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  • Introduction

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Stand/Mount

  • Controls

  • Remote Control

  • In the Box

  • Black Level

  • Peak Brightness

  • Contrast

  • Tunnel Contrast

  • White Falloff

  • Uniformity

  • Greyscale Gamma

  • Color Temperature

  • RGB Curves

  • Motion Performance

  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

  • Resolution Scaling

  • Formats

  • Viewing Angle

  • Reflectance

  • Video Processing

  • Calibration

  • Video Modes

  • Ergonomics & Durability

  • Button Layout & Use

  • Programming & Flexibility

  • Connectivity

  • Placement

  • Audio Quality

  • Menu Interface

  • Instruction Manual

  • Internet Features

  • Local Media Playback

  • Other Media

  • Power Consumption

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Conclusion

  • Photo Gallery

  • Ratings & Specs

  • Introduction
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Stand/Mount
  • Controls
  • Remote Control
  • In the Box
  • Black Level
  • Peak Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Tunnel Contrast
  • White Falloff
  • Uniformity
  • Greyscale Gamma
  • Color Temperature
  • RGB Curves
  • Motion Performance
  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps
  • Resolution Scaling
  • Formats
  • Viewing Angle
  • Reflectance
  • Video Processing
  • Calibration
  • Video Modes
  • Ergonomics & Durability
  • Button Layout & Use
  • Programming & Flexibility
  • Connectivity
  • Placement
  • Audio Quality
  • Menu Interface
  • Instruction Manual
  • Internet Features
  • Local Media Playback
  • Other Media
  • Power Consumption
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Conclusion
  • Photo Gallery
  • Ratings & Specs

Introduction

Front

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The front of the Sharp LC-42D65UT is 90% screen, with a glossy black bezel. There's a power indicator in the bottom right corner.

Back

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There's a small cluster of ports on the left side of the back.

Sides

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The right side has some controls and inputs. The left side is bare.

Stand/Mount

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Our model actually came without the screws necessary to assemble the stand, so we weren't able to check it out in relation to the TV. We're sure this isn't a common occurence, but it's definitely worth your while to double-check as soon as you get your LC-42D65UT to make sure it comes with all its necessary components.

Controls

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You can find all the basic controls along the right side of the TV.

Remote Control

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The remote control that comes with the LC-42D65UT is rather large, but with small, awkward buttons. It can control multiple devices, but the system for switching between them is awkward, limiting the usefulness of this feature.

In the Box

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The TV comes with a remote, batteries, a manual, and component cables. The component cables are a nice touch; typically they're not included.

Putting this TV together seems needlessly complicated. There's screws and metal spikes, and you have to use an included Allen wrench. It's like a hobby kit.

Black Level

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The Sharp LC-42D65UT had an average black level for an LCD: 0.19 candelas per square meter (cd/m2). This means that a black screen on the LC-42D65UT will still have a luminance that's about twice as bright as a solidly deep black level. Although this isn't a great black level, it's decent for an LCD; since the display technology employs backlights, LCDs typically have poor black levels, sometimes in excess of 0.30 cd/m2. More on how we test black level.

Peak Brightness

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The LC-42D65UT had a peak brightness of 295.97. That's a decent luminance output, which should be ideal for most viewing conditions. The sole possible exception would be if light is shining on the screen, which would wash out the onscreen picture. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast

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The LC-42D65UT was capable of a contrast ratio of 1557:1, which is an average for an LCD. Contrast is important, since our eyes sense changes based on contrast. For most users, the LC-42D65UT's 1557:1 will be sufficient, but not great. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast

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On this test, we measure the consistency of the black level by changing the amount of black on the screen. We found the LC-42D65UT maintained the same black level throughout the spectrum, whether it was 100% of the screen or 5%. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff

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Here, we're testing the TV's brightness levels, to make sure they don't waver depending on the image on the screen. It's the same test as the one above, only we're testing white instead of black. The LC-42D65UT maintained its brightness; you shouldn't have any issues with content-specific dimming. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity

Greyscale Gamma

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A TV's greyscale gamma dictates how shades progress, from white to black. As mentioned in the contrast ratio section, our eyesight hinges on contrast. If the greyscale doesn't have the correct progression, it can lead to a loss of detail, through changes too small to notice.

