Bought the Sharp AQUOS LC-32GP1U **UPDATED**

[allies]

I think 32" would be a sweet spot for monitor size. 37" Is just too freaking big IMO. I'll check out the HOCP thread.

 

[Imyourzero]

Originally posted by: allies
I think 32" would be a sweet spot for monitor size. 37" Is just too freaking big IMO. I'll check out the HOCP thread.

Yep, 32" is perfect for the distance a typical PC users sits at IMO. I did the measurements while my Westy was in transit and found that it was pretty massive from 2-3 feet away. I was having to turn my neck to see the entire screen, which I didn't want to do. The Sharp is just about perfect. If I was sitting 4-6 feet away I might want something larger, but the Sharp is big enough that it can still be clearly read from that distance.

 

[allies]

Originally posted by: Imyourzero

Originally posted by: allies
I think 32" would be a sweet spot for monitor size. 37" Is just too freaking big IMO. I'll check out the HOCP thread.

Yep, 32" is perfect for the distance a typical PC users sits at IMO. I did the measurements while my Westy was in transit and found that it was pretty massive from 2-3 feet away. I was having to turn my neck to see the entire screen, which I didn't want to do. The Sharp is just about perfect. If I was sitting 4-6 feet away I might want something larger, but the Sharp is big enough that it can still be clearly read from that distance.

Definitely. And even for movie viewing sitting 4-6 ft away should still be reasonable.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: Imyourzero

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
If you guys read the HardOCP thread on this monitor, there's a few users that noted it has issues while browsing webpages with white backgrounds. Something about it automatically adjusting the contrast to where it becomes difficult to read so if anyone is considering using this display as a PC monitor, they may want to take this issue into account. Personally I'd rather get the 37" Westy (which I already have 😉 ) instead of this.

It's not an issue. Text is definitely not hard to read. And I own both. 🙂

As liquid said, every display is going to have its quirks. I'm sorry, but even if there was a 24" display that cost $2000 people on the forums would still find faults with it.

Basically the Sharp has a smaller pixel pitch, better contrast, less ghosting and better black levels. The Westy is slightly larger for around the same $ and has its share of issues so don't let anyone tell you it's perfect. It's great for the money but anyone saying that they would take the Westy over the Sharp without ever seeing the two in person is just trying to justify their purchase. 😉

Both are great displays, I'm sure I'd be happy with either one if I didn't have a choice.

Aren't you the same guy over at HOCP that claimed to have ordered the Westy but never opened the box? If you are, then your view isn't any more objective than mine. Yes the dynamic contrast problem with the Sharp is an issue with the display, you shouldn't try to pass it off as nothing to people that may find it very distracting for web page use.

 

[Imyourzero]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker

Originally posted by: Imyourzero

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
If you guys read the HardOCP thread on this monitor, there's a few users that noted it has issues while browsing webpages with white backgrounds. Something about it automatically adjusting the contrast to where it becomes difficult to read so if anyone is considering using this display as a PC monitor, they may want to take this issue into account. Personally I'd rather get the 37" Westy (which I already have 😉 ) instead of this.

It's not an issue. Text is definitely not hard to read. And I own both. 🙂

As liquid said, every display is going to have its quirks. I'm sorry, but even if there was a 24" display that cost $2000 people on the forums would still find faults with it.

Basically the Sharp has a smaller pixel pitch, better contrast, less ghosting and better black levels. The Westy is slightly larger for around the same $ and has its share of issues so don't let anyone tell you it's perfect. It's great for the money but anyone saying that they would take the Westy over the Sharp without ever seeing the two in person is just trying to justify their purchase. 😉

Both are great displays, I'm sure I'd be happy with either one if I didn't have a choice.

Aren't you the same guy over at HOCP that claimed to have ordered the Westy but never opened the box? If you are, then your view isn't any more objective than mine. Yes the dynamic contrast problem with the Sharp is an issue with the display, you shouldn't try to pass it off as nothing to people that may find it very distracting for web page use.

