Tour & Design

The LC-52XS1U-S is set in a metallic frame, attached to a long, thin speaker that runs horizontally. The on-TV controls and power LED are located on the bit that bridges the gap between the frame and the speaker.

The *LC-52XS1U-S's face is a bit plain.
*

**Sides**

The sides of the LC-52XS1U-S are an inch thick at its thinnest parts. Therefore, there isn't a lot of room to put features. This being said, on the right side, there's a small input area that accepts a USB cable and has a reset switch.

With a thickness of 1 inch at its

thinnest part, the LC-52XS1U-S is hard

to identify when turned to the side. 

**Stand/Mount**

The LC-52XS1U-S can be wall mounted or attached to a stand. 

 

Aesthetics

The LC-52XS1U-S is a great looking TV. It has a metallic frame, with the speaker below and parallel to the screen's bottom. It's an interesting design and one we definitely like. Not only does it have a unique look, but it's thin as well, and won't have many cords running away from it since the cords will all be located on a separate box.  looks a bit plain, at least from the front view. The glossy black plastic bezel makes it it look like any other understated TV. The large screen size coupled with a thin form factor does bump up the cool factor a bit, but overall, there isn't much to this TV that grabbed us. 

Performance Features

Display Size & Technology

The LC-52XS1U-S is a 52-inch LCD. LCDs are often a lot brighter than plasma TVs, and they're also a lot more energy efficient. They also generally offer a poorer contrast ratio and have weak blacks. The TV is also available in a 65-inch size, under the moniker, 'LC-65XS1U-S.'

The display on the LC-52XS1U-S certainly looked bright.

Format & Resolution

The LC-52XS1U-S runs 1080p, which is the top-of-the-line HD quality right now. It runs a 1920x1080 resolution, which is a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Brightness, Blacks & Contrast Ratio

The LC-52XS1U-S has a an absurdly high manufacturer-stated contrast ratio: 1,000,000:1. Manufacturers typically fudge contrast ratios, but one this high has some serious PR spin being put on it. We're guessing the blacks and whites were measured separately, with different settings enabled for each. The blacks were probably measured with the backlight turned off and everything turned down, while the whites were measured with every setting turned all the way up. Not only is it unrealistic to expect this sort of contrast ratio during normal viewing, it's impossible, since the settings that max out the white have to be tuned the opposite way to max out black. If this isn't the case, then some setting is very blown out, so much so that the picture quality would plummet. When we test for contrast, we have a standardized method that ensures picture quality doesn't suffer. If you want a better number for contrast – a result that can be directly compared to another TV's result for an easy comparison – keep checking this site to see if we've gotten this TV in for lab testing.

Refresh Rate & Motion

There was some very, very slight motion blurring on the  LC-52XS1U-S. The video seemed very smooth, however. This being said, we were watching a model on the show floor that was playing back a video we hand't seen before. Perhaps the minute motion blurring was intentional, perhaps it wasn't and the TV simple doesn't handle motion as well as the highest tier of TVs out there, or maybe it was our own fallible eyes lying to us. Regardless, we think we'll trust our own lab testing, whenever we're able to get the LC-52XS1U-S into our labs for testing.

Viewing Angle

The manufacturer-stated viewing angle is 176º. We didn't see a gigantic leap between off-center and staring at the screen from an extreme angle. Colors did get a bit washed out from any other angle but dead-on, however. They didn't get much worse as we walked around the screen, however. Really, the initial drop was the most significant, and even then the changes were negligible.

Color

We didnt' ahve a problem with the LC-52XS1U-S's ability to showcase color. Colors looked vibrant and consistently emphasized throughought the screen. Really, we didn't have any pWe didn't see any issues with the LC-52XS1U-S's color representation. They seemed vibrant and weren't inconsistent throughout the screen. Changing the viewing angle did desaturate the picture slightly, but as we mentioned earlier, it didn't seem to be an issue.

Connectivity & Media

Audio & Video Ports

The left side of the LC-52XS1U-S has a reset switch and a USB calbe. The back has what looks to be an analog auio, and HDMI. The TV has such few controls because it connects to a separate box that handles all its outputs. The television's spec sheet says the LC-52XS1U-S has the following ports: 5 HDMI, 2 component Inputs, an RGB PC Input, 1 D-sub 15-pin, 1 S-Video Input, 3 composent inputs, 1 RS-232C input, 1 USB input, 1 eithernet input, and 4 analog audio ports. We weren't able to take a picture of this separate box, because it was hidden from show floor viewing.

The right side offers a USB port, while the back offers an HDMI slot amother other banalitites.

The box apparently has a lot more features, bu it was hidden from the press's prying eyes.

Media & Other Connectivity

The LC-52XS1U-S has an ethernet jack for the AQUOS Net feature. This will allow users to access web-based conent.

Placement

The placements of the ports on the TV are incredibly easy to get to. First of all, there aren't even a lot of ports on the LC-52XS1U-S to begin with. The side has a USB cable, and the back has some basic ports, but otherwise the outputs are located behing the separate box that was hidden from the prying eyes of the press.

Audio

The LC-52XS1U-S has three speakers, two which run on 7.5W, and one that runs 15W. The main speaker is located under the screen, facing forward. 

Controls, Menu & Remote

Remote

The people working at Sharps booth weren't forthcoming with the TV's remote.

Controls

The LC-52XS1U-S's controls are located at the bottom of the TV's front size, at the point where the speakers connect to the TV. The controls are limited to the basic ones: volume, channel, input, menu, and power. 

The LC-52XS1U-S puts all its controls on the front of the device. 

Menu

We weren't allowed to open the TV's menu.

Conclusion

The LC-52XS1U-S is an absurdly attractive TV. It is also absurdly expensive; prohibitively so. It's really a shame too, since if it were priced just a few hundred dollars above most TVs its size, it'd be a great deal. At $12,000, no typical consumer would even consider buying this TV. We're hoping Sharp comes up with a way to reduce the LC-52XS1U-S's price, or at least make a model that consumers might actually buy.