Saturday, April 24, 2004
Half-moon speakers on two sides and a handle on top round out the design.
NEWSDAY
Perhaps some people have taken this wireless thing a bit too far.
For example: Sharp Electronic's new 15-inch wireless television.
What, exactly, is a wireless television? More to the point, why is there one? And even more to the point, who's gonna lay down more than 1,200 clams for it?
In the interest of eliminating clutter, no technological stone is left unturned. So the idea seems to be this: remove the cords that connect other equipment -- a VCR, DVD player, cable or satellite feeds -- to the set. Good idea, but in the AQUOS LCD model, the execution leaves something to be desired.
The set, like most Sharp models, is handsome, encased in silver and bookended in this package by two half-moon loudspeakers that resemble ears. The monitor is lightweight, less than 3 inches thick, and a carrying handle atop completes the rounded design theme.
There's a rechargeable battery in the flat-panel screen and a removable table stand. The other half of the product is a small box, or base station, that stands vertically and accommodates the inputs.
Jacks accept composite, S-video or RF cables (there is no component cable input). A great-looking wireless remote controller is packed with the box, too.
The angle is that the box transmits signals to the screen via a "Smart Link" 802.11b technology, commonly called WiFi, which uses the 2.4 GHz band high-speed spread spectrum wireless protocol. The "b" version of the standard has since been improved by the "g" version, which transfers data more quickly. Whatever.
Other features
So you place the box and its cables in a corner and enjoy "wireless" sounds and images, and Sharp says one may separate the two devices by up to 50 feet before the monitor will stall or lose the signal.
Fifty feet is a noble goal, but put a couple of floors or a wall between the transmitter and the transmittee, and reception fades.
The built-in high-capacity lithium-ion battery is speced out to give up to three hours of viewing at the "dark environment," the lowest of the three brightness settings. It's too dark for me, but stepping it up to normal reduces portable power life by a third.
When the signal is solid, the picture is terrific, with a wide viewing angle, high contrast and defined images characteristic of Sharp's outstanding approach to LCD (viewing on the sun deck at high noon isn't recommended, though).
The issue is whether cable-free living and potentially dicey performance is worth twice the price of a wired 15-inch LCD TV.
A more pragmatic approach to those who wish a desktop LCD set is LG's 17-inch RU-17LZ20.
The Korean electronics maker, which oversees the Zenith brand in the United States, has ambitious plans for video. LG showed an 80-inch plasma monitor at January's Consumer Electronics Show and just unveiled in Asia a 23- inch flat-panel with one of the highest screen resolutions (1,920 x 1,200 widescreen aspect) on a consumer-class LCD TV.
Comparisons
The 17-inch, priced on the street at about $1,300, doesn't compete with the near-$3,000 23-incher, but it isn't meant to. Yet this LG is capable and flexible, with all the characteristics common to desktop LCDs -- small footprint, light weight, wall-mountable, thin -- and it will do double duty as a PC monitor, because it has an RGB-PC input.
It's the set's DTV capabilities that give it a special chic. With a maximum WXGA resolution of 1280-by-768 pixels, the LG can output a fairly luscious high-definition widescreen picture when the monitor is hooked up to an HD set-top box.
The RU-17 is progressive-scan friendly and is superb at showing off really good DVD movies. LG builds in a tweak call DRP, for digital reality picture, which is supposed to detail in darker areas, but toggling between the two didn't make much difference during my tests.
Neither the Sharp nor the LG sets are candidates for anchoring a home-theater system. But for the kitchen counter or a bedroom dresser, count 'em in.
Washington Post News Service