Yes, I'm the same guy, but I've seen and read enough that I have a pretty good amount of knowledge on the subject. The dynamic contrast is a feature, not a problem, and I'm not having the issues that were mentioned with the text being "hard to read." Maybe those guys got a bad panel or just don't know how to calibrate it. I don't know, but I can say with certainty that mine doesn't exhibit any problems. Perhaps there is a way to disable the dynamic contrast if some people don't like what it's doing to the picture?

All I'm saying is don't judge the Sharp until you've seen it in person and/or had a chance to use it. You could say the same thing about me and the Westy, but I'm so happy with the Sharp that I see no need to open it (the Westy) if I plan to use it as a PC monitor because a) 37" is a bit too large for my setup and b) I wouldn't want a larger pixel pitch at this distance, even though most agree that the 37W3 has sharp text. If you'd like me to open the Westy and do a direct comparison, I'll be glad to do so if you'll reimburse me for any fees should I decide to send the unit back... 😉

 

[Matt2]

Congrats!

I personally think anything above 24" looks like crap at 1080p when used for everyday computer tasks. I just dont like sitting so far back.

But it looks like you're enjoying it and you got a good unit.

:thumbsup:

 

[Imyourzero]

Originally posted by: Matt2
Congrats!

I personally think anything above 24" looks like crap at 1080p when used for everyday computer tasks. I just dont like sitting so far back.

But it looks like you're enjoying it and you got a good unit.

:thumbsup:

Thanks. 🙂

I just don't see how anyone that has actually used a good 32/37/42/etc. at 1080p can say that though. I sit 2-3 feet away and it definitely doesn't look like "crap"...everything is tack sharp on mine and it makes for a MUCH more immersive and enveloping gaming experience.

I'm glad I didn't go with a 24" but then that wasn't really an option for me. The one I wanted (then BenQ) was around $800 and I couldn't justify that when a much larger screen was just a few hundred bucks more. The Dell 2407 of course is cheaper, at around $600, but even the A04 has its issues and I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with any off the current 24's when the 2407-HC is rumored to be coming out soon with a 92% color gamut. There is always something better around the corner though, so I had to pick one eventually or I would have been pulling my hair out. 🙂

 

[Matt2]

Originally posted by: Imyourzero

Originally posted by: Matt2
Congrats!

I personally think anything above 24" looks like crap at 1080p when used for everyday computer tasks. I just dont like sitting so far back.

But it looks like you're enjoying it and you got a good unit.

:thumbsup:

Thanks. 🙂

I just don't see how anyone that has actually used a good 32/37/42/etc. at 1080p can say that though. I sit 2-3 feet away and it definitely doesn't look like "crap"...everything is tack sharp on mine and it makes for a MUCH more immersive and enveloping gaming experience.

I'm glad I didn't go with a 24" but then that wasn't really an option for me. The one I wanted (then BenQ) was around $800 and I couldn't justify that when a much larger screen was just a few hundred bucks more. The Dell 2407 of course is cheaper, at around $600, but even the A04 has its issues and I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with any off the current 24's when the 2407-HC is rumored to be coming out soon with a 92% color gamut. There is always something better around the corner though, so I had to pick one eventually or I would have been pulling my hair out. 🙂

My problem with 1080p screens >24" is the pixel pitch. It's the same reason why I can't stand 22" TN panels.

I sit about 2ft away from this 24" 1920x1200 screen and this is the perfect viewing distance for me. If I were to get anything bigger I would have to move back to about 4ft. Due to desk constraints and personal preferences, sitting 4ft away from my computer monitor is just unacceptable.

I dunno, maybe my eyes are too good for my own good. I am very sensitive to viewing distances and resolutions.

Of course all of this is my personal opinion.

 

[allies]

So enough BSing... where's them pics! 🙂

 

[Imyourzero]

Originally posted by: Matt2

Originally posted by: Imyourzero

Originally posted by: Matt2
Congrats!

