Sharp Aquos LC-46LE821E review

In Casino Royale, the fuel truck driven by the terrorist in the airport scene was very yellow using the LE821’s presets – it’s almost fluorescent with some presets, but the movie preset does tone things down a bit. Even after acclimatising ourselves to this newfound vibrancy, we found the colours a little too vibrant. In the end, we jumped into the advanced settings to manually tweak the colours.

To get the colours just how we wanted them, it didn’t require a lot of adjusting, but we were able to obtain more pleasing results using the movie mode as a starting point. Of course, part of this TV’s appeal is its fourth – yellow – sub-pixel, but we can’t help but feel that Sharp has overdone it with its presets to enhance the difference.

In reality, the difference between this and other, traditional, TVs with RGB pixels is a subtle one. Colours are definitely more vibrant and believable than other TVs, even after we’d given it a dose of chill pills, and that’s not just yellows either – it was true across the entire range.

One of the best examples of the LE821’s believability was in the fight scene in the hotel stairwell in Casino Royale. The way that the light from the stain glass window radiates across both skin and Bond’s blood-soaked shirt is stunning. Skin tones look fuller and more natural next to an RGB set, which can make skin tones look flat in comparison – this scene really highlights that.

Motion blur is well managed too, with minimal haloing around moving objects, but we found that we needed to be careful with the TV’s settings to get the best results, as it can be a little over-done. The same is true with Sharp’s, err, sharpening technology, which looks unrealistic and plasticy above +2 on the slider. Again, using the tools Sharp has made available to you in moderation delivers the most pleasing results.

The LE821’s upscaling capabilities are also particularly good, with standard definition sources looking reasonably crisp and there’s a distinct lack of artifacts. How often you’ll need to use that in the future will be increasingly less common though and the LE821 includes a built-in Freeview HD tuner. What’s more, the LE821 has 8GB of built-in memory for recording programmes from the built-in tuners in a lossless format. You can store up to two and a half hours of standard definition video and around 50 minutes of HD footage. You can store up to two and a half hours of standard definition video and around 50 minutes of HD footage. Annoyingly, you can’t connect a USB hard disk for extra recording time.

Audio quality is up there with the best TVs we’ve seen recently too. Soundtracks are crisp, dynamic and feel relatively accurate. The built in surround function also adds a fullness to the soundtrack that’s so often missing, too, but a bit more bass would have made things all the more impressive.

Sharp’s Quad Pixel technology is very effective, but this new found vibrancy doesn’t come cheaply. At over £1,600, the LC-46LE821E is incredibly expensive for a 46in TV without 3D capabilities. As it stands, we prefer the Panasonic Viera TX-P42G20B. It might not have the extra sub-pixel, but produces stunning colours, deep blacks and has incredibly smooth movement. With a lower price, Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners it’s the better buy.