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Highlights: 2016 Sharp LCDs feature curved screens, local dimming, and quantum color

Sharp's TV business in the Americas has been acquired by Chinese TV manufacturer Hisense, and Sharp's 2016 TV lineup may represent the last "pure" offering from the company before the brand takes new direction. That said, Sharp's best 2016 televisions will offer the latest in picture quality enhancements and advanced multimedia capabilities.

A new UI
Sharp's 2016 HD and ultra-high definition (UHD) televisions have received a user interface (UI) make over that makes better use of higher screen resolutions. The result appears to provide a cleaner look that finally does away with the clunky retro-looking menus of past designs.

Ideally, the clean interface presented above extends to all sub-menus for a consistent presentation.

Best 2016 TVs + Tech

The Flagship - AQUOS N9000 Series
The Sharp N9000 series UHD TVs feature the company's SPECTROS quantum dot technology for producing chromatically-rich white light that enables improved brightness efficiency and color saturation. The N9000 series also marks the first time the company has offered HDR compatibility in both flat and curved screen design options.

Other N9000 series features include:

• Full array local dimming backlight
• High-dynamic range (Open HDR spec)
• Quantum dot color (91% Rec.2020)
• 2x2 dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac
• dbx-tv sound
• 8-core processor
• VP9 and HEVC decoding
• 4K media support
• App store + web browser

The 65-inch Sharp AQUOS N9000U (LC-65N9000U - pictured above) is the company's first curved screen TV offering, and the addition of full array local dimming (FALD) should enable brightness and contrast on par with similarly spec'd premium LCD televisions like the Samsung JS9500 (read review). Good FALD isn't cheap or easy to do, but the resulting improvement in picture contrast makes it my favorite LCD feature. The 65-inch N9000U is expected to ship early-to-mid 2016 with a price of $3000 (MSRP).

If you are not a fan of curved TV screens, then the 70-inch Sharp AQUOS N9100 (LC-70N9100U - pictured above) gives you all of the same picture performance and features of the curved N9000 in a flat screen design. The 70-inch N9100U is expected to ship early-to-mid 2016 with price of $3300 (MSRP).

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Sharp AQUOS N8000 Series
Bringing more value to increasingly popular large UHD screen sizes, the Sharp AQUOS N8000 series televisions will feature fewer zones of local dimming compared to the company's flagship N9000 series while providing similar core specs and compatibility with HDR video sources. The N8000 (pictured below) achieves its wide color gamut (WCG) support through the use of optimized color filters and polarizers, and I'll be curious to see how the TV's color gamut coverage compares to other LCDs using quantum dot or phosphor-enhanced LED backlight systems. The 70-inch Sharp AQUOS N8100U (LC-70N8100U) has an MSRP of $2300 and is styled similarly to the N9100 pictured above.

The N8100 features a full array local dimming backlight system while its larger sibling, the 75-inch Sharp AQUOS N8000U (LC-75N8000U - pictured above) is edge-lit with local dimming capabilities. The Sharp LC-75N8000U has an MSRP of $3000.

Review: LG LED Projector

Sharp AQUOS N7000 Series
Sharp's N7000 series of UHD TVs is also HDR-ready but sacrifices wide color gamut support to be an even better value. The N7000 series features similar wireless networking, CPU power, sound, and multimedia support as Sharp's premium models. However, only the larger 70-inch Sharp AQUOS N7100U (LC-70N7100U) will feature full array local dimming while the smaller sized Sharp AQUOS N7000U series (pictured below) lack hardware local dimming altogether.

MSRP pricing for the Sharp AQUOS N7000 series TVs is as follows:

• 70-inch LC-70N7100U: $1,999.99
• 65-inch LC-65N7000U: $1,499.99
• 60-inch LC-60N7000U: $1,199.99
• 55-inch LC-55N7000U: $799.99
• 50-inch LC-50N7000U: $699.99
• 43-inch LC-43N7000U: $499.99

Review: Great Portable BT Speaker

Sharp N6000 Series
Rounding out Sharp's 2016 UHD TV offerings is the N6000 series. This series delivers many of the same base features of Sharp's premium 2016 TVs including an 8-core CPU, wireless networking, and apps. The N6000 TVs are also compatible with HDR-encoded content albeit without the wide color gamut or local dimming capabilities of more expensive models. The big deal here is attractive pricing for mid-sized UHD resolution LCDs.

• 55-inch LC-55N6000U: $749.99
• 50-inch LC-50N6000U: $599.99
• 43-inch LC-43N6100U: $449.99

Robert's Favorite Home Theater Gear

Updated: Great TV Deals

     This article will be updated as new information becomes available

Updated March 19, 2016: 8K and HDR update

LG Electronics has introduced its premium 2016 lineup of ultra-high definition (UHD) LCDs branded under the moniker "LG SUPER UHD". LG's latest UHD TVs include four distinct series for North American markets with three of them highlighted for preview today. The fourth series is a "production-ready" 98-inch 8K TV - 4x the resolution of a regular UHD TV.