I personally think anything above 24" looks like crap at 1080p when used for everyday computer tasks. I just dont like sitting so far back.

But it looks like you're enjoying it and you got a good unit.

:thumbsup:

Thanks. 🙂

I just don't see how anyone that has actually used a good 32/37/42/etc. at 1080p can say that though. I sit 2-3 feet away and it definitely doesn't look like "crap"...everything is tack sharp on mine and it makes for a MUCH more immersive and enveloping gaming experience.

I'm glad I didn't go with a 24" but then that wasn't really an option for me. The one I wanted (then BenQ) was around $800 and I couldn't justify that when a much larger screen was just a few hundred bucks more. The Dell 2407 of course is cheaper, at around $600, but even the A04 has its issues and I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with any off the current 24's when the 2407-HC is rumored to be coming out soon with a 92% color gamut. There is always something better around the corner though, so I had to pick one eventually or I would have been pulling my hair out. 🙂

My problem with 1080p screens >24" is the pixel pitch. It's the same reason why I can't stand 22" TN panels.

I sit about 2ft away from this 24" 1920x1200 screen and this is the perfect viewing distance for me. If I were to get anything bigger I would have to move back to about 4ft. Due to desk constraints and personal preferences, sitting 4ft away from my computer monitor is just unacceptable.

I dunno, maybe my eyes are too good for my own good. I am very sensitive to viewing distances and resolutions.

Of course all of this is my personal opinion.

Yep, everything is subjective. Glad you're happy with your setup as well -- didn't you go through 2 or 3 displays yourself before finding one you could live with?

 

[Imyourzero]

Oh man...I opened the Westy a few minutes ago. As much as I like the Sharp, I think the Westy will take its place as my monitor. 😎 I definitely wouldn't want anything bigger than this, though!

 

[allies]

Really? The Westy is better? Why and howso? Are you still going to be sitting 2-3 ft away from your monitor??

Edit: Sell me the Sharp for cheap!!?? 😛

 

[ArchAngel777]

Personally, after looking at the sharps, I always was fooled into thinking their LCD's were plasmas, because they had such great black levels. In my opinion, that alone is extremely important. My next monitor will probably be a sharp, because they make the best looking LCD at this point.

Nice setup and beautiful display!

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

The Sharp has better PQ (much better blacks, better scaling circuitry, better contrast ratio). I own the Sharp D series 32" 1080P set and the 37" 1080P Westy.

 

[Cabages]

Since you now have the Sharp and Westy open now, can we have some pictures?

And why is the Westy better?

 

[allies]

We want your opinions, and pics, stat!

 

[Imyourzero]

Originally posted by: OneOfTheseDays
The Sharp has better PQ (much better blacks, better scaling circuitry, better contrast ratio). I own the Sharp D series 32" 1080P set and the 37" 1080P Westy.

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree. The IQ on the Westy so far has proven to be at least as good as that of the Sharp (for PC use, anyway -- haven't tried TV or DVDs). And the Westy doesn't annoy or distract you by constantly shifting the contrast.

Have you used both monitors on your PC? I ask because on paper, the Sharp does appear that it should blow the Westy out of the water. But when I hooked them up back to back on my PC, the Westy was actually far better as a monitor for reasons I may go into later (it's Easter!) And blacks are fine on the Westy even after coming from the Sharp. I was worried about that but after seeing the Westy in person I was pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps I just didn't have my Sharp calibrated correctly. If you want, maybe you can help me tweak the Sharp to get the best IQ out of it and then I'll make another comparison between the two. But as it stands right now, the Westy is winning (and believe me, I didn't want to believe that since the Sharp costs MORE and is 5" smaller).

Sorry to you guys that have been asking for pics! I'm sorry to put you off but the fact is my digicam sucks...it's an old HP 2.1MP and would in no way do justice to these beauties. The pics of the Sharp that I linked to above are OK, and there are tons of pics of the Westy in the 86 page thread over at HOCP. 🙂

I might snap some quick pics just to see how they turn out, but if they aren't of decent quality, I'm not gonna post them as it will only detract from the quality of the displays.