Fortunately, the LC-42D65UT didn't have any problems with its greyscale gamma. We measured the slope of the greyscale curve at 2.27, which is very close to ideal. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Color Temperature

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When we calibrate a TV, we try to get its white to be as close to 6500K as possible, which is a commonly-used standard. This doesn't necessarily mean that color temperature will remain consistent throughout the greyscale, however. We therefore test the TV's color temperature throughout the entirety of the greyscale, to make sure the TV doesn't have any major fluctuations.

The LC-42D65UT had some issues towards the dark end of the spectrum. As you can see in the graph below, the color temperature gets visibly warm towards the darker end of the spectrum. More on how we test color temperature.

RGB Curves

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All of the colors displayed by your TV are made from red, green, and blue. Since these three colors are so fundamental to your TV's performance, we test them separately, from their highest intensity to their darkest shade.

The LC-42D65UT had some pretty accurate RGB curves. The curves are relatively smooth, with only minor stair-stepping throughout (each little bump represents two adjacent colors having too little or too much differentiation). More on how we test RGB curves.

Below we've plotted the red, green, and blue curves as a spectrum of color. We've also posted the spectra of competing TVs.

Motion Performance

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Motion Smoothness (5.63)

The Sharp LC-42D65UT has some issues with motion blur. Still faces that panned around the screen lost quite a bit of detail. Solid blocks of color left thick shadows against a grey background.

The TV does have a feature, Fine Motion Enhanced, which seems like it should help reduce motion blur, but it doesn't. We swapped it between its highest setting and off, without noticing any discernible difference between the two.

Motion Artifacting (5.63)

The TV does have a feature, Fine Motion Enhanced, which seems like it should help reduce motion blur, but it doesn't. We swapped it between its highest setting and off, without noticing any discernible difference between the two. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

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The LC46D65UT had no issues with 3:2 pulldown, which is a processing trick to make video look like film. It also had no problems reading displaying a 24 frames per second signal. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

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Assuming normal use, your HDTV won't always be outputting full 1080p. If you watch standard definition TV, DVDs, or broadcast HD, your TV will have to scale 480p, 720p, and 1080i signals respectively. The processing involved in upscaling these signals can sometimes cause some unwanted side-effects. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

The TV did well with 480p playback overall. We noticed a slight shimmery effect to some patterns and the focus was a bit soft, but otherwise the LC-42D65UT did well with 480p content.

720p

The TV had some trouble with 720p content. The biggest issue was with moire interference. We saw lots of plaid patterns and gradients forming where they shouldn't.

1080i

There were some minor issues with 1080i playback. We noticed a few patterns acquired a pale green hue, which is a common problem with interlaced processing.

Formats

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The Sharp LC-42D65UT supports full 1080p HD content, as well as 3:2 pulldown and 24p playback.

Viewing Angle

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The LC-42D65UT didn't have a particularly wide viewing angle. It had a total viewing angle of 41º, meaning if you're more than 20º away from center, you'll be viewing the picture at less than half its contrast. Although LCD HDTVs typically have a rather poor viewing angle, this one has a smaller angle than most that we have seen.

Reflectance

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The screen of the LC-42D65UT is a bit reflective: we were able to make out individual lights in an LED array. This being said, we didn't see any starburst patterning or a huge diffuse glow. The bezel is shiny and plastic, which does create some reflections.

Video Processing

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The TV does have a handful of processing features. We've listed them below, with a description of what the manufacturer thinks the features do and what we think they do. Interestingly enough, the manual both offers a broad description of the feature, then further clarifies by offering descriptions of the "on" and "off" settings.

Calibration

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Televisions will rarely come perfectly set up for your viewing environment. To make sure all the TVs we test are being scored based on their peak performance, we first calibrate the TV. To do this, we use a CS-200 ChromaMeter to take measurements, and use DisplayMate, which is calibration software.

Below is a chart detailing exactly what changes we made. If it isn't listed below, we didn't change it. These settings should be good enough for most people, but if you really want a finely-calibrated TV, you'll need to pay a professional to customize your TV to suit your own unique viewing environment.

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All of our calibration is done in conjunction with the DisplayMate software.

](http://www.displaymate.com/)

Video Modes

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There are a few video modes on the TV, but you can't change them on the TV itself. We found this pretty unintuitive. Typically you can change the video mode through the picture menu. The LC-42D65UT thinks this is nonsense, however, and requires you to press a button on the remote. Also, the Sharp's manual has some humorously vague descriptions for what each setting does.

