Watch out SONY LG & Samsung here comes SHARP Aquos Quattron!

[royalanalog]

SHARP the legendary Japanese brand that made LCDs the technology for TVs in the late '90s and supplies panels to SONY Bravia has achieved yet another feet in LCD-Panel Technology by creating an LCD TV that has not just 3 but 4 primary colors ! ! :cheers:

This feet has been achieved by SHARP by adding a 4th color YELLOW along with the regular Red Green and Blue.

...which means that LCD TVs made by SONY, Panasonic, LG and Samsung create colors by mixing Red + Green + Blue, whereas SHARP Quattron creates colors by mixing Red + Green + Blue + Yellow ! . The result : Better, brighter and ...... newer colors (that have never been seen before ! ) will be seen on SHARP TVs :clapping:!

For more info on this story visit :

http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-6482_7-10003282.html?tag=mncol
and
http://thelivecentral.in/forum/showthread.php?t=9690

I feel like buying this Television ! When is SHARP releasing this model in India ? ? ? ? ? :yahoo:

 

[royalanalog]

to add.....cheers !

 

[adder]

well based on reviews their is no advantage in adding the yellow subpixel,but the tvs do have improved contrast,response time and viewing angle which off course has nothing to do with quad pixel but rather due to UV2A panel which is also used by sony in their LX & HX range minus the yellow pixel.

It does make the tv brighter which doesn't mean it better.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Sharp has wafer thin presence in India and a doubtful service support...
Occasionally vijay saes display some of it's models

Even 1 or 2 years back they released 108 inch lcd in India and 90-95 lacks !! dunno how many pieces are sold or where it is for display.

I have seen panasonic 103 inch plasma and i think there are some pieces sold in mumbai...
so sharp news is not at all exciting!!

 

[akasmarty2003]

this is a just a good set with nothing exceptional about it. here is the detailed review from Flatpanelshd.
Sharp LE820 review - FlatpanelsHD

 

[bobby76]

Recently I saw SHARP 42" lcd at my friends place. With Tata sky the picture was simply not up to the mark. Colour reproduction was pathetic and viewing angle was equally bad. Its signal processing is not at all good.

 

[royalanalog]

4 > 3

Yes. SHARP India sucks as far as its models and marketing are concerned. But they are the third largest LCD TV Sellers ! People abroad aren't dumbos to buy SHARP TV without any quality, right ? They supply panels to BRAVIA, so I think it's a good brand anyways. My friends' SHARP CRT TVs have lasted for as long as 15 years. So I think this Quattron technology which some reviewers have said produces more brightness and better yellow and gold colors is worth checking.

 

[adder]

Sharp isn't worlds third largest,its fourth.Sharp was good back in 05 and before,at that time they were world no 1 in sales,but they soon lost out to fellow japanese maker sony which started to use better panel and image processing,which in turn lost to samsung which made just as good sets for a cheaper price.

Secondly just because people buy them in abroad doesn't make it good,Vizio has the largest market share but doesn't mean its the best.

Sharp started supplying lcd panels only in 2010 to sony,except the 65" sony released in Q4 09 which used a sharp panel.

Only the sharps 2010 lcd panels are good,even the non UV2A panels have improved in every aspect.

Its good to see their lcds competitve in performance,which in tern leads to good competition and cheaper price.Sharp will still need to improve its image processing tech.

 

[royalanalog]

Adder..........good statistical reply. But I'd like to point out that SHARP occupies a share of 9.6 % in the global LCD Market whereas SONY has 9.3 % which means they are almost equal. And these are the statistics as of Q4 of 2009. And when I said people buy abroad I actually meant their online positive reviews and not their blind purchase.Coming to the features, SHARP doesn't have a dedicated Image Processing Engine unlike Sony's DRC/BRAVIA Engine 3 or Philips' marvelous Pixel Plus/ Pixel HD/Pixel Perfect. It's because of this reason that the image on AQUOS is plain and raw - it lacks the rendering and processing of the other LCD TVs. But again, there is reason behind it: SHARP always makes AQUOS LCD TVs for masses at affordable prices, unlike other biggies. Yet reviewers (for eg Tech2 India) have reviewed SHARP favarobly giving it high scores.