 

[Oakenfold]

I bought the Sharp 32" last night after agonizing over a 42" Westinghouse 1080P purchase and after reading multiple threads here on AT about it.

I scored the Westy for $1K but was not happy with it, I haven't had time to play much with the Sharp but after a few minutes adjusting contrast/brightness/blacklighting settings I believe the Sharp appears to display shades of grey/black much better than the Westy, in addition the PQ of watching dvd's over component or HDMI just did not look good to me on the Westy, I haven't had time to hookup a dvd player to the sharp.

I probably should have purchased a new digital camera instead of a tv though, pics from my floppy based mavica aren't going to show anything.

I'm sitting about 3-4 feet away so I realize the westy was much larger compared to the 32" sharp and technically I should be sitting back further for dvd viewing for a 42" but the ability to correctly display blacks had me troubled.

 

[Matt2]

Where did you get the 42" 1080p westy for $1k?

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Originally posted by: Imyourzero

Originally posted by: OneOfTheseDays
The Sharp has better PQ (much better blacks, better scaling circuitry, better contrast ratio). I own the Sharp D series 32" 1080P set and the 37" 1080P Westy.

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree. The IQ on the Westy so far has proven to be at least as good as that of the Sharp (for PC use, anyway -- haven't tried TV or DVDs). And the Westy doesn't annoy or distract you by constantly shifting the contrast.

Have you used both monitors on your PC? I ask because on paper, the Sharp does appear that it should blow the Westy out of the water. But when I hooked them up back to back on my PC, the Westy was actually far better as a monitor for reasons I may go into later (it's Easter!) And blacks are fine on the Westy even after coming from the Sharp. I was worried about that but after seeing the Westy in person I was pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps I just didn't have my Sharp calibrated correctly. If you want, maybe you can help me tweak the Sharp to get the best IQ out of it and then I'll make another comparison between the two. But as it stands right now, the Westy is winning (and believe me, I didn't want to believe that since the Sharp costs MORE and is 5" smaller).

Sorry to you guys that have been asking for pics! I'm sorry to put you off but the fact is my digicam sucks...it's an old HP 2.1MP and would in no way do justice to these beauties. The pics of the Sharp that I linked to above are OK, and there are tons of pics of the Westy in the 86 page thread over at HOCP. 🙂

I might snap some quick pics just to see how they turn out, but if they aren't of decent quality, I'm not gonna post them as it will only detract from the quality of the displays.

Well the reason why you have shifting contrast/brightness is because you need to set the AVMODE to USER to get rid of their auto-brightness adjusting feature. Also, turn off the Enhanced Blacks, turn Film Mode ON, turn OPC OFF, set Backlight to 0 (STD), brightness between 0 to +5, color at -4, tint at 0, sharpness at -4. I'm willing to bet money you have not calibrated the Sharp to its full potential. Before I calibrated mine I wasn't that impressed, but now it's literally like looking through a window.

I have both sets calibrated (using AVIA and my well-trained eyes 🙂) and there is no comparison. The Westy is simply outclassed by the Sharp in nearly every major IQ category. And it should, it cost me nearly $400 more than what I paid for the Westy.

I would reiterate that as a PC monitor the Westy is GREAT, I wouldn't buy anything else under $1000. But if you have > $1000 to spend there are better options.

 

[Oakenfold]

Originally posted by: Matt2
Where did you get the 42" 1080p westy for $1k?

BBY, it was an open box though.
Orange Park Florida.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: OneOfTheseDays

Originally posted by: Imyourzero

Originally posted by: OneOfTheseDays
The Sharp has better PQ (much better blacks, better scaling circuitry, better contrast ratio). I own the Sharp D series 32" 1080P set and the 37" 1080P Westy.

