Sharp Aquos Quattron LE821E Adds Yellow Sub-Pixel to 100 Hz LED TV

At CES 2010, the Las Vegas show devoted to consumer electronics, Sharp unveiled two LED TVs using not three, but four sub-pixels: red, green, blue and yellow.  The models in question are the LE821E and LE921E, and the former is beginning to arrive in stores with four different models: 40'', 46'', 52'' and 60''.

Sharp Aquos LC-40LE821E	Sharp Aquos LC-46LE821E
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Why add yellow to RGB?

The Quattron technology Sharp is using in its LE820 and LE920 TVs adds a fourth yellow sub-pixel to the standard line-up of red, green and blue.  According to the manufacturer, this works by 'expanding the colour gamut and faithfully rendering nearly all colours that can be discerned with the unaided human eye' and that these displays 'deliver an unprecedented high-quality picture as well as reduce energy consumption with an LED backlight.'

Not the first time

Sharp isn't the first manufacturer to try offering more colours though.  The majority of monitor manufacturers have come round to doing roughly the same thing so they can display gradients more evenly, but these screens have a nasty tendency to produce colours that look brighter than they otherwise should be.  This effect stands out in particular with red and green, which can both look fluorescent.

The LE820 series shares much of the same characteristics as the LE920 series, with the same overall look created by a single pane of glass covering the whole screen making it susceptible to reflections.  The backlight is the same across the whole family, with LEDs around the outside reducing the thickness to just 4 cm.

However, as is often the case with less highly-featured models, there are some compromises: the LE820 only has AquoMotion at 100 Hz instead of 200 Hz on the LE920.  This feature improves the fluidity of moving images in films to avoid the jerkiness introduced by the 24 fps framerate. 

Other features include a multimedia player which works using a USB port (for photos, music and SD and HD DivX) as well as over a DLNA network (but this time just for photos and music); online services and a built-in 8 GB hard drive for time-shifting live TV programming.

More Information

We'll be testing the Sharp Aquos LC-40LE821E in the next few weeks.

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