Every LCD TV has its own strength and weakness : SONY has superb color reproduction (thanks to Live Colour) but motion sucks due to its 8 ms panel. Philips LCD produces film like super smooth images. LG has superb motion flow best suited for fast scenes (maybe due to IPS Alpha panel) but color saturation is funny. Panasonic is one of d best and TOSHIBA Regza is inexpensive and affordable but it yields sharp images. Though not on par with SONY or Samsung, SHARP and TOSHIBA are still good, say reviewers/consumers from CNET and Epinions. There is a German LCD brand named LOEWE (ever heard before ???) which makes high end LCD TVS that perform great. But nobody here knows such a name exists ! AQUOS is still the national LCD Brand of Japanese people, said my client from Japan. The SHARP TVs that I have seen in India are superb though they lack the brand name.

SONY was the hero of CRT because of its Trinitron CRT Tube. So has a new era dawned in LCD TVs owing to Quattron panel I feel (but ofc, it depends on how well SHARP implements it). But, SHARP is way behind others in 3D Technology and LED equipped panels. When I'd been to a retailer he told me .... "Sir, in India, people buy TVs of brands like SONY, Panasonic, LG & Samsung because they are advertised well. But nobody knows about Hitachi, Toshiba or SHARP".

I've observed one thing: people know and buy a brand based on marketing and advertisements. But I rather prefer (and suggest) going by the right technology !

Keep Sharing, guys ....

-Royal Analog.

Chk :
http://en.akihabaranews.com/16651/pc/sharp-the-lcd-tv-sales-leader-in-japan .

 

[adder]

Actually sharp isn't isn't doing well in sales compared to sony Login to DIGITIMES archive & research

sharp does have a image processing ,it only doesn't have a fancy name for it,but its inferior to the likes of sony ,samsung,philips image processing.

Sony tvs don't exactly show good colors due to their "LIVE COLOR " infact none of the professional reviewers can say what exactly the sony live color or even BE3 have,since the performance varies in low end models even though they have the same advertised terms suchs BE3/live color etc.
LG while on paper is supposed to have good motion it still can't match the ones from philips and panasonic who use similar IPS panels.
Lg Tru Motion tech is inferior to rival tech from sony,samsung,philips and even sharp

Quattron lcds panels so far haven't been used by any other lcd tv company,i doub't sony is going to use their quadtron panel.

Sharp infact are one of the strong forces behind 3d consortium they released 3d lcd monitors as early as 2004.
frankly 3d tech has a long way to go.
They are also very strong in LED backlight ,they had one lcd with RGB dimming just like the sony X450A or XBR8.

Marketing is necessary otherwise the average consumer would never know,but it should be backed by good performance and A.S.S which brands like sharp as lacked,philps is dead in the USA due to poor A.S.S and probably was in india,now that videocon has taken i hope its not same crappy A.S.S that they offer for electrolux,kelvinator,kenstar products.

 

[royalanalog]

SHARP's strong(3rd) position in LCD market can be learned from the links:

Revealed: Top 5 best-selling LCD TV brands | Home Cinema Choice
and
SHARP Reports profit in 2010 .

But yes, SHARP's local and foreign reviews , review-ratings and consumers' ratings and reviews say it's a decent/very good TV but not excellent like SONY, Panasonic or SAMSUNG. Visit asia.cnet.com and check out the ratings of SHARP AQUOSes.

Once I'd been to Croma, Bangalore where i saw a Blu-Ray Disc about BRAVIA TVs played from a Philips Blu-Ray Player - it was demoed on many 42" LCDs and Plasmas arranged near each other. Each scene appeared best on each of the TVs. But when the Red BRAVIA logo appeared I saw the accuracy of the Red color on SONY. Panasonic Plasma and Samsung LCD were almost near SONY but Philips red looked almost like orange color hyeah:. SONY's red just stood out blowing away others - it was awesome! SONY is unbeatable. Period.

SHARP's 3D presence in LCDs is pathetic though they made smaller 3D displays earlier - says news. To be honest I don't know about SHARP's LED Panels but I know that they released LED based panels much late after Samsung and SONY LED TVs. And the websites of Indian, Thai and Malaysian SHARP - they are too simple -they lack life unlike SONY's or Panasonic's. :annoyed:

Despite these I think SHARP is a very good brand - their panels must be good ones good 'cos despite owning the S-LCD shared LCD panel plant with Samsung, SONY uses SHARP's Kameyama plant panels omitting LG-Philips and IPS Alpha (did SONY ever buy CRT Tubes from others? NO ! They used their own TRINITRON tubes establishing themselves in the TV market). Come on ! Why would SONY buy panels from SHARP if the brand and its technology sucks ? SHARP invented the LCD TV ! I personally feel SONY-SHARP makes a very good combo - both make awesome TVs that are good in their own ways.