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree. The IQ on the Westy so far has proven to be at least as good as that of the Sharp (for PC use, anyway -- haven't tried TV or DVDs). And the Westy doesn't annoy or distract you by constantly shifting the contrast.

Have you used both monitors on your PC? I ask because on paper, the Sharp does appear that it should blow the Westy out of the water. But when I hooked them up back to back on my PC, the Westy was actually far better as a monitor for reasons I may go into later (it's Easter!) And blacks are fine on the Westy even after coming from the Sharp. I was worried about that but after seeing the Westy in person I was pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps I just didn't have my Sharp calibrated correctly. If you want, maybe you can help me tweak the Sharp to get the best IQ out of it and then I'll make another comparison between the two. But as it stands right now, the Westy is winning (and believe me, I didn't want to believe that since the Sharp costs MORE and is 5" smaller).

Sorry to you guys that have been asking for pics! I'm sorry to put you off but the fact is my digicam sucks...it's an old HP 2.1MP and would in no way do justice to these beauties. The pics of the Sharp that I linked to above are OK, and there are tons of pics of the Westy in the 86 page thread over at HOCP. 🙂

I might snap some quick pics just to see how they turn out, but if they aren't of decent quality, I'm not gonna post them as it will only detract from the quality of the displays.

Well the reason why you have shifting contrast/brightness is because you need to set the AVMODE to USER to get rid of their auto-brightness adjusting feature. Also, turn off the Enhanced Blacks, turn Film Mode ON, turn OPC OFF, set Backlight to 0 (STD), brightness between 0 to +5, color at -4, tint at 0, sharpness at -4. I'm willing to bet money you have not calibrated the Sharp to its full potential. Before I calibrated mine I wasn't that impressed, but now it's literally like looking through a window.

I have both sets calibrated (using AVIA and my well-trained eyes 🙂) and there is no comparison. The Westy is simply outclassed by the Sharp in nearly every major IQ category. And it should, it cost me nearly $400 more than what I paid for the Westy.

I would reiterate that as a PC monitor the Westy is GREAT, I wouldn't buy anything else under $1000. But if you have > $1000 to spend there are better options.

WOW, thanks for the tips. I thought the auto-brightness thing couldn't be adjusted. The AQUOS gets another check in my book. 😀

 

[Imyourzero]

Yes, thanks for your input OOTD. I will try the settings that you suggested. Someone in the HOCP thread mentioned doing the same thing but a member tried it and posted that they were still getting the shifting brightness/contrast. Maybe they didn't select the proper mode...I found it pretty hard to believe that Sharp wouldn't incorporate a way to disable that feature as once you notice it, it's pretty annoying when surfing.

 

[liquid51]

^^ qft indeed. Looks more and more like this is the one for me. Although, I really wish I could hit a local store that had both the westy and the sharp on display so Icould do a bit of comparison.

One question though: how would you go about getting full surround off hdmi (from 360, ps3, etc.) without using an HD reciever? I'm thinking something with an HDMI throughput (or switch maybe) with a S/PDIF out. Something just like this, minus the $550 price tag :Q.

 

[Imyourzero]

OK, I haven't gotten to experiment with OneOfTheseDays' suggestions yet but I just now received this email from a Sharp:

"Thank you for contacting Sharp Electronics Corporation.

Unfortunately there is no way to turn off the Dynamic Contrast. Sorry for any inconveniences."

My original email to them:

I was wondering if there was a way to disable the dynamic contrast feature
on the LC-32GP1U or any other model that has this feature. I'm sure it's
a nice feature for television and movies, but I bought this display for
use as a PC monitor. The contrast adjusts itself as different websites
are displayed which causes variations in what should be a constant color
(e.g. the Windows taskbar will go from bright vivid blue when a white
background is displayed to a darker, flatter blue when a dark webpage is
being displayed).

Is there a way to disable this feature so that the contrast stays constant
until adjusted in the menu by the user?

So maybe they don't know what they are talking about... I don't know, I'll play with it when I leave work and see how far I can get.