Why I Hate the Sharp Elite TV

I hate the Sharp Elite. It is a deceptive and manipulative TV. I refuse to sell this TV.

The Sharp Elite is actually a fairly typical big screen LED TV. For those of you with a bit of TV understanding, it is a 240hz 1080p LED TV. It features active 3D, wi-fi streaming, and local dimming. It is offered in 60” and 70” screen sizes for $5500 and $8000 respectively.

I dislike this TV for many reasons. First, it is deceptive. Pioneer used to be an industry leader in large HDTVs with their Pioneer Elites. A few years ago, they decided to stop producing HDTVs and sold the rights to the “Elite” brand name to Sharp. On this newest generation of “Elite” TVs, they have copied the look of the TV’s bezel, the shape of the remote, the font that says “ELITE” on the front of the TV, and even the box the manual comes in. They have done a remarkable job of copying everything about the old Pioneer Elites except for the one thing that truly matters, picture quality. Nowhere on the packaging or in the manual does it say that it is produced and distributed by Sharp. The makers are trying to convince people that it is still the Pioneer Elite.

This Sharp Elite TV has literally nothing in common with the Pioneer Elites. The originals were extremely high quality plasma TVs. This newest generation is LED. Though the new LED TVs are the highest priced and newest type of TV, they have inherent flaws that that even the old Pioneers didn’t have.

First, it suffers from the halo effect. The halo effect is seen when a brightly colored object is shown over a darker background. With local dimming LEDs, a faint white box will surround the object and it will appear to have a white halo. Plasma TVs do not have any backlighting and have no halo effect. If you want to see this for yourself, watch the Elite demo loop that is shown at Best Buy. It is most noticeable during the fireworks scene.

Second, it suffers from black crush. Black crush occurs most frequently during dark scenes. Black crush occurs when, to get dark scenes as dark as possible, the TV turns down the backlight. When this happens, fine detail in dark scenes become indistinguishable and instead of seeing dark shadows and figures, you see one large dark blob.

Third, the Elite suffers from the soap opera effect. The soap opera effect is the name given to a TVs video processing that makes film (i.e. movies filmed at 24 fps) look like live video (like a daytime soap opera). Sometimes customers will say that it almost looks too real. The look and feel of film is lost.

Fourth, the sound in the TV sucks. It is no better than any other generic brand TV on the market. To truly be unique, it should have at least a decent set of built-in speakers like the Mitsubishi Unisen LT-55265 with a built-in 18 speaker dolby digital sound system or the new Bose TV (but I don’t really like the Bose TV either even though it does have significantly better sound than the Elite).

Fifth, even though it is one of the most expensive TVs on the market, it still lacks features that significantly lower priced TVs offer. For instance, the Samsung UN60ES7500 LED has a full web-browser, built-in web cam, voice activation, touch sensitive remote, and much cheaper 3D glasses. All these features can be had from Samsung for approximately $3000 less than the Elite.

So why do people buy the Elite? For one thing, they believe that it is somehow related to the Pioneer Elite. People also mistakenly assume that LED TVs offer better picture quality than plasmas even though in almost every qualitative and quantitative way, plasma is still a superior technology (contrast ratio, black levels, light uniformity, color accuracy, contrast ratio, response time, motion resolution). I also believe that some people buy the Elite simply because it is expensive. People assume that the most expensive TV is the best TV and simply like to flex their financial muscle.

So, in conclusion, I really don’t like the Sharp Elite. If you are interested in a truly high end and excellent TV, look in to the Panasonic Premier. And, if you’ve recently purchased the Sharp Elite, take a look at the Sharp LC-80LE844U and ask yourself, why?

Dumb Things Customers Say: Part 1

Me: How are you doing today?
Customer: I'm doing well. Where are your 46" TV's?
Me: (walks customer to the 46" TV's) Is there one in particular you're looking for?
Customer: Nope. Which one is the biggest?
Me: Well they're are all measured the same way, diagonally, so they are all going to have the same size screen.
Customer: Oh, so which on is the biggest?
Me: They're all the same...
Customer: I know, but I looking for the biggest 46" TV
Me: ............

Why Universal Remotes Don't Work

It's simple really. It is in the best interest of manufacturers and retailers to make products, specifically remotes, incompatible with each other. It saves time, development costs, encourages brand loyalty, and created a new installation need.

How does this drive brand loyalty? Buy a Samsung TV and want to only have one remote for that and your blu-ray? Gotta buy a Samsung. Want a sound system and a remote that will control all three? Gotta buy a Samsung.

Now, take a simple home theater set-up consisting of a TV, basic sound system, blu-ray player, and HD cable box and all are different brands. Each device's remote has a different button arrangement and has a different set of buttons. If you tried to put all the buttons on one remote it would be massive and unwieldy. Basic universal remotes attempt to remedy this problem by allowing the user to select which device they would like to control by pushing a button. However, these remotes will never have all the buttons you need. It is unlikely you will find an "On Demand" button for your cable box, an "Internet" button for your TV, or "Disc Eject" button for your blu-ray player.  Soon you will be looking through seat cushions looking for the original remote that you spent $20 to replace.

So what about more advanced remotes? Remotes like the Logitech Harmony series get more buttons, LCD displays, and computer guided set-up. Small displays on the remote surrounded by programmable buttons allow them to offer device specific buttons by changing their function. Though this may give you all the buttons you will need, you must still select which device you would like to control and then you are left scrolling through a long list of commands. To combat this issue, they are designed with "Activity Control." Activity Control allows the user to set a chain of commands. For example, if you push the "Watch TV" button, the remote will send the signal to turn on the TV, turn on the sound, turn on the hd box, and select the correct inputs. Then, if you push the "Watch a DVD" button, it will change the inputs, turn on the blu-ray players, and turn off the cable box. Perfect, yes? Ever push a button and not have the TV receive the signal? Now your remote is confused and doesn't know what is or is not on the right setting.

So how is this good for retailers? Retailers know how much people hate having more than one remote so they sell advanced remotes. $100. With this advanced remote, it often times requires the expertise of an installer to properly program it for you. $130. Got a new blu-ray player and now it's not working? $80. Your remote died and you just want to have the new one set-up exactly like the old one? $80.

All in all, there is no way to have a seamless, one remote setup. The truth of the matter is that it's best this way for everyone involved, except the consumer of course.

The Purpose of this Blog

Those of us who make plans to attend next year's CES and CEDIA expos as we are leaving this year's final booth create the hype for new products and technologies.  Companies know that our enthusiasm and passion will give them the grassroots publicity to excite typical consumers in a way that traditional marketing cannot hope to achieve.  However, we are only a small section of the market and making sure that new products can both excite the technically oriented and deliver an enjoyable experience for the typical consumer is a rare accomplishment.

The purpose of this blog is not to get insider information, post early production photos of the next iPhone, host un-boxing videos, or interview industry executives. Unlike many blogs that speak to the needs of their readers, this one will explore the strenuous relationship between the techies of the world and the typical American consumer.