Sharp offers one of those rare televisions with a 1080p definition in the 32 inch category, a size usually reserved for HD Ready 720p. In addition to Full HD, the Aquos LC-32X20E embodies a few attractive characteristics including 3 HDMI inputs and an announced contrast of 2000:1.
Actually, this last characteristic was the first thing that we verified and unfortunately we were disappointed. With black stabilized at 0.17 cd/m², white only attained 219 cd/m², thus resulting in a contrast of 1288:1 and far from the expected 2000:1. We were all the more disappointed because this same brand’s Aquos LC-52HD1E lived up to its promises in this area coming close to its announced 2000:1. Either way, this wasn’t that catastrophic and in the end this TV is simply no better or worse than the average.
On the other hand, presettings were very good and don’t need touching up. Colors were quite natural and grays neutral. Only color temperature leans a little towards blue at 9357 K and lowering it results in grays that are too reddish. In the end, we preferred keeping default parameters.
Besides color temperature that is too high (bluish colors), measurements were rather good.
In actual use, we found that the rescaling of SD sources lacked sharpness. This was strange given that the 32 inch panel, a rather "small" size, should have reinforced this characteristic and left us a bit unsatisfied in this area.
SD rescaling by our HD player (left) produces a sharper image than that of the TV’s (right)
For HD, all we can say is that it’s nice, sharp and Full HD! However we did wonder if it’s really worth it to invest in such a screen for just a 32 inch. With such a diagonal size, the difference in quality with HD Ready 720p is small and most eyes won’t even notice it. Moreover, this is the reason why most manufacturers only start to offer Full HD 1080p starting at 37 or 40 inches. And we would have to agree with them. Below this size, Full HD 1080p just adds a cost that is only compensated by a small gain in sharpness.
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