Compared to foreign countries, I think the Indian market is more sensitive to well advertised and marketed brands. We never find older and established brands like TOSHIBA, HITACHI or SANYO(currently taken over by Panasonic) LCDs in Indian households ! India became the marketplace for Panny, SONY, LG, Sammy and Sansui's stuff. So sad !

Could anyone throw some light on LCD TVs of brands like TOSHIBA, HITACHI or SANYO if you own it or have seen it ??

 

[dotMac]

One reason I feel we dont go for these brands (even though they may be technologically superior) is due to the fear of after sale service. Everyone know Kuros are the best. But many would not go that way(even who can afford them ) considering the service. When I heard about Cell Regza Next which is a 4K set back in 2009, I was astonished and started looking at Toshiba LCDs. But no one keeps the Regzas in display here. And were rarely anyone discusses about the same. This gives a perception to the potential buyers of a bad presence of the company in India and hence a bad service network.

So,
no advertisement = problematic service

I know its wrong. But thats what might be happening to most of us.
Though Samsung is one of the best advertiser, I have seen many complaints about their service. So obviously contrary is not true. i.e.

more advertisement != good service

 

[royalanalog]

Rightly said, DotMac. Lack of advertisements makes people unaware of products and their existence. And fear of poor service further discourages people from buying them. Regza is a very good TV and is not as expensive as SONY or SHARP - I've seen Regza in ezone, Bangalore. ezone also keeps stock of HITACHI and SHARP.

But, I think the less advertised brands like SANYO and HITACHI may have some probs with service as their personnel may not be skilled enough to provide the best service. But my conversation with a SHARP tech-rep was very good cos he had far more knowledge than SONY reps (SONY rep who came to my house to demo my TV was blinking without knowing its features hyeah. Keep sharing.

 

[murali]

I am abroad, am not an idiot, and use the following SHARP products:

32" LCD TV bought about 18 months ago, working nicely, more than enough to watch channel TV and adequate for DVD movies.
a washing machine, fully automatic.

They all work okay. Before I forget, they don't advertise or market SHARP at all here. Still, their products sell and my experience is, better than the Korean ones and other Japanese like Sony. Someone says Sony makes the best LCD TVs!!! The best joke of the year. Someone else says about support. Does Sony give great support? Not to my knowledge. They still survive thanks to past glories like Trinitron and Walkman. The moment they put innovation and quality under the table and joined the mass market bandwagon, the real Sony became history.

Back home, I took a SHARP air purifier from here which is worth it.

Finally, I still use their mircrowave oven bought about 15 years ago from abroad and working well.

Therefore, I cannot complain against the brand called SHARP.

cheers.
murali

 

[royalanalog]

Very well replied, Murali !

You see, Indian people go by "mindset" that *only* SONY makes the best stuff and that others (like SHARP) are dumbos making crappy products. When i asked a salesman from Unilet (a famous outlet in Bangalore) regarding how is SHARP AQUOS's quality compared to SONY Bravia, he replied that SHARP is a local brand and SONY is a Japanese brand. ! Just imagine how much an average Indian customer would know !

SHARP is ....
1) The inventor of LCD TV technology,
2) The Microwave oven's market leader, having made 100 million ovens already
3) A solar technology giant and .....
4) Above all, a Japanese brand !

No wonder SHARP is the Japanese LCD market's leader ! I'll mostly buy an AQUOS LCD TV in d future. Its only due to lack of advertising that SHARP loses the market share elsewhere. :indifferent14:

Though not like Trinitron or Walkman, SONY products are still perfect though I'm not sure of their service. But SONY is very shrewd and knows how to position itself as the market leader by creating an image that they make the best products!

Nobody in India uses products made by SHARP, JVC, SANYO, HITACHI, TOSHIBA, Grundig, Loewe, Funai ! I think it's better (Indian) people go by international statistics and not by mass market bandwagon gimmicks ! hyeah:

Keep Sharing.

 

[adder]

Someone else says about support. Does Sony give great support? Not to my knowledge.

Well if you are comparing sony after sales support with sharp,sony and koresans are much better.Here in india they(sharp)need to have more number of service centres and parts should also be available in reasonable time.The fact that one don't even finds sharp products in showroom what do you expect of their service.
Look how philips went down and down,because of their A.S.S.I hope they don't get extinct in india since it has nothing to do with their products.

Someone says Sony makes the best LCD TVs!!! The best joke of the year.

