Sharp LC-32LE653U LED TV Review

Like last year's LE551U, the LE653U is a very solid performer for the price. Testing revealed excellent out-of-the-box color accuracy, solid contrast, and motion handling that's good enough for most use cases.

The smart features can feel a little dated compared to heavier hitters, and the exclusion of popular apps like Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video may cool the heels of certain users. If you've already got your streaming needs taken care of, though, the 32-inch LE653U delivers plenty of features and picture customization options, and (most importantly) an awesome picture for the price.

Design & Usability

If it ain't broke, don't curve it.

High-end televisions have gotten pretty fancy in the last few years. They keep getting bigger, yet somehow also keep getting lighter, slimmer, and curvier. The LC-32LE653U lives in a different sphere of the industry, however, so it hasn't really changed much compared to its spiritual predecessor, the LC-32LE551U, one of Sharp's low-end 2014 entries.

A rectangular, hollowed-out stand supports the panel while taking up minimal surface space. The TV's bezels and stand are the same matching, glossy black plastic—both look nice in ambient lighting, but can also pick up a lot of fingerprints over time. The rear casing is comprised of angular, charcoal-colored plastic and features the standard VESA wall-mount setup. Back here, you'll also find the TV's audio/video ports and power button.

At its entry-level price, this Sharp lacks the connectivity of high-end televisions. Ports include two HDMI inputs, one USB input, a coaxial jack for RF inputs, shared component/AV inputs, ethernet (LAN) input, and analog/digital audio outputs. That means you could have up to four high-definition inputs at once, which isn't bad.

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While the list of ports isn't the longest, they're at least arranged in an expert manner. For example, the USB 2.0 (for personal media/software updates), the MHL-capable HDMI input (for mobile playback), and audio outputs are on the side, as they'll likely need to be accessed often; hard-line connections like coaxial, ethernet, and ARC HDMI tend to be static, so they're on the back. We do wish there was a headphone jack, however.

Sharp includes a simple remote control and two AA batteries. This year's entry-level remote introduces a handy Netflix button, but is otherwise quite similar to last year's. Big, easy-to-use rockers for channel/volume, some "favorite" buttons for specifically designated apps, a full number pad, and hotkeys for picture mode and aspect ratio are all welcome details. The remote works well, but is less than ideal for web browsing—more on that in the next section.

Smart Features & Software

Caught somewhere between old and new.

Sharp debuted its fourth-generation smart platform, SmartCentral 4.0, during CES 2015 in Vegas, but you won't find it here. The LE-32LE653U features a simple, dressed-down version that provides a truncated glimpse of some of the full platform's better features.

For many users, it may actually be preferable: If you just want to plug the TV in, get online, and start watching House of Cards, that's easy to do.

There are some missing apps, however, that deflate this platform's value. Sharp's "Twitter for TV" is present, as well as apps for Netflix, VUDU, Facebook, and Pandora, but heavy hitters like Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and HBO GO are notably absent. This smart offering absolutely pales in comparison to even a cheap streaming option like the Roku Streaming Stick, though it'll satisfy certain users.

The only thing that feels a little outdated here is web browsing. Don't get me wrong—the web browser works fine, loads quickly, and has lots of smart hotkeys for navigation. Compared to a fluid, mouse-like cursor (like LG's Magic Remote), using the remote's navigational dial to sluggishly drag the cursor from the URL bar to a link on a page takes forever.

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The basic menu software is not expansive, but it has many more advanced calibration options than you'll find in an off-name brand, which is good news if you want to subtly tweak this TV's picture. Sharp includes a full CMS (Color Management System), color temperature pre-sets, and all of the usual picture adjustments, including backlight and sharpness—toggles often missing on bargain sets.

There are some enhancements, as well, including a dynamic contrast setting that boosts perceptible brightness/darkness on screen, and a "monochrome" mode that makes everything black and white. Picture modes are fairly standard—Dynamic is bright and saturated and sharp, for sunny rooms, while Movie is the most accurate per scientific standards.

Finally, like some of Sharp's higher-end models, the LE653U features the unique "Wallpaper Mode," where it displays an image with low power while it's off. This helps it add to an environment even when you aren't using it. There's lots here overall, but the software and smart features are actually this Sharp's weakest area.

Picture Quality

Another winning entry-level option from Sharp.