All of LG's 2016 Super UHD TVs will feature the company's latest LCD/LED picture technologies including:

• High-dynamic range (HDR10/PQ Curve compatible)
• Wide color gamut (WCG)
• Updated IPS panel
• 120Hz refresh rate
• HDMI 2.0a/HDCP 2.2
• Flat slim designs
• Edge-lit LED backlight
• SDR-to-HDR conversion engine
• webOS 3.0

One item of note above is HDR10 support: an LG representative stated that all of LG's 2016 OLED 4K TVs and SUPER UHD LCDs will support all current HDR formats including the Dolby Vision format supported by VUDU and soon Netflix. Amazon and YouTube HDR playback compatibility are also arriving in 2016.

Review: LG Portable LED Projector

webOS 3.0
Aiming for an interface that provides the user with "simple connection, simple switching, and simple discovery", LG's webOS 3.0 is paired with an upgraded Magic Remote that adds DVR controls and improved universal control. The webOS 3.0 platform introduces the following new updates and features:

• Magic Zoom - screen magnification without quality degradation
• Magic Mobile Connection - Android/iOS compatible streaming
• My Channels/Live Menu - check favorite channels easily
• Channel Plus - free over-the-top (OTT) content
• Channel Advisor - displays frequently viewed TV shows
• Multi-view - view two sources simultaneously
• Music Player - use TV speakers when display is off
• IoTV app (Internet of Things) - control compatible devices via TV

Among the many new features of webOS 3.0 that are listed above, I'll be looking to see if Multi-view allows for the use of two HDMI-connected source devices - something that most TVs are unable to utilize for picture-in-picture (PiP) or side-by-side simultaneous viewing.

Review: RIVA Turbo X

The lineup
LG's 2016 SUPER UHD TVs have transitioned away from the use of quantum dot technology to improve brightness efficiency and color saturation. Instead, these TVs will feature an upgraded phosphor-coated LED backlight system paired with a tighter, thicker color filter layer to expand color coverage for supporting 4K UHD video sources. LG claims this technology dubbed Color Prime Plus achieves 91% coverage of the Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) color space that is used in commercial cinema. DCI's enhanced color (compared to HD) has become available via streaming 4K UHD video services as well.

UH9800
There aren't many details available about LG's production-ready 98-inch 8K Super UHD TV (model UH9800). Last year, LG demonstrated a very similar 98-inch 8K LCD that boasted an HDR-benefiting "ultra" luminance algorithm and a wide color palette. However, LG has announced that this TV will feature a superMHL port to wrangle an 8K video signal into this massively detailed screen.

Review: Vizio 5.1 Sound Bar System

UH9500
The flagship UH9500 series TVs feature LG's latest display improvements and design concepts. The 9500's bezel is a sliver-thin strip of trim with slightly rounded corners leaving the eyes to focus on its triple-filtered 10-bit screen that reduces glare and reflections by a claimed 50% better than last year's tech. Compared to LCD panels that operate at 8-bits per color channel or less, a 10-bit LCD should better reduce the appearance of banding and posterization artifacts.

Other noteworthy features of the UH9500 include:

• 10-bit panel/10-bit processing
• Color Prime Plus
• Ultra-thin chassis (6.6mm/0.22in)
• harman/kardon-enhanced audio
• "Magic Sound Tuning" room audio analyzer
• "Near invisible bezels"
• Screen sizes: 55- to 86-inches
• Triple layer anti-glare/low-reflection film

The "sound tuning" room audio analyzer has my attention - I'm hoping it uses the microphone on the remote to listen for setup tones (stay tuned!)

Review: Channel Master DVR+

The LG UH8500 also features the company's Color Prime Plus technology for a greater range of color saturation. However, instead of the UH9500's triple layer of anti-glare/low-reflection film, the UH8500 gets a double layer that LG claims provides a 40% improvement over 2015 TVs. Like the flagship UH9500, the UH8500 also features a 10-bit panel. Screen sizes for the UH8500 series are 55-inches and 60-inches. Note: the UH8500 was originally described as an 8-bit LCD - LG has since clarified that it is in-fact a 10-bit LCD.

Review: Samsung's Best 2015 TV

UH7700
Rounding out LG's Super UHD TV lineup is the UH7700 series that features the company's Color Prime technology (not Plus) that will presumably be slightly less colorful compared to the UH9500/UH8500 TVs. The UH7700 also features an 8-bit IPS panel with improved dithering to minimize artifacts like banding in fine gradients. Screen sizes for the UH7700 series are 49- to 65-inches.

Robert's Favorite Home Theater Gear

Updated: Great TV Deals

     This article will be updated as new information becomes available