Ergonomics & Durability

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The remote control that comes with the LC-42D65UT has a rather ungainly design that is not particularly easy to use. For one thing, the long, thin remote is wider at the top than bottom, so the weight is more towards the top, which means it has a tendency to tip forwards when you hold it by the bulge at the bottom in one hand. Several buttons are also concealed below a flip-out panel on the bottom of the remote, which is rather awkwardly placed. The remote also feels rather flimsy; the panel over the hidden buttons could easily break off if you dropped the remote with it open. The buttons themselves also don't have a very positive feel; they are soft and squidgy, so you can't tell by touch if you have pressed the button in properly.

Button Layout & Use

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The buttons on the remote are small compared to the size of the remote, but the layout is mostly logical. When holding it in the hand, the directional control falls under the thumb, but you can still reach the channel and volume controls easily with the thumb for one-handed use. The other controls are out of thumb breach, though; you'll have to use both hands to reach the channel number buttons or the buttons for controlling another device or turning the power on or off. The four colored buttons at the bottom can be programmed for specific channels. Several buttons are also located under a flip-out panel, including some that might be used more frequently, such as the buttons for controlling the surround sound mode and switching picture mode.

Programming & Flexibility

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Most remotes that come with HDTVs can only be used to control the HDTV itself, but this one can also control a number of other devices, such as DVD players, cable boxes, etc. The programming process is pretty simple; hold down the function and display key and enter the device code for the device to be controlled. A good number of these are listed in the manual, including most major manufacturers. However, using this is a little awkward, as you have to use the function key to switch between the 5 different devices that can be controlled. Say you want to change the volume of the audio device: you have to press the function key 4 times (to switch between TV, cable, VCR, DVD and audio), then hit the volume buttons to change the volume control. To control the TV again, you then have to hit the function key again to switch back to the TV control mode. It's a clumsy system that rather undermines the flexibility of the remote. Other Sharp devices can also be controlled using their proprietary Aquos Link system, but this only works with devices made by Sharp.

Connectivity

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Input Ports (8.50)

The TV has a good selection of input ports. On the back, you'll find the following inputs:

  • 4 HDMI
  • 3.5mm audio input
  • 1 VGA input
  • 1 S-Video input
  • 2 analog audio inputs
  • 2 component video inputs
  • 1 composite video input
  • 1 RF input
  • 1 RS-232C port

On the side, you'll find:

  • 1 HDMI
  • 1 Composite video input
  • 1 Analog audio input
  • 1 USB port

Output Ports (2.00)

The TV just has two output ports, which are on the back of the device: an analog and digital audio out.

Other Connections (0.0)

There are no other connections.

Media (0.0)

There are no additional media features.

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Placement

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The ports are reasonably well placed: the ones on the left side of the display are easy to reach, and the ones on the back are also easy to reach by reaching around the side of the screen. The ports are oddly labeled, though; instead of being labeled by type, they are labeled by number, from 1 to 8. This could be a little confusing if you don't remember which port is which, especially if the display is wall mounted, where you can't see the labels, as there is no indication from the on-screen menu of what type each of the ports is.

Audio Quality

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There are two 10-watt speakers built into the body of the LC-42D65UT which produced disappointingly,flat sound. To get any decent bass out of them we had to turn on the bass enhancer feature and increase the bass level in the two-channel graphic equalizer. The pseudo-surround sound system that was built into the display was equally disappointing; it didn't add much to the sound and made it sound even thinner and reedier.

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Sharp really needs to work on their menu system; the on-screen menus of the LC-42D65UT are difficult to read and to use. You access the main menu by hitting the menu button, which takes you into a screen with 5 options: Picture, Audio, Power Control, Setup and Option. Most of the commonly used options are on these screens, but some options ( such as the advanced picture features) are on sub-screens). The white text on a blue background is also rather difficult to read, especially from a distance. You move between options with the up and down key, and change the settings with the left and right key. This also means that you have to go back to the top of the list to move between the sections, which can be rather irritating if you pick the wrong one.

Instruction Manual

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The LC-42D65UT comes with a very decent printed manual, but there is no quick-start or setup guide. The manual itself does a decent job of explaining how to wset up and use the TV in both English and French, although some users may be a bit intimidated by the number of options on offer and the rather complex menu structure. You can find the Sharp LC-42D65UT's manual online here.

You can find the Sharp LC-42D65UT's manual online here.

A manual for so many TV models, they have to be further categorized by type.

Internet Features

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Without an interenet or wireless connection, the TV can't stream content.