Well they certainly don't make crap lcds either,all their models have decent performance mostly better then their rivals.
They may not have the best lcd(that title perhaps goes to bang & olufsen),but they do make one of the best lcds.

They still survive thanks to past glories like Trinitron and Walkman. The moment they put innovation and quality under the table and joined the mass market bandwagon, the real Sony became history.

It takes a lot of effort to become a respectable brand .

So what are you suggesting let them get a $50k OLED . Even though the sony XBR8 or X450A was arguably & mostly considered the best lcd in 2008 did it dominate the sales,only a few can afford such high end lcds which come at a price.Same goes to the sharp XS1 did it sell in numbers.
In order for a company to get innovative ground breaking products they do need to pour millions into R&D.So if they have to compete they do need tvs that are bread winners.If they make products only like XBR8 it won't sell and they will be forced out of business,Look what happened to Pioneer plasmas.

Only a few people in this earth pay for absolute PQ or performance.
I know many people who just don't care of the PQ but just want a big tv.

 

[murali]

Very well replied, Murali !

You see, Indian people go by "mindset" that *only* SONY makes the best stuff and that others (like SHARP) are dumbos making crappy products. When i asked a salesman from Unilet (a famous outlet in Bangalore) regarding how is SHARP AQUOS's quality compared to SONY Bravia, he replied that SHARP is a local brand and SONY is a Japanese brand. ! Just imagine how much an average Indian customer would know !

SHARP is ....
1) The inventor of LCD TV technology,
2) The Microwave oven's market leader, having made 100 million ovens already
3) A solar technology giant and .....
4) Above all, a Japanese brand !

No wonder SHARP is the Japanese LCD market's leader ! I'll mostly buy an AQUOS LCD TV in d future. Its only due to lack of advertising that SHARP loses the market share elsewhere. :indifferent14:

Though not like Trinitron or Walkman, SONY products are still perfect though I'm not sure of their service. But SONY is very shrewd and knows how to position itself as the market leader by creating an image that they make the best products!

Nobody in India uses products made by SHARP, JVC, SANYO, HITACHI, TOSHIBA, Grundig, Loewe, Funai ! I think it's better (Indian) people go by international statistics and not by mass market bandwagon gimmicks ! hyeah:

Keep Sharing.

I see here (Middle East) a Sharp LCD TV 65" selling for around Rs 1.5L, the biggest LCD screen I have seen so far.
Talking of Trinitron, about 15 years back while returning home (on TR) after a 5-year stint abroad, I picked up a "large" Sony 25" (those days of glory of CRT, 25" was indeed big) with Trinitron and more important, Made in Japan, a rare species even then (and extinct now, I believe). It lasted exactly 8 years before colors started behaving strangely and finally I threw it out. So I sometimes wonder when people speak very concerned about life span of plasmas, LCDs etc, with the benchmark of CRT, Trinitron, succumbing in < 10 years.
There is another one sitting in a local shop here, a 65" Nakamichi plasma, initially with a price tag of around Rs 4.5L, but now, after a few months, with another tag saying "Offer your best price"! Knowledgeable and wise people in this forum know what Nakamichi used to stand for and where it is now. Why, there are a few of their lifestyle systems (Spacesound?) displayed in the same shop with "Please, take them away" type tags hanging on their necks. I believe these are the same stuffs some high-end dealer advertised with big fanfare in Delhi a few years ago.
If you are serious about LCD and have some cash to burn, look at the Philips 21:9. It is fabulous. The unfortunate part: it sells here at close to Rs 2.5L whereas in India, I understand its price is nearly double.
Choose wisely and don't regret later.

cheers.
murali

 

[murali]

Well if you are comparing sony after sales support with sharp,sony and koresans are much better.Here in india they(sharp)need to have more number of service centres and parts should also be available in reasonable time.The fact that one don't even finds sharp products in showroom what do you expect of their service.
Look how philips went down and down,because of their A.S.S.I hope they don't get extinct in india since it has nothing to do with their products.


Well they certainly don't make crap lcds either,all their models have decent performance mostly better then their rivals.
They may not have the best lcd(that title perhaps goes to bang & olufsen),but they do make one of the best lcds.


It takes a lot of effort to become a respectable brand .

So what are you suggesting let them get a $50k OLED . Even though the sony XBR8 or X450A was arguably & mostly considered the best lcd in 2008 did it dominate the sales,only a few can afford such high end lcds which come at a price.Same goes to the sharp XS1 did it sell in numbers.
In order for a company to get innovative ground breaking products they do need to pour millions into R&D.So if they have to compete they do need tvs that are bread winners.If they make products only like XBR8 it won't sell and they will be forced out of business,Look what happened to Pioneer plasmas.

