The clearly laid out remote control is comfortable to hold, but this does not immediately take the edge off the highly intricate menu system. The 28 kg (around 62 lb) LC-42 AD 5 E stands on a fixed pedestal (i.e. no swivel stand here). Still, the connections are easy to reach, as they are entirely mounted on the right hand side of the set. In practice, though, they are not as accessible as you might expect, as the sockets are too tightly packed together.

Instead of the rather bluish initial setting "Middle", the Sharp's color temperature should be set to "Low". Apart from a very slight yellow/green tint, the picture then nearly meets the ideal value (6,500 Kelvin). There is no bothersome picture noise to be seen with either analog cable reception or DVB-T - both signals give subjectively sharp pictures. There is, however, a slight lag on fast moving text, and a light Moiré effect results from weaknesses in the comb filter. Thanks to the Sharp LC-42 AD 5 E's natural colors, however, the picture gives a good overall impression.

Pictures received via Scart-RGB look somewhat sharper than those from the built in receiver, but the Sharp does not reach the theoretical limit of resolution, 6.75 MHz. The relevant pattern ("Burst") from test DVDs just turns into a grey soup on the LC-42 AD 5 E's screen. Recognition of movie material is lacking, and the TV exhibits significant picture overscan.

The best pictures are obtained when using an HDMI-connected DVD player, outputting a signal in 720p format - with HDMI playback of interlaced pictures in 1080i format, the image flickers slightly on sharp, vertical patterns.

Thanks to the measured contrast ratio of around 1,000:1, the Sharp gives accurate differentiation of darker pictures. Even the tricky, gloomier pictures from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy have the necessary depth. Towards the edges of the picture, however, the dark does look a little weaker.

Thanks to the finely adjustable backlight, the LC-42 AD 5 E can give both rich dark pictures in the evenings and decently bright pictures during the day. Irritating screen glare is neatly suppressed on the Sharp's antireflective screen.

On the other hand, the format button is incomprehensibly assigned no function during HDTV playback. If a DVD player or recorder scales its images to HDTV resolution and outputs them to the Sharp via HDMI, the aspect ratio is only correct for anamorphic widescreen movies - 4:3 and letterbox format pictures are stretched horizontally.

If an "HD ready" TV like the Sharp LC-42 AD 5 E cannot display HD pictures in full resolution, it is not the end of world. But at least the TV's de-interlacer and picture scaling should work accurately. The Sharp shows weaknesses in both of these areas.

The interlace-flicker from 1080i HDTV can unfortunately be clearly observed. Fine, almost horizontal lines, for example the text in the opening titles of "Casino Royale", look noticeably rasterized on the WXGA display, i.e. steps are introduced into the lines, giving them a pixilated effect. Here, as well as in fine horizontal structures, a slight yellow color cast does creep in - in fine details, the color blue is clearly filtered more strongly than red and green.

Overall the HDTV picture errors lead to a visibly blurry image - this can be clearly perceived in the scene in Venice's St. Mark's Square from "Casino Royale". The gamma characteristic is set too dark, so this daylight sequence looks somewhat pale. The Sharp does not even accept the progressive full HD format - not at 24, not at 50, not at 60 Hz.

Computer Operation:
Computers connected by VGA will find themselves held back by the Sharp. PC pictures in the panel's native resolution (i.e. 1366 x 768 pixels) are still not sharp, and it hardly helps if the PC outputs in full HD, because then the overscan (which cannot be deactivated) cuts off the taskbar from the picture. An accurately scaled computer picture without overscan can be displayed, however, with XGA (1024 x 768 pixels) images in 4:3 format.

Sound Quality:
The sound test was a bit more satisfactory. The integrated speakers give decent sound with both music and speech, with only very slight discoloration. Bass tones are, however, a bit hollow and lacking in substance.

AV Mode: User

Brightness: 0

Contrast: +26

Tint: 0

Color: 0

Color Temperature: Low

Sharpness: Minimum

Black: On

* applied to realistic playback from HD-DVD/Blu-ray material through the HDMI interface in a darkened environment. Manufacturing and HDMI playback device deviations may necessitate slight adjustment.

All show and no substance: Great design and manufacturing from this 42" set, but the Sharp's HDTV images are hardly entrancing.

Cable congestion: All connections are packed onto the right-hand side of the TV.

One thing, then another: The buttons on the remote control are clearly arranged, but the menu looks a little stale.

Off the mark: The gamma curve lies noticeably below the ideal characteristic.

Not ideal: The primary colors are correct, but the secondary colors and the white point show a slight deviation.