dark black, matte aluminum bezel. The 70inch Elite has a dark charcoal bezel, which is stupid because it competes with the image. I think Sharp did this to exaggerate how black the blacks are on the screen, but it doing so, it creates a two-tonality or unnecessary contrast I don't like. To be even more specific, years ago, it was common to find Plasma TVs with silver bezels, like the Fujitsu. I hated silver bezels, because elementally they compete with the image. For instance, if you are in a room with ambient light, the silver bezel reflects the light and takes away from the immersive experience. This is why in movie theaters, why the big screen is only ever surrounded by dark black material that is non-reflective.

All the other 70 and 80 inch Sharps have a glossy dark black bezel, which is also stupid because they bounce/reflect back light. ALL FLAT SCREEN TVs SHOULD HAVE MATTE BLACK BEZELS, so when you look at the TV all you see is the image, not light bouncing or a bezel that is lighter than the set!!![/rant]

Is the 90 inch Sharp worth 10k without local dimming!?!?!? I don't know. It just seems if Sharp is going to go that large, and charge such a high premium price, it should be an Elite with local dimming. Another thing I can't seem to stop thinking about is if it is worth paying more than twice as much as for an 80inch. I mean you could buy 2 80 inchers, and still save an additional $1000.

I thought the image was impressive, particularly with good HD content. With standard content, it looked a little fuzzy, but this could have to do with the fact it has a video signal that had already been split 40 times.

I would love to draw a conclusion about this TV, but I think I have to spend more time with it. Also, they plan to move it into a special room and wall mount it, which should make a huge difference. Time as they say will tell.



If you look carefully in the photos above and below, (click images to enlarge) you can see on the left side of the Sharp there is a 42 or 50 Samsung, and it is completely dwarfed by the 90!!!



Just to give you an additional frame of reference for perspective, notice how tiny the iPad looks, which is sitting on the table below the 90 incher. It is located on the left side of the table stand. Also, in this photo, you can see the standard size BlueRay player in the cabinet, which also adds perspective.





Off angle viewing was surprisingly good. This may be because the 90 incher is just so big. Colors were very good and accurate. If you like watching TV in the daytime in a brightly lit room, the semi-matte screen finish would be great, because online the 70inch Elite, it does not reflect much light.

Black levels were surprisingly good, as you can see above and below. In the image below, you can really see the benefit of having a matte black aluminum bezel that reflects almost no light. Since the 90incher has very good black levels, it appears the bezel is part of the image when it is on dark screens, which in my mind is a big plus with the design of this set. There are many things that are very right about the Sharp 90inch, and somehow, this one simple feature seems to just really make it that much better.



The TV was surprisingly skinny, and when Sharp says it is only 5 inches deep, they mean only on the bottom 10%, so the rest of the back is pretty thin. This means that if you wall mount it, you will be able to get it pretty flush with the wall.





It says it is controllable with an iPhone which is pretty cool. I wonder who this works? Can an iPhone or iPad turn the TV on and OFF? That would be cool. I can't believe this thing only uses $28 worth of electricity a year, and that is if you watch it 5 hours a day!?!?!? I think we average maybe 5 hours a week, so it is bizarre to think it only costs us $3 a year in electricity!!!



I will conclude with this next image of Michael Jordan on the screen of the 90incher. Methinks it is fitting because the new 90 inch Sharp is the new Michael Jordan of TV sets...


Edited by JakeE - 6/22/12 at 5:47pm

Jake, your my new favorite person, you posted a lot of pictures !!!!!!!!!! thank you

I do love the "almost 2x screen area of a 65 inch tv"

well not quite but close ..... ha ha

Hi Suzook!!!

Thanks for the compliment!!!!! I just completed updating the post and added twice as many images.

It is funny because I joined AVS two months before you in 2001 ;-) I can't believe I have been a member for 11 years!!!

As men, we are extremely visual, so, like you, I was getting frustrated with the lack of photos in this thread. It is amazing how much better an idea you get with photos, which is why I took and shared so many photos.

my birthday is the same month you joined.....ok now were getting weird.

good stuff mate. Hope it inspires others. Wonder who is going to be the "first' owner

nice pictures man!!!

Don't worry guys...remember not that long ago Sony's 007 Lcos 70" came out with at the time was the biggest with a 12K msrp. So like everything else, what comes up must come down this will be around 4k or less in 3-4 yrs.

Also I disagree strongly you need to sit back like 15-16ft. I have 100" at 10-11 FT right now and I want more...esp if you watch BD/dvd movies with 2.35 aspect ratios with the black bars your 90" reduced quite a bit and is not that big.