The Sharp AQUOS SE94U Series (Special Edition) models are Full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution LCD HDTVs with a premium performance specification and an attractive new Cornerstone design. Prominent features are;

• the new Advanced Super View (ASV) Panel technology,
• AQUOS Net capability for accessing customized Web-based content and real-time customer support,
• 120Hz Fine Motion Advanced Frame Rate Conversion for improved picture quality and
• the Five-Wavelength Backlight System for better natural color reproduction through a widened color gamut able to display very deep greens and crimson reds.

The Cornerstone design is a combination of a new textured finish to the black cabinet and corner accents to the bezel surrounding the screen. As always, technology shrinks with age and Sharp have been able to cut the depth by almost a third (28 percent to be exact) from the previous generation. If you’re planning on wall mounting the news that the weight has also dropped by 9 percent will be appreciated. Twin speakers (15W) are bottom mounted and detachable.

SE94U models have Sharp’s new Advanced Super View Panel which has a huge 27,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and a 3,000:1 native contrast ratio. This translates to more visible detail in both dark and light scenes. At 4ms the response time is market leading for LCD display panels providing more accurate rendering of fast moving action scenes.

Sharp’s Special Edition models have a 3D-Y/C digital comb filter to help eliminate dot crawl (composite video transmission visual defect – animated checkerboard patterns along horizontal color transitions) and the moire effect (distortion of closely positioned lines). Backlighting (screen brightness) is automatically modulated to room brightness and lighting conditions.

Sharp’s Next-Generation Advanced Super View (ASV) LCD Panel

Sharp’s ASV LCD panel used in the SE94U Special Edition models is 10 bit which means it has the color bit depth to reproduce over 1 billion colors. A wider available range of colors means that colors can be reproduced more accurately.

Viewing angles of 176 degrees in both the vertical and horizontal planes enable a lot of flexibility in arranging your seating. What is impressive is that Sharp have been able to make big improvements to the degree of chroma (color) shift as well brightness away from the center line of the panel.

Low-Reflection Black TFT Coating

Reflections can destroy the contrast and black depth of a display. Sharp’s new Low-Reflection Black TFT coating reduces ambient light glare improving picture quality in less favorable viewing conditions.

Sharp erase the light itself by utilizing the canceling interference of the reflected light which they refer to as low reflection black TFTs with a low reflection coat. A number of optical films with differing refractive indexes are (thickness are a quarter of the wavelength of the light) are laminated on the surface of the LCD protection plate. Sharp have achieved a low reflection rate of about 1.5 % giving blacker onscreen blacks, clearer text and brighter images.

Five-Wavelength Backlight System

Sharp’s five-wavelength backlight expands the color palette to 96 percent of the NTSC color spectrum. As you can see from the plot of the TV’s color range, the SE94Ds are able to reproduce vivid crimson reds and deeper greens.

120 Hz Fine Motion Advanced

The SE94 series uses 120Hz Fine Motion Advanced Frame Rate Conversion as a way to help improve picture quality. Increasing the rate at which frames are shown from 60 to 120 frames per second makes on-screen motion smoother. Sharp also apply a unique algorithm to help smooth edges on moving objects.

AQUOS Net

The AQUOS SE94 Special Edition Series LCD HDTVs have an Ethernet networking port for Internet connection through the AQUOS Net portal. The AQUOSNet Internet portal delivers two main services; customized Web based content downloads and live access to Sharp support.

Web Based Content

Customized Web Based content seems set to become a differentiator between Internet connected HDTVs. Content available through Shap’s AQUOSNet includes, local weather reports, time, calendars and the AQUOS Image Gallery. Some information is delivered as a feed through easily-configured widgets much like the sidebar widgets of Window’s Vista for example. Web-based content that can be viewed in full screen or split screen.

Content services currently available include;

Weatherbug | live neighborhood weather information. The WeatherBug widget can be customized to receive live, local weather information and camera images, daily and weekly forecasts, live Doppler radar, and severe weather alerts for multiple locations by entering the appropriate zip code.

NASDAQ | for The Nasdaq Stock Market allowing users to track stocks, market activity and market news.

UCLICK | a leading digital entertainment provider offering a broad mix of popular comic strips for the web and mobile phones. Uclick delivers entertaining comics and games to hundreds of online clients, including major consumer and news portals such as Yahoo!.

GalleryPlayer | the leader in high definition art and photography for HDTV displays, delivers a wide variety of rights-protected, premium content that will transform any screen into a window on the world’s most exotic places and creatures, a frame for the rarest masterpieces, or a seat right on the 50 yard line of your favorite team.

Traffic.com | a leading provider of personalized traffic information for U.S. drivers, provides complete real-time traffic, interactive traffic mapping and custom MyTraffic™ mobile alerting for commuters across the country. Traffic details provided include drive times, accidents, construction and local events.

Sharp intend to upgrade their AQUOS Net portal with new content services over time.

Live Support and Help Resources

AQUOS Advantage Live is a new interactive tool that enables online Sharp technical support advisors to remotely connect to your AQUOS SE94 Series LCD TV, and assist in adjusting your TV’s settings to optimize picture quality for the best viewing experience. There is a secure procedure involving the exchange of unique identifiers for linking to a Sharp technical support advisors. After gaining permission from the customer, the Advisor then has access to and control of a specific set of advanced settings and diagnostics. HDTV optimization can be a complex task so this is a valuable service.

There is also access to help information about you LCD HDTV including FAQ, specifications, terminology glossaries and User Manuals.

Connectivity

The SE94 series TVs incorporate ATSC, QAM and NTSC tuners, giving access to analog and digital programming available over the air and via cable TV providers.

There are no less than five 1080p including 3 HDMI inputs (v1.3 with x.v. color) and two HD component inputs. A PC can be connected using the ethernet port but, there is also a dedicated PC input. There is an RC232 port for custom installations.

Other Sharp AQUOS Models

The AQUOS D92U LCD HDTV models don’t have AQUOS Net for the delivery of customized Internet content and live customer support via Ethernet, viewable in full-screen, split screen or sidebar format. The dynamic contrast ratio for the D92U models is 15,000:1 – down from the 27,000:1 for the SE94U models. There is also one less composite video connection.

The Sharp AQUOS D64U models don’t have the latest Sharp Advanced Super View (ASV) panels and have a 4 rather than a 5 Wavelength Backlighting system which means a lightly narrower color gamut and less true-to-life images. There is a drop in dynamic contrast ratio from 15,000 to 10,000:1 and static contrast ratio from 3,000 to 2,000:1 which blacks might not be as deep and some of the detail in darker scenes may be harder to see. There is an extra composite video input.

The Sharp AQUOS D62 models have one more HDMI port but drop the PC Input and RS232 connection for custom installations from the D64U models.

Resources

LC-65SE94U | LC-52SE94U | LC-46SE94U Operation Manual (pdf 3.6MB)

AQUOS Special Edition Brochure

Sharp Advanced Super View Technology

User Reviews and Price Comparisons

Visit the following online retailers to find competitive prices, read customer reviews and check product rankings.

Sharp LC 65SE94U – 65″ Aquos LCD TV with built-in network media player – 120Hz – widescreen – 1080p (FullHD) – HDTV – textured black

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Sharp Aquos LC52SE94U 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

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Extended Service Plan

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