Sharp LC32SV29U 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV - Black (2011 Model)

I bought this set recently on a Lightning Deal (though it wasn't THAT deeply discounted). Upon receiving it I was as disappointed as most people reviewing it here and was on the fence about returning it. Colors were unspectacular and washed out. Brightness, even in a dark room, (and here's the key) was bland and unimpressive.After fooling with settings for about 10 minutes I stumbled upon the "Ambient Light Sensor" option, which dynamically dims and brightens the display based upon the the brightness of your environment (see how my dark room actually messed me up?).After disabling this "feature" I was was nearly as impressed with the contrast, brightness, and colors as my 46" Sharp Aquos, 40" Bravia, and 26" Samsung ToC. It is a VERY nice set, with excellent picture, adequate volume and a very reasonable price point. (Yes; "nearly". C'mon, my Aquos was SEVEN TIMES the price at that time.)I am a bit of a electronics-snob, and I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking for an affordable 32" who does not require LED backlighting, or integrated "apps".P.S. Looks AMAZING paired with a PS3 through HDMI!Side note: I understand that all of these electronics manufacturers are competing to be the most "Green", or "Environment Friendly". Everyone wants that yellow sticker on their product that claims "Only costs $0.25 cents a year to operate! *under factory settings). But shipping these things in such a diminished state is probably counter-productive since it is more impactful on the environment to have them shipped back to Amazon in large brown trucks, IMHO. ~ Daneshep

This TV is perfect for our living room. Easy to set up, hooked up to our Wii, DVD player, and cable box nicely and everything looks great. I did turn off the "Ambient Light Sensor" that others have mentioned and the color went from dull to perfect. I tried the "Dynamic" setting as well, and it made things even brighter. I guess it depends on the light in your room of what works best for you. I also don't know why the sound was a problem for others, it is loud and clear...even on a low sound "number." I would definitely recommend this TV and the price can not be beat, and I did shop around to make sure.

If you find this helpful, please add your vote!I originally bought the $199 Haier 32-inch  Haier L32D1120 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV, Black  looking for a low-priced option. That TV was actually very good, but had a critical flaw for my purpose: I need to use it with headphones to avoid waking the baby in the next room, and the Haier's speakers don't turn off when the headphones are connected. Amazon's easy returns process put me back in the market for a new set, so I pounced on this Sharp when it was $50 more.I expected a better picture, better connectivity, and a few more features given the brand and higher price. However, I also knew that in a sub-$300 720p set, I couldn't expect to be blown away.All in all, I'm satisfied, but teetering on the edge of returning it, because I really am pretty underwhelmed with the picture quality. I have two other TVs - a 55-inch Panasonic Viera Plasma hooked up via HDMI, and a 46-inch Samsung 1080p LCD hooked up via coaxial cable to a remote Dish box. I hooked up this Sharp via the same coax setup, so my expectations were for a good SD picture, which I know to be far below a true HD signal on a good screen. Here is the rundown:PROS:PriceConnectivity more than adequate - although I only need coax right now, I can foresee using this in a more complex setup in the futureInputs are on the rear with a few on the side (Haier put them all on the bottom, which made no sense)Intuitive menu and easy setupAssembly onto the stand (and disassembly from it) was far easier than my samsung, whose engineers decided to bury the screws in deep caves on the rear housingSpeakers turn off when headphones are connected (and there's a separate option for disabling it permanently if you'd like, which I would recommend if you use it with an A/V receiver)Easily wall-mountable (I recommend monoprice mounts for great value)CONS:underwhelming picture - I tried to optimize picture settings, but it still is nowhere near the SD quality of my Samsung, even allowing some benefit of the doubt on the size and price difference. It's not bad enough that I think I have a defective unit, but just bad enough to irk me.TV does not swivel on the stand - head-scratching omission there by Sharp, but still no big dealMenu - takes up 85% of the screen, right in the center. And unlike on Samsung, there is no way to move it, or make it translucent. That makes it tricky to adjust video settings while trying to see the effect of your changesSo although I know I'm comparing two high-end 1080p sets to a budget 720p, I do have a pretty close comparison with two sets receiving the same standard definition signal. I will keep it because it's not a terrible picture, but it will probably bug me for a while. If I were to do it over, I'd probably wait for another lightning deal (or the more rare Vizio deal on woot).UPDATE:I suffered through 20 minutes of making small adjustments, then exiting out of the menu so I could see the effect, and repeating this process. I was able to get some adjustments done while pausing the show when a face, some colorful item, and some black areas were at the edge of the screen (so I could see something meaningful while the menu blocked the rest of the screen). I now have better skin tones and a less hazy picture. Still not quite the samsung standard def picture, but it's not supposed to be at this price. I'm now totally satisfied at the price I paid. The product itself is a four-star product, but offers five-star value at $250. I now recommend it.UPDATE:In response to a request, here are my settings. Your results will vary based on ambient lighting, preferences, etc, but these work for me.Backlight 67Brightness 45Contrast 49Saturation 71Hue -1Sharpness 13Color Temp: R 125 G 127 B 125

I bought this TV on a 24 hour sale, fast free delivery, TV looks great, sounds great, works great. Originally hooked it up to my FIOS with the coax cable until I got my HDMI cables. The picture is very good, better than I expected, and better than many other HD TVs I checked out. When I hooked up the HDMI cable and finally figured out the last settings I was amazed by the picture and sound. I can only imagine that the few who complained about picture quality have something set very wrong. Im impressed, as long as the quality and function are long tived I will keep this TV for a long time. The picture image is very sharp, not cloudy or muddy as a few have said (unless they have bad examples).

I was a little concerned purchasing this TV when I saw some of the reviews. When I got the TV the picture was dull, dim and questionable. I felt secure that I could send it back if I didn't like it (at no charge). I went into the picture settings and found the ambient light setting and turned it to "OFF". The picture magically came to life after that. I have been very satisfied with the TV and picture since then. Very fast moving images do blur a bit but this is not a $600 TV. I gave it five stars not because it is the best most perfect TV but because it is an awesome TV for the price and it is 32in! Don't be scared away. Dip into the settings and find what works best for you!

I have a Sharp 52" which I purchased through Amazon, set it up myself out of the box and the picture did not need any adjusting whatsoever, This 32" requires changing of the numerous options for picture quality and so it become frustrating as to whether you are looking at the best picture the set has to offer or are you settling because you do not have the expertise to max out the performance.Lewis P Monteleone...