Sharp Aquos LE600 (LC40LE600E) review

Thankfully, though, this is pretty much the only bad thing we have to say about the LC40LE600E's picture quality. In practically every other way, its LED lighting system helps it produce images of frequently blistering intensity. For instance, the much-vaunted black-level potential of direct LED backlighting is impressively realised. The blue rinse seen over dark scenes on Sharp's ordinary LCD TVs is completely removed, leaving black colours of rare naturalism and depth.

The LC40LE600E also delivers on direct LED backlighting's promise of bright, rich picture elements appearing within the same frame as rich, deep blacks. This helps pictures of all sorts -- but especially Blu-ray movies -- look sensationally dynamic and punchy, especially as the LED backlighting also helps the LC40LE600E produce one of the most aggressive colour performances ever seen on a halfway-affordable LCD TV.

Making these strengths all the more impressive is the fact that they're achieved without any serious evidence of direct LED backlighting's halo phenomenon, whereby the relatively low number of LED clusters compared with pixels in the picture can cause white shadows to appear around bright image elements.

In an ideal world, Sharp would have shipped the LC40LE600E with a more sensible picture preset, in place of the stupidly over-aggressive 'dynamic' one. Shifting to the set's 'movie' preset or, better still, calibrating the TV from scratch should be a matter of priority if you buy the LC40LE600E. The LC40LE600E's sound is rather average too, and using the TV is hindered by an underwhelming remote control.

Conclusion
While some minor flaws prevent the Sharp Aquos LC40LE600E from being the truly classic set it might have been, it's still another compelling addition to the canon of LED-backlit TVs, especially given its ground-breaking price. Roll on Sharp's Aquos LE700 range with 100Hz processing.

Edited by Charles Kloet