14 DAY TRIAL // Even if Sharp has made some rather interesting product announcements at this year's IFA show, it actually managed to hold some surprises for CEDIA as well. So, besides the ultra-thin, 120 Hz HDTVs (which they've initially presented at the Berlin show), the company has also unveiled a couple of very interesting Blu-ray players, meant to complement the aforementioned AQUOS LCDs and to provide a complete and comprehensive solution for one's home entertainment center.
The stars of Sharp's lineup were, without a doubt, the AQUOS LCD TV Limited Edition Series (XS1) TVs, namely the LC-65XS1U-S and LC-52XS1U-S models. Featuring a depth at their thinnest point of only one inch, the new 65- and 52-inch class ultra-thin models incorporate an ultra-high performance RGB LED backlight, for a 150 percent NTSC color gamut and a Dynamic Contrast Ratio of more than 1,000,000:1.
In order to keep the frame as slim as possible, the XS1 HDTVs have a separate AVC system set-top box for all input terminals that can be connected to the screen via the included HDMI cable or with an optional wireless connection. Additionally, the units include five HDMI inputs as well as dual HD component terminals, all of which are compatible with 1080p signals.
As mentioned earlier, Sharp has also brought to CEDIA two AQUOS Blu-ray Disc Players, the BD-HP21U and the BD-HP50U. The first model is slightly less expensive (priced at around 350 US dollars), and offers users a wide variety of advanced features, including the possibility of upscaling old DVDs and accessing additional content from Blu-ray titles, including movie trailers, special subtitles/audio and games. Featuring both analog and digital outputs, including HDMI connections at 1080p as well as DVD up-conversion of standard DVDs, the player allows users to enjoy full digital high-definition video and high-fidelity audio, while at the same time offering multi-channel audio output via HDMI connections by decoding Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio, as well as Dolby Digital Plus.
The second player presented by Sharp is the BD-HP50U, priced at 450 US dollars. This unit allows users to enjoy complete digital 1080p/24Hz high-definition movies, and even sports a Quick Start feature that starts playback in as little as 10- seconds. Additionally, the device offers multi-channel audio output via HDMI through decoding, as well as Bitstream output Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital Plus. Like most other modern players, the BD-HP50U can do a pretty decent job out of upscaling standard DVDs and is compatible with a wide variety of formats including BD-ROM/RE/R, DVD Video, DVD-RW/R, DVD+RW/R, and Audio CDs.
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