Now having to opportunity to see these sets in operation at the Pioneer booth, I can say that I was impressed with the image quality, based on the demonstration content material. The color was accurate, the detail was exceptional, but the black levels is where these sets prove their mettle. Using a combination of Sharp full array LED backlighing with local dimming, 240Hz effect scanning backlight, and 4 color RGB+Y technology with Pioneer-based video processing, I feel that Sharp has come very close to the performance standards set by Pioneer's previous KURO Plasma TV line, and definitely better than any other LCD TVs currently on the market. This is definitely a significant advance as Sharp's Elite TVs finally brings LCD black level performance in line with the best plasma TVs, which has been a struggle for LCD TV makers.
In addition, these sets are both 2D and 3D enabled and come with the two pairs of active shutter 3D glasses. Sharp's 3D glasses can be used in either 3D or 3D mode. This is very practical in cases where one member of the family wants to watch TV in 3D and the other prefers watching in 2D. Both can watch the same program in 2D and 3D at the same time, provided the 2D viewer is also wearing the Sharp 3D glasses.
However, it remains to be seen if consumers will dig deeper into their pockets for the extra cash to pay for these sets. The 60-inch PRO-60X5FD has a suggested price of 5,999.99, while the 70-inch PRO-70X5FD has a suggested price of $8,499.99.
It will be interesting to see how successful the Sharp/Pioneer partnership will be over the course of this next year.
Proceed to the next page for a look at a unique 3D product shown the 2011 CEDIA EXPO...
