New Sharp Aquos P50 TV claims picture as good as CRT

14 July 2005 23:48 GMT / By Kenneth Henry

It's unusual for many TV set manufacturers to give a toss about the PAL standard when NTSC would result in much increased sales, but Sharp has decided to try and head off importers with a LCD screen which tackles the extra visual dimensions offered by the UK standard.

The Aquos P50 has been released in 26, 32 and 37 inches respectively and will allow users to see the whole 960 x 540 range which PAL specifies. WXGA (1366 x 768) is a format touted by rival sets according to Sharp, which requires advanced electronics to interpolate the extra lines you're watching.

However, as far as Sharp is concerned, natively showing PAL images allows the P50 range to rival CRTs and without the back bezel footprint. Also paying attention to modern mandatory connections the P50 also sports twin Scarts and Component, S-Video and Video inputs to let you connect up whatever's sat beneath the screen.

Last but not least, the HDMI interface makes it High Definition ready, but expect this package to cost plenty when it arrives and especially if the “CRT equality” claim is true.

Full specification list here.

Full tags

Home Cinema, Televisions, LCD televisions, Sharp