All In The Heart

Wire

Sharp LC-60LE660X 60in Full HD LED TV

Sharp ended 2014 with a bang when it kicked off its mega-sized TV launch in late 2014. While there had been a lot to see, the TVs, as usual, have been the highlight of the show. Of the many panels that are on the set, and besides the 4K units, there had been one particular panel that caught my eye. Believe it or not, it’s one of Sharp’s gimmicky platform that intrigued me to no end – the Cocoro Eye LED TV.

Unique Twist

It is known that Sharp is not one to change panel designs for every release. In fact, beyond the ever narrowing bezel and improved colour performance, there is really not a lot to see. This is why when Sharp said it had three new platforms out in the market, namely the Cocoro Eye, Sharp Android-powered TV, and Sharp AQUOS Pro platform, I knew I had to put them through a review run. Of course, priority would fall on the Cocoro Eye for me since an automated TV assistant seemed very unlike Sharp – or in this case, very exclusive to Sharp.

Smart Sensor

What Sharp did with its new LED panel is to incorporate an intuitive detection system to provide three critical assistive functions. Called the Cocoro Eye, a combination of Japanese naming flair and practicality, it comprises a camera system that is paired with a straightforward user assistant platform. Pack that all up into a slick looking chassis, stick it under the TV bezel, and you got a user function that quickly becomes a necessity for all users. What are the three support features exactly? Interestingly enough, they are auto-brightness control based on natural ambient lighting changes, smart display switch-off when users are no longer present, and assistive lighting when user movement is detected in the dark. All three, throughout my review, are now personal needs that I have learnt to live without. Essentially, that is how important they have become.

Visual Prowess

Before moving into the review proper on the features of Cocoro Eye, let’s take a step back and consider the basics of TV performance – sound and visual. Just like its predecessors, the Sharp LC-60LE660X Full HD LED TV is one of those display panels that reinforces why Sharp is one of the few TV vendors at the forefront of vivid colour rendering. The full LED backlight array ensures blacks and whites remain deep and rich respectively, ensuring the primary colours (RGB) stand out. During the visual demos, there are some points when the whites look too saturated, making high contrast elements look fake. Other times, but rarely, the greys also lost some level of contrast. However, on the overall, it doesn’t affect the display performance too much as the AQUOS LCD panel makes up for any image losses