Introduction

Front

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The front of the LC-60LE925UN is dominated by its glossy black bezel that makes its way around the entirety of the 60-inch screen. The TV doesn't have an overbearing appearance, which should make it fit well amongst the decor in most living rooms.

Back

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Like most backsides of televisions, the back of the LC-60LE925UN is fairly boring. Two large collection of ports are located on the right side of the back, one to the far right and one near the base of the TV.

Sides

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The sides of the TV are fairly thin, but there are many ultra-thin TVs out there that make the LC-60LE925UN look somewhat thick. Still, we were impressed by the overall design Sharp gave the sides of their 60-inch TV.

Stand/Mount

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The stand for the LC-60LE925UN has the TV sit fairly low, which gives it a simple, elegant look. Like the TV's bezel, the stand is coated with a black, glossy paint job.

Aesthetics

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Overall, the LC-60LE925UN has a simple design. No crazy paint jobs or flourishes—just a plain black bezel with a glossy black stand. There is an illuminated Sharp logo on the left and a small light to the center of the TV to give the set some flair, but the overall aesthetic of the LC-60LE925UN is basic, but classy.

Display Size & Technology

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The Sharp Aquos LC-60LE925UN has a 60-inch screen and offers Full HD display at a 1920 x 1080 resolution. The TV has an LCD screen with LED backlight technology that is designed to boost brightness (particularly when viewing 3D content).

The 3D capability of the LC-60LE925UN is definitely its most exciting feature, but you have to remember that the TV functions perfectly fine when watching 2D content as well (as is the case for all 3D TVs). You don't have to watch 3D on the TV, but the capability is there if you want it.

Formats & Resolution

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The LC-60LE925UN is a Full HD television, so it can display video at a 1920 x 1080 resolution. This is also called a 1080p display (as opposed to the lower-resolution 720p), and it is essentially the highest-resolution available on the consumer market.

Brightness, Blacks and Contrast Ratio

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Sharp lists the contrast ratio on the Aquos LC-60LE925UN as a ridiculous 8,000,000 to 1. We usually find the contrast ratio to be much lower than what is reported by the manufacturer when we actually test the television in our labs, so you should take this number with a grain of salt. Manufacturers use special settings to come up with their contrast ratio numbers and they don't always reflect real-life viewing situations. When we get the model into our labs, we'll give you a better idea about the actual black level and contrast ratio for the LC-60LE925UN.

Color

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Sharp's Quattron quad pixel technology adds the color yellow to the traditional RGB (red, green, blue) television pixel structure. According to Sharp, this enables the LC-60LE925UN to display colors that have often been difficult for LCD models to reproduce. The example they give is the golden-brass color of musical instruments (like saxophones). Sharp also claims its Quattron technology allows more light to pass through the panel, which makes 3D images brighter when displayed on the TV. We can't say we noticed much of a difference between the LC-60LE925UN when we compared it to other models on the floor at CEDIA, but, then again, we weren't watching video content that was full of brass-colored musical instruments.

Motion & Refresh Rate

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The LC-60LE925UN has Sharp's AquoMotion 240 technology, which is a fancy way of saying it has a 240Hz refresh rate. 240Hz is an impressive refresh rate considering many high-end TVs still utilize 120Hz rates and most entry-level models have refresh rates of 60Hz. Does it make a difference when you watch motion, though? Well, that's a debatable question. Sharp claims the AquoMotion 240 technology improves fast-action imagery by reducing the amount of blur and artifacts, but we've rarely noticed much of a difference between 240Hz and 120Hz refresh rates on HDTVs.

The LC-60LE925UN also has Sharp's Vyper Drive game mode, which is meant to reduce picture lag so you can twitch headshot with the pros. We didn't see this feature in action, so we can't tell if it actually works, or if games look better on the 60LE925UN than on other models. All we know is Vyper Drive sounds pretty radical (to the max).