Sharp delivered an excellent entry-level TV in last year's LE551U series, and the LE653U continues that success by delivering a very solid Full HD picture—in fact, it's even better than its predecessor.

There are some natural drawbacks here that are mitigated due to this TV's size. For one, at 32 inches, its edge-lit LED backlight design provides ample brightness without sacrificing black level, or shadow tones. During testing, I found it had excellent contrast performance overall; it's got nothing on an OLED TV, but the black levels here are great for this price range, and you'll be satisfied unless you're switching from a plasma or CRT.

Really, there's a lot of smart engineering here. For example, at "0" on the Backlight selector, the TV naturally puts out the standard 40 foot-Lamberts of luminance many calibrators aim for during a "night mode" setup. That might sound like gibberish, but it means that someone probably knew exactly what they were doing when designing and building this TV. Neutral elements like grays, blacks, and bright whites are clean and color-free, calibrated to the proper "color temperature" when you're in Movie mode.

Likewise, while the LE653U doesn't attempt to approach the expansive, super-vivid color of today's high-end 4K televisions, it matches the "old" standard for HD content—all the content that's still on TV, Netflix, and Blu-ray—very accurately. There are discrepancies that very attentive viewers might notice, but for the most part, the TV's color production is spot-on, promising rich hues and preservation of subtler details.

The one place this Sharp could be a little better is in terms of motion performance. It's not a bad performer—movie and TV content rendered at 24 or 30 frames per second (what most people watch) looks fine, but lacking any motion compensation or backlight shuttering, more advanced content can occasionally exhibit blurring.

Because it's a 1080p set, it handles 720p content fine, but occasionally struggles with interlaced (1080i) content due to the double-tracing required. This is one area where the 60 Hz panel shows some limitations, but really, only very picky viewers or PC gamers are going to take issue.

The one big problem I have with this TV is the reflectivity of the screen. It's really glossy, and while it makes for a natural-looking picture in dim lighting, it has an almost mirror-like quality in more brightly lit rooms. This can be mitigated with controlled lighting, but if you have a lot of windows, it's pretty hard to watch even with the backlight set to max.

Check out the Science Page for charts and more information on this TV's lab results.

The Verdict

Excellent for the price, but a bit old-fashioned.

When it comes to picture quality, this Sharp is all blue ribbons. Everything from disc media to streaming content and video games will look great, and (because of the panel type), you don't have to worry about too much input lag, either. The attention to detail by Sharp is paramount, and it shows.

Just keep in mind there are a few caveats. First, the glossy screen make this series a risky one for brightly lit rooms with lots of windows, so you'll want to have at least some control over your room lighting. Secondly, the smart features are somewhat limited, so you may want to supplement a streaming device like a Roku or Chromecast. Third, while the 32-inch is a solid performer, the larger sizes—48 or 55 inches—may not offer the same excellent performance, as they're stretching the edge-lit backlight's abilities a bit.

If you're willing to pay a little more, you might be able to find a smoother smart TV experience, but frankly the picture quality here punches well above its station; even if you think the smart features and extras like "Wallpaper mode" aren't necessary, the picture quality is good enough that you'd still be getting a solid value even if you never used them.

Bottom line? If a 32-inch LED TV is what you need, the Sharp's LC-32LE653U looks to be one of 2015's best options so far. The Sharp LC-32LE653U (MSRP $349, online for $279) is a top-notch performer for the money. It naturally lacks the breathtaking sharpness and color quality of higher tech options like 4K or OLED TVs, but in this price range it's still stellar.

Time in the lab revealed solid contrast bolstered by good black levels and ample brightness; colors that were accurate in hue, saturation, and brightness; a mildly imperfect but still decent dim-room gamma curve; and good motion and backlight uniformity. The only things you're losing out on are specs you aren't paying for, like higher resolution, wider color, full-array backlighting, or altogether new panel technology.

Calibration

For an entry-level TV, the LE653U has plenty of calibration options for basic under-the-hood adjustments, including a 2-point white balance, color temperature selector, and a full CMS. We calibrate each TV we test regardless of how big or expensive it is to get a better idea of its strengths and weaknesses. The LE653U didn't actually need much calibration from a casual standpoint; the improvements I made to its picture quality were very wan.