Local Media Playback

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The TV has no photo, music or video playback features.

Other Media

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The TV has no additional media features.

Power Consumption

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The Sharp LC-42D65UT sucked down a reasonable amount of juice, but not an extortionate amount. We found that at our standard brightness level (which involved putting the backlight to +5), it consumed an average of around 162.17 watts. This means that if you were to run this TV for an average of about 5 hours a day, it would use around $32 of electricity over the year. Because this display wasn't capable of running at the higher screen brightnesses that many displays are capable of, the price for running it at the maximum brightness is not much higher: about $40. If you prefer to live in darkness, the price to run it with the backlight at minimum (-16) fell to $15 a year.

So we can compare TVs, we set the backlight for our standard setting so that an area of white on the screen measures about 200 cd/m2. The figures below are for this standard setting across our comparison displays.

Value Comparison

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The Samsung is significantly more expensive than the Sharp, but that price hike has merit. The Samsung has some internet capabilities and better picture quality. The Sharp is more of a basic, no-frills set.

Blacks & Whites

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The Samsung had a deeper black, brighter white, and higher overall contrast ratio.

Color Accuracy

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The Sharp had a more accurate color gamut, but the Samsung's color temperature was more stable. Both TVs had good RGB curves.

Motion

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Both sets had issues with blur and artifacting. The Samsung had slightly less blur, and the Sharp had slightly less artifacting.

Viewing Effects

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While neither TV had an impressive viewing angle, the Sharp's was slightly larger.

Connectivity

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Both TVs have a good array of ports, but the Samsung is capable of internet connectivity.

Value Comparison

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Both TVs have roughly equivalent performances. The LG edges out the Sharp in a few areas, but not enough to make a significant difference. The LG's performance certainly isn't enough to cover the wide price gap between the two sets.

Blacks & Whites

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The LG is brighter, but not capable of deep blacks. The Sharp has a higher overall contrast ratio.

Color Accuracy

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The LG has less perceptible color temperature shifts, but didn't perform as well on our RGB or color gamut tests.

Motion

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The LG has a much smoother, less artifact-prone display.

Viewing Effects

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The LG has a marginally better viewing angle, but neither TV is impressive in this regard.

Connectivity

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The main difference between the two TVs is the LG's USB port, which gives it additional media playback functionality.

Value Comparison

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This match-up shows the difference between a mid-range and high-end set. The Sony has significantly better features, including an impressive array of internet functionality, but is also much more expensive.

Blacks & Whites

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The Sony has a much deeper black and a brighter white, making its contrast ratio significantly higher than the Sharp's.

Color Accuracy

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The Sony does have a more consistent color temperature, but the Sharp has a more accurate color gamut. Both TVs have equivalent RGB representation.

Motion

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The Sony out-classes the Sharp in both smoothness and artifact-free playback.

Viewing Effects

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Both TVs have roughly the same, shallow viewing angle.

Connectivity

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The Sharp has a few extra ports, but the Sony has media options. With its LAN you can access an impressive array of online content, and its USB ports allow for media playback from storage devices.

Conclusion

The Sharp LC-42D65UT is a somewhat expensive 42-inch 1080p HDTV. It also doesn't have a whole lot ot back up the price. It did excel in some tests, such as color representation, but also failed to meet expectations in other tests, such as our motion tests. Even if the LC-42D65UT's strengths match up to what you're looking for, and you don't care about the areas in which it's weak, it's still a bit pricy at $1400. It's not that it's a bad TV, it just exists in an awkward space. If you just want a 42-inch TV, there are cheaper options, and if you have a bigger budget you can afford a much better set. Unless you're particularly struck by the set, you might want to wait for a sale before springing on this TV.

{{photo_gallery "Front Tour Image", "Back Tour Image", "Sides Tour Image", "Stand Photo", "Controls Photo", "Remote Control Photo", "Connectivity Tour Image 1", "Connectivity Tour Image 2", "Connectivity Extra Photo", "Menu Main Photo", "Menu 2 Photo", "Internet Features 1 Photo", "Internet Features 2 Photo", "Internet Features 3 Photo", "Local Media Playback 1 Photo", "Local Media Playback 2 Photo"}}

Ratings & Specs

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Meet the tester

Mark Brezinski

Mark Brezinski

Senior Writer

@markbrezinski

Mark Brezinski works on the Home Team, reviewing refrigerators, minifridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, and fans.

See all of Mark Brezinski's reviews

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