Only a few people in this earth pay for absolute PQ or performance.
I know many people who just don't care of the PQ but just want a big tv.

I think you should read Akio Morita (who could be rolling in his grave at the present plight of Sony).
Sony never sought $50K OLED and similar stuffs beyond the reach of ordinary human. Transistor radios, Walkmans, and Trinitron picture tubes were not developed for "those few paying for absolute perfomance", my friend.
Have you ever thought why Sony went wrong with the Betamax business several years ago, even with its technical superiority over VHS?
Do we smell greed or arrogance here or something else?
In my last visit home, I went to the Sony World showroom in my place and quit in 15 minutes after feeling the arrogance of those trying to sell their products? It was more of take-it-or-leave it. They even challenge you to bring a Sony from abroad reminding you of their "contacts" in Customs who will see to it that you end up a loser! Does something not stink here?
Sony still makes some extraordinary products, especially in high-end audio, high performance and modestly priced, but mate, you will never seem them in our place.
By the way, Pioneer stopped Kuros not because there was anything close to its performance but for other reasons, most notably the dumping of cheap LCDs en-masse.
You and I won't deny that television is another business, after all, and not charity.

cheers.
murali

 

[adder]

I think you should read Akio Morita (who could be rolling in his grave at the present plight of Sony).
Sony never sought $50K OLED and similar stuffs beyond the reach of ordinary human. Transistor radios, Walkmans, and Trinitron picture tubes were not developed for "those few paying for absolute perfomance", my friend.
Have you ever thought why Sony went wrong with the Betamax business several years ago, even with its technical superiority over VHS?
Do we smell greed or arrogance here or something else?
In my last visit home, I went to the Sony World showroom in my place and quit in 15 minutes after feeling the arrogance of those trying to sell their products? It was more of take-it-or-leave it. They even challenge you to bring a Sony from abroad reminding you of their "contacts" in Customs who will see to it that you end up a loser! Does something not stink here?
Sony still makes some extraordinary products, especially in high-end audio, high performance and modestly priced, but mate, you will never seem them in our place.
By the way, Pioneer stopped Kuros not because there was anything close to its performance but for other reasons, most notably the dumping of cheap LCDs en-masse.
You and I won't deny that television is another business, after all, and not charity.

cheers.
murali

Well i have read is book.
Its true that sony isn't what it used to be,but in todays highly competitive world every company has it good days and bad days.
Sony currently is still loosing money in its entire business ,especialy the tv and playstation business.
They are slowly going out of their proprietary domain has said by their CEO with recent move to SD cards in thier cameras ,earlier one could only use memory stic cards in thier cameras which took a toll in thier digital camera sales.

Don't know much about the experience about the "contacts in customs ,mostly its the Salesmans gave those straight from his bottom.
I have seen so called people from microsoft i.e outsourced people who go into each internet cafe and threaten the owners that they will throw out their pc and crush them if they didn't go with genuine microsoft OS .:lol:

About the take it or leave it well it applies to many company owned showrooms,when i went to enquire about the philips headphones and lcds in philips arena they were in the same attitude.
Go to a honda 2 wheeler showroom its the same.Only when their products are gathering dust will showrooms/dealers/companies wake up.

Pioneer didn't sell because of the high price and back then in 07/08 lcds where more expensive then similar sized plasmas ,even todays it holds true,so one can't blame it because of lcds ,rival plasma makers didn't make plasma remotely close to pioneer performance nor did they price it as high as pioneer plasmas but people bought the cheaper plasmas and they didn't buy the pioneer plasma,which is why pioneer is out of plasma business.

 

[psychotropic]

hey murali, i am curious to know. Are you actually saying that Sharp LCDs are superior to the Sony ones? I am not a Sony 'fan' at all, and I know they make a lot of cheapo stuff and sell it, including car audio. But when it comes to LCDs Sony and Samsung are pretty much right at the top of the mass market brands and Sharp is not exactly top of the quality stakes. I am sure Sharp makes great products in general and I am sure they make good LCD TVs that are well built, but the quality of the image is down to the panels and processing technology and Sony and Samsung are the leaders there. Again, this is not a comparison of Sony and Sharp as companies or brands, or their philosophies or priorities, I am just talking about the LCD TVs made by both companies.

Of course why bother with LCDs when plasmas are still around?