Sharp LC-32P50E review

Thanks to some modern AV inputs, it's slightly complicated to describe the Sharp's HD compatibility. It is HD-compatible -- if you plug a Sky HD box in to the HDMI input, you'll be able to watch all available channels. While the picture quality will be superb, there's no real point in bothering -- the LCD panel's resolution means that video has to be scaled down, and this is why the TV doesn't win the 'HD Ready' badge.

So, why include the scaling functionality at all? Well, next-generation games consoles, such as the Xbox 360, are offering HD outputs, so you can make use of them and still get a nice picture on the Sharp. And depending on how long you plan on keeping the TV, there will be a time when Blu-ray or HD DVD becomes the de facto standard, so you will be still be able to buy these discs with an eye to upgrading to a full hi-def LCD TV when the transition occurs. So to all the videogamers who want a really sharp picture from their Xbox 360 but aren't ready to shell out for a fully high-definition ready TV, check out the Sharp.

As a Europe-specific range, it's a shame that the Sharp doesn't feature an integrated Freeview tuner inside these TVs. Separate boxes don't cost too much and the two RGB Scart sockets afford room for a digibox and games console, but we're starting to get used to TVs that pack Freeview inside. 

For the most part though, Sharp gets the functionality right with the P50 range. You can name separate inputs to make it easier for other members of the family -- the component input could be changed to 'DVD' or 'Games' for example. There's also an option to flip the image and engage a sleep mode, plus specific AV modes that include Game, Movie, Standard, User and the default, Dynamic. On the audio side, there's a surround mode, plus all the same presets for video that will adjust the bass and treble levels to fit. There are numerous different picture modes, including Cinema 14:9, Cinema 16:9, Full, Normal, Panorama and Zoom 14:9.

One final point of note is that the Sharp would do a curious thing when we attached the Denon DVD-2910 DVD player and put it into its 576p mode -- the Sharp would show the feed as '580p' and it would automatically focus the widescreen movie into the centre of the screen. It can be remedied by pressing the screen format button on the remote, but it's annoying nonetheless.

Performance
When we played standard DVDs through the Sharp from Denon's DVD-2910, picture quality was outstanding. We've been impressed with Sharp's LCD panels in the past, but we secretly expected the P50 range to be cut down in some way. Even poorer film transfers such as Ronin really jumped off the screen with vivid colours and a rock-solid picture overall. Only a small amount of MPEG noise reared its head, which is something you don't tend to notice with CRTs. There's very little smearing, and colour reproduction is absolutely top-notch.

Analogue TV wasn't so much fun to watch, especially with the weaker signal that plagues our building, so we'd recommend the jump to digital. When watching Ronin, we noticed how well the Sharp copes with darker scenes -- the contrast range meant there was heaps of detail in the gloomy warehouses that make up much of the background scenery. Skin tones were also extraordinarily natural and while the detail was smudgy close up, it was the sharpest LCD we've seen in everyday use. Audio quality was also impressively meaty, but you can output stereo audio from the TV if you want to wire up some more serious speakers.

Edited by Mary Lojkine
Additional editing by Nick Hide