by size

I did a bit of research before buying a flat panel tv, and decided to go with LCD because of the reported lifespan (after all, it's still a LOT of cash to put out for the technology)and because LCD doesn't suffer from 'burn-in' like plasma (kids with video games). So, first stop was to Tweeter to see the sets side-by-side. I was completely impressed with the picture quality of the sharp LCD and my opinion has not changed 7 months later. My only complaint is there are not enough HDTV channels. I now find my viewing is almost completely controlled by which broadcasts are in HDTV (I am totally spoiled now). This set is great... now my husband wants them in every room.

I looked at almost all the mid sized, flat panel TV's from "High End" places to Best Buy and the Sharpe 37" LCD had the best, most consistent picture. The prices varied from $5500.00 in a retail store to $3700.00 on the Internet. I had several reasons for choosing LCD over Plasma. 1) Plasma displays have considerably bigger pixels (even on smaller screen sizes) than LCD making it harder to watch at close distances. 2) Plasma's have the problem of not being able to re-produce "negative black" (-7.5ire). The result is that even an extremely clean live video feed has a kind of "haze" over the picture that simply can't be adjusted out without compromising sharpness, brightness and color intensity. It's just the electronic nature of Plasma. It's especially annoying when watching HDTV movies or broadcasts where clarity and sharpness are so important. After all that's what your paying for, right? LCD screens however are capable of reproducing negative black quite nicely so consequently don't have the "washed" look of plasmas. Plasmas are fine from a distance of say 15' or more but my viewing distance is only about 9 ft so the choice of the Sharpe 37" LCD was clear in that regard.

This discontinued model was one of the largest LCD TVs when it first came out last year. Now others have surpassed it in size, but Sharp's quality is still the best. The viewing angles are admirable, the colors from DVDs are vibrant and true, and pixelation, although still apparent at times as is with *all* LCD screens (due to liquid crystal response time -- do not believe the "below 16ms" hype from some non-Japanese Asian manufacturers), is quite acceptable. The images displayed on this are just breathtakingly beautiful. Since this model is discontinued, you can find it at bargain prices, or get one of the newer big Aquos LCD monitors.