New Elite 3D LED HDTV

A Hands-on Review of the PRO-70X5FD and PRO-60X5FD Elite 3D LED models manufactured by Sharp under the Elite name.  Return of the Pioneer Elite?  We’ll see!

A lot of excitement has been generated recently with the return of the Elite brand.  Pioneer Elite is well-known to be the best of the best when it comes to picture quality.  Well, until Pioneer decided to up and leave the Plasma market.

NuVision attempted to take the market of the “high-end panel” and in my opinion, they did a great job!  They had a LED that looked great but it didn’t really have any of the features we come to expect in today’s panels.  Unfortunately for NuVision, they didn’t last very long and recently announced it was leaving the market.

It was long rumored that most of the techs from Pioneer joined Panasonic and that Panasonic may bring the Elite name back, but Sharp recently acquired a controlling interest in the Elite brand and has officially released the new Elite lineup, but how does it stack up?  When it was announced that Sharp would be taking the reigns a lot of skepticism arose amongst those in our industry.

To start, the Picture Quality is great!  It has a few picture modes that allow you to seemingly “simulate” the Kuro picture and the contrast is definitely impressive.  Overall, I am a fan of the “realistic” or “organic” picture and by playing with the extensive picture settings I could achieve both my preference as well as the industry standard which is achieved by ramping up the color and contrast to the extreme.

We currently have two models available to us, the PRO-60X5FD and the PRO-70X5FD which are, you guessed it, a 60″ and 70″ model.  This makes the Elite the largest 3D Flat Panel currently available.

While the TV is manufactured by Sharp, it does absolutely have a stronger picture which is something I was concerned about when I first heard that the Elite brand would be produced by Sharp.  Pioneer was very quick to tell us that the TV is manufactured differently and has some key differences in it’s chipset that set it apart from Sharp LED’s that we know are entry level sets.

The 3D is being advertised as “Elite 3D” and it is definitely above the Sharp 3D quality.  I have noticed a big change between different manufacturers and their 3D capabilities.  So far, Sony & Samsung have the best 3D I have seen personally on the market today, the Elite comes in equal if not a bit under those sets.

The Elite has 5 HDMI inputs which is more than enough considering the A/V Receiver is almost always doing the video switching in todays market.  We also get a RS-232 port which is always welcomed to provide us some extra control of products during our custom installations.

The Elite comes with a price point of $5,999.99 for the 60″ (PRO-60X5FD) and $8,499.99 for the 70″ (PRO-70X5FD) models.  Is it worth it?  Well that depends on your definition of worth.  Is it better than the sub $3,000 Samsung TVs?  Yes, the picture is definitely noticeably better… but does the ability to purchase two of the Samsungs at less than the cost of one Elite make sense?  That’s up to you to decide for yourself.  If I had some extra money sitting around, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the Elite.  Unfortunately, I’ll stick with my Samsung Plasma until every single one of you calls me up and buys theaters from me (Wishful thinking?).

If you want the best, go with this TV. If you want 90% of what this TV has to offer at 50% of the price, go with a Samsung or Sony.  Either way, All Star is excited to start supporting the Elite name again!

What about web apps? If a product that has power doesn’t have apps in today’s market, it’s not a product at all.  I mean even our refrigerators have apps now.  Elite is no different, owners can choose from a plethora of applications including Netflix, VuDU, CinemaNow, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, do you want me to go on?

TV + stand

PRO-70X5FD 63 61/64″ x 40 3/64″ x 13 1/8″
PRO-60X5FD 55 1/8″ x 34 13/16″ x 13 1/8″

TV only

PRO-70X5FD 63 61/64″ x 38 43/64″ x 3 1/32″
PRO-60X5FD 55 1/8″ x 33 7/16″ x 3 1/32″

2,073,600 pixels (1,920 x 1,080) – 1080P

Sharp Elite LED Specifications, Dimensions, Manuals, and More…
As always, if you have any other questions please direct them to us: Contact Us

All Star Audio Video is a Home Theater Design company that is based in Houston, Texas.  We pride ourselves on being unbiased to the products we carry (we don’t say we like something just because we sell it.  Our services are elegant, high-quality, and never include any cut corners.  If you’re in our area give us a call and let’s setup a free in-home consultation!  Even if you don’t want to buy anything, having a great contact in the area for our industry can help in the real times of need or when you have questions.