Sharp Announces 2013 LED TV Lineup

I must confess that Sharp isn’t typically on my “must see” list at CES, but this year I strolled through had a pretty good time. They were definitely out to prove themselves as the leader in large TVs with the announcement of twenty-one new TVs that are 60” or larger. They also showed off a number of new and/or proprietary technologies such as Quattron, ICC Purios and Super Bright. Read on for a breakdown of each TV series and a table at the end of the article with sizing and pricing information. Keep in mind that the list provided is not complete. For example, Sharp was showing off 90" LED TVs but neglected to provide any model numbers or pricing information in their official press release. Still, the information provided here will help you differentiate between each series of TV.

ICC PURIOS

The ICC Purios is Sharp’s new flagship TV line. It sports UHD resolution and a new ICC (integrated cognitive creation) image processor. ICC “reproduces the ‘cognitive’ process by which the human brain interprets light stimuli.” It is supposed to result in an improved sense of depth, texture and perspective. We don’t really know how it does this, but we did think it looked great on display. Sharp had a completely darkened ICC Purios demo room with two separate displays. The first area compared color between the ICC Purios and Sharp’s current top of the line LED. The Purios was set in THX mode, and it looked significantly more natural and showed more detail than the other set. The second area was designed to compare the resolution and sharpness difference between the ICC Purios and Sharp’s current top of the line LED. In this area the Purios was obviously not in THX mode as it was way too bright and colors were over saturated. Still, I could tell a big difference in background detail when compared to the 1080p model. I noticed that in between clips the ICC Purios would go completely black, and then turn to more of a dark grey when a clip came back on. This is obviously local dimming at play and was distracting to me. Look for this TV come summer 2013.

Series 8

Sharp’s Series 8 has the best of everything they have to offer other than UHD resolution,  ICC image processing, or THX certification. It features a new Super Bright technology that boosts brightness 50% without increasing energy usage. It also has an intelligent contrast engine that “constantly analyzes the signal and enhances the brightness of the bright objects on the screen while maintaining the black levels on the rest of the screen.”  Of course, it features Sharp’s yellow pixel, dubbed Quattron color. It has a dual core processor for smart TV apps and built-in WiFi and web browser. The panel is 240Hz with Auqiomotion960 backlight scanning. Interestingly, Sharp also built-in a 2.1 sound system with Yamaha DSP technology. The TV also includes two 3D glasses in the box.

Series 7

The Series 7 includes much of the same technology as the Series 8, but drops a few features. It still utilizes Quattron, WiFi, a 2.1 sound system, and 3D with two pairs of glasses included. The only difference we can see is Aquomotion480 instead of Aquimotion960 and a lack of Super Bright technology.

Series 6

When you step down to Series 6 you lose quite a few features, the biggest of which is Quattron. You also drop to a 2.0 speaker system without Yamaha DSP technology, lose Aquomotion backlight scanning, and downgrade to a 120Hz panel. Finally, the set is still 3D but does not include any free glasses. Sharp did not provide any information as to the differences among the three different 6 series LEDs listen in their lineup and included in the table below.

2013 Sharp LED Lineup

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.