I calibrated for the standard 40 fL reference brightness and a gamma of 2.2, since calibration a smaller, edge-lit TV to the more difficult dark room gamma of 2.4 seemed unnecessary. Starting from Movie mode, I reduced the sharpness control, reduced the backlight to "0", and made small adjustments to the TV's RGB balance. In the following sections (besides Contrast and Viewing Angle), you'll see test results for the Movie mode default settings, and our final results after calibration.

Contrast Ratio

Contrast (and black level in particular) are arguably the most important basic requirements for an immersive, pleasing picture, especially when dealing with movie/video content originally shot on film. Edge-lit TVs like the LE653U often struggle to produce satisfying black levels: Because their light fixtures cast light from the perimeter of the screen, the entire screen is often mildly lit up even when it shouldn't be.

The LE653U boasts a VA panel sub-type, however, meaning its liquid crystal closes up tighter than in an IPS panel, and effectively block stray, unwanted light from the backlight element. I measured a consistent black level of 0.06 cd/m² , which is quite dark, alongside an ANSI reference white of 221.70 cd/m² , which is equally bright. The resulting contrast ratio of 3695:1 is very good, especially for this price.

Viewing Angle

Our viewing angle test measures a TV's horizontal flexibility in terms of off-angle viewing. We measure full-field (or 99%) contrast screens across 10° increments from the center to either side, noting when the TV's initial head-on contrast falls below 50% of its original value. Most edge-lit LED TVs don't do amazingly here; if you want a huge viewing angle, you at least need an IPS panel, and at best need a plasma/OLED TV.

The LE653U tested with a total viewing angle of 37°, or ±18° from the center to either side. This means at 10 feet away (a little far for this screen size), you can move about 3.3 feet to either side before the picture degrades. This isn't a bad result at all, but it's not a strong suit either.

Color Gamut

A color gamut illustrates a display's color saturation/hue accuracy versus a set-in-stone, scientific standard. In this case, the LE653U is "meant" to hit Rec.709, the HDTV color standard. It's identical to sRGB, the digital color standard that most computer monitors adhere to. Many TVs can exceed Rec.709, but the LE653U does not aim to, only to accurately create it.

And that it does. Testing revealed very accurate white, red, green, and blue points. Yellow, a secondary color, is also produced accurately. Cyan and magenta are both slightly blue-tinted, but not so much that most viewers will ever mind. Color hue/saturation and luminance were all within the dE range of error, so I didn't bother with color calibration.

Grayscale & RGB Balance

What's a grayscale? In art, you can make a grayscale by pushing a pencil down really hard and beginning to shade; gradually reduce pressure until the black graphite becomes dark gray, then middle gray, then low white, into peak (reference) white on paper (when you stop shading). You've probably done this in art class. Well, TVs do the same thing, except instead of creating grayscale tones in a pure sense, they combine red, green, and blue light to make white, and then use electrical currents to determine how "hard" they're pressing.

This can be tricky, especially for cheaper TVs, as mixing those colors properly requires a subtle emphasis and careful use of electricity. When "grayscale tracking" is incorrect, neutral shades can appear tinted with color, often blue or pink. Error across the grayscale is measured in a collective called deltaE (or dE), where a dE of 3 or less is considered ideal/imperceptible.

The LE653U kicked butt here. Prior to calibration, it tested just under the perceptible limit with a grayscale dE of 2.87. After a brief calibration session, its error was reduced to 1.76.

During testing, we also analyze the underlying emphasis and prevalence of the red, green, and blue primaries used within the grayscale. This gives us an idea of where grayscale errors are coming from, and also how the TV handles those colors individually during color production. Prior to calibration, the LE653U evenly emphasizes colors—there's a little more blue and a little less red than is ideal, but both are not emphasized/under-emphasized by more than 5% of the signal. After calibration, the emphasis was shored up to within 2-3% margins.

Gamma

Gamma is a holdover from the CRT, an older type of TV that used a vacuum tube and moving photon generator to create and trace images. Because it wasn't a digital production device, the shape of the tube naturally handled light in a way that wasn't conducive to human vision, so a gamma correction curve was introduced to level light emphasis in a way that it looked best to analog, human eyes.

While newer TVs are moving away from gamma, the LE653U isn't quite there. Fortunately, its gamma curve is quite on-point, describing a standard 2.2 curve for dim/slightly lit rooms. Testing revealed that it's a bit darker than it should be across the midtone, resulting in a total gamma of 2.23 instead of strictly 2.2. After calibration, it described a similarly odd curve, but was closer to the 2.2 standard at 2.21.