Viewing Angle

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Sharp lists the viewing angle on the LC-60LE925UN as 176 degrees, but this is a much wider angle than we're likely to measure in our testing. When we test viewing angle, we record a measurement at the angle where the TV's contrast ratio has fallen to 50% of its maximum (an average viewing angle for an LCD is around 30 degrees in our test). It is unknown how Sharp measures its viewing angle, so it is likely that their numbers don't reflect real-life viewing conditions.

3D Glasses

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The LC-60LE925UN comes with two pairs of 3D glasses, which is is a good perk that could save you some significant cash. Many manufacturers make you purchase 3D glasses separately, often at costs around $150 per set. Sharp's 3D glasses also have a 3D-2D conversion button, which allows you to watch the same content in 3D or 2D at the press of a button. If you like to watch TV with your friends and two sets of glasses won't be enough for you, you can purchase additional ones from Sharp (model number AN-3DG10-S).

3D Effect

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3D content on the LC-60LE925UN looked okay, but it wasn't anything different than what we've seen from most 3D HDTVs. The image on the Sharp set may have looked a bit brighter than the competition, but we still saw plenty of problems in terms of motion.

The 3D-2D button on the glasses, is a really interesting feature. While we definitely see it being used to disable the 3D effect viewing for a moment if it is giving you a headache. It is, however,

3D Motion

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There was plenty of blur and ghosting in the 3D content we viewed on the LC-60LE925UN. This doesn't necessarily mean Sharp is doing 3D "worse" than other manufacturers, though, because we've seen those kinds of problems on nearly all 3D HDTVs we've reviewed.

Audio & Video Ports

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All the ports on the LC-60LE925UN are located on the back of the TV. One collection of ports runs along the base of the TV (but still on the back side), while the other collection runs along a vertical strip on the back.

In all, the TV has 4 HDMI ports, 1 Composite video with audio, 1 audio-only AV connection, 1 Component video with audio, 1 VGA connection with a 3.5mm audio input, 1 RF terminal for connecting cable or an antenna, and an ethernet port for connecting the television to the internet. There's also an RS-232C input that allows custom installers to calibrate the set and two USB ports for playing music, photos, or video.

Internet & Other Media

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The LC-60LE925UN comes with a WiFi adapter that connects to either of the TV's two USB ports. This allows you to access streaming content or Sharp's web-based applications without having to connect the TV to the internet via its ethernet terminal. The LC-60LE925UN offers IP control as well, which means you can use a PC or other control device to manipulate basic functions on the television.

Placement

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The ports aren't the most accessible in the world, but we like the two separate clusters of terminals. This gives you more flexibility as to where you can connect various accessories like DVD players and cable boxes. The fact that the TV ships with a WiFi adapter is a great perk, because it means one less cable that you have to connect to the television.

Remote

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We didn't get a good look at the remote control that comes with the LC-60LE925UN, but we'll give you a full rundown of the remote control when we get the TV into our labs.

Controls

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The controls are located on the front panel of the TV right near the bottom. The labels aren't bad, as they appear as both text and icons, but we did find the labels a bit hard to read in low-light situations.

Menu

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Sadly, we didn't get to see the menu system on the Sharp LC-60LE925UN.

Conclusion

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There's no denying the impressive specs for the Sharp LC-60LE925UN, but we think its $5,299 price tag is a bit steep—even with all its amenities. If you are willing to go without certain features (like 3D or the 240Hz refresh rate) you can get a 60-inch LCD for a lot less money.

The 3D capability on the LC-60LE925UN didn't look any better than what we've seen from other manufacturers, but we are pleased with the fact that Sharp throws in two free pairs of 3D glasses with the set (we also like the 3D-2D conversion feature on the glasses). The WiFi adapter is another good perk, as is the television's extensive set of connectivity features.]

It is possible that the LC-60LE925UN will blow us away in our performance testing so much that it will justify Sharp's $5000+ price tag, but for now we have our reservations.

Series Comparision

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Along with the LC-60LE925UN, the LE925 series has a smaller member called the LC-52LE925UN. A little deciphering of Sharp's naming convention and you can probably figure out that the LC-52LE925UN is a 52-inch model (while the LC-60LE925UN has a 60-inch screen).

Specs

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