Sharp Elite PRO-60X5FD Review Archive

Performance

One of the Elite's selling points is the addition of a yellow sub-pixel, which Sharp calls RGB+Y technology. This all sounds so familiar...

Yes, the technology in question is just Sharp's patented Quattron technology, rebranded to sound more elite. Dr. Raymond Soneira, creator of the DisplayMate software that we use to test and calibrate TVs, wrote an article explaining the futility of adding a yellow sub-pixel to the standard mix of red, green, and blue sub-pixels.

With that said, we were able to determine the major difference between the Elite Pure settings and our calibration settings: the Pure settings produce darker black levels and yielded a better contrast ratio, while our calibration settings produce better color accuracy and consistency. We are of the belief that color is the most important factor in judging a TV's performance. If you take a look at the Haier L55B2181, you'll see that its contrast is amazing. What makes this TV awful is how poorly it is able to show its range of colors, as evidenced by its color curves.

The Elite PRO-X5FD, using our calibration settings, was able to show a wide range of colors and could smoothly transition between different shades. Using the Elite Pure settings, this TV's color performance was below average.