Sharp N3000 Review

LC-32N3000U, LC-40N3000U. LC-50N3100U

LED backlit LCD TV with USB media player

by , Senior Editor

Positives

  • Price/Value
  • Sharp Reliability
  • Bright Colorful Picture/Peak Whites
  • Not much Judder noted good signals
  • Not bad for Gaming
  • Great Volume from Speakers
  • Light flow through

Negatives

  • Glare/Reflection from the TV screen
  • Side Angle Viewing Contrast Degradation
  • Lack of Depth from Matte-type screen finish/Flat Picture
  • Limited picture setting adjustments
  • Hollow Sound Quality

Picture Settings

There are limited picture settings and they vary depending on whether watching streaming, broadcast/cable, or player based content.

PICTURE MODES

  • Vivid – oversaturated color
  • Eco Save – TV preset to this mode. Oversaturated
  • Normal – not bad but too much blue push
  • Sports - oversaturated
  • Movie – the best mode to calibrate from
  • Game – Accessed through the game control button on the remote control.

PICTURE SETTINGS/CALIBRATIONS

  • Picture Mode: Movie
  • Dynamic Contrast – Low
  • Backlight – Cannot be adjusted when viewing Streaming Content
  • Set to 60 otherwise.
  • Contrast - 46
  • Brightness – 50
  • Sharpness -10
  • Color – 54
  • Tint - 0
  • Color Temperature – Warm
  • Picture Size – Auto (automatically sizes the picture to the correct aspect ratio)

A TV Brightness setting allows for quick changes in the backlight to accommodate various room light conditions. In very dark scenes from Noah, I could not get enough brightness to see the picture or shadow detail well.

Picture Quality

The LED backlighting in this little Sharp TV are impressive and black levels are well saturated. Once calibrated, color rendition was good though not of the best caliber when we tested with our standard Fifth Element BluRay disk. For a TV in this price, I was very pleased with contrast. Dark shadow detail during Noah needed some work during several very dark scenes. There was some false countouring noted during Fifth Element when some dark areas looked splotchy.

"Side angle viewing and a flattish picture were negatives"

Drawbacks are typical Sharp LED TV negatives, starting with a flattish picture with little depth, side angle viewing contrast reduction noticeably starting at around 20 degree off center, and some backlight uniformity issues.The picture is better than almost anything in its price range though with competition only from Vizio as a reliable alternative.

Sharp N3000 LED TV
This pic from the BluRay of The 5th Element shows great detail and light flow-through.

Appearance and Design

The N300U is acceptably decent looking with a ¼ inch black gloss plastic frame. The stand design is a bit awkward, but works well.

Sound Quality / Audio

There is plenty of volume, a positive. A setting of 19 out of 100 is all we needed to fill a large room. The quality is somewhat hollow and definitely not robust and full from the two 10 watt speakers. Voice definition isn't bad.

Value

Price and value are what the N3000U model is about. The 32N3000U sells for a paltry $189. The 40N3000U for $289, and the 50N3100U for $399. This is a great TV for that extra bedroom or kids room.

(A note about our reviews. Our professional reviewers begin our reviews with our initial impressions about quality of picture and features inclusion, then we add specifications, then value and pricing information, and finally strengths and weaknesses and ratings. When our reviews contain an overall rating, you know they are complete. Thank you for reading!)



Robert Wiley Having reviewed and written about Television Technology for over 10 years, Wiley never tires of researching the newest qualitative trends related to the technology. Most people do not get excited about possibilities behind the latest video engine... Wiley does. Read more about Robert