Sharp Aquos LC32AD5E review

This TV is the 32in version of Sharp's 26in Aquos LC26AD5E, which is reviewed on page 122.

Sadly, most of the criticisms we made about the 26in model apply here, too. There are only two HDMI inputs, and neither these nor the component inputs support 1080p signals. The onscreen menus are blocky and ugly, and the various inputs are labeled EXT1 to EXT7, giving no clue as to which sockets or connected devices they refer.

Freeview picture quality was below average, with noise and compression artefacts making a mess of skin tones. The 4:3 broadcasts were stretched to widescreen by default, although we eventually found an obscurely located option to change this. The EPG has room to display listings for only five channels at a time, and navigating around it caused the entire image to shudder for no apparent reason.

This TV doesn't work well as a PC display. When using a DVI-to-HDMI cable, we were unable to get a pixel-sharp image and there was a slight wobble to the picture. Switching to a VGA cable solved both problems, but colours were oversaturated and lacked brightness.

Video playback is this TV's strongest area. Colours in DVDs looked balanced and vibrant, with little sign of interference when connected with a SCART cable. Blu-ray discs looked fantastic over HDMI with sumptuous colours and detail that was just a whisker below those of Samsung's 26in LE26A456C. Colours weren't quite as vivid over a component connection, but were arguably more faithful to the source footage. However, on both types of connection, Samsung's 32in LE32A436 TV revealed more detail in vivid areas of colour. HD video playback was blemished further by the lack of 1080p support; Blu-ray movies will need to be converted to 720p before being piped to the TV. The 1080i footage works, too, but static, high-contrast lines wobbled due to less-than-perfect de-interlacing.

At £500, Sharp's Aquos LC32AD5E isn't particularly good value for a 32in TV and it fails to excel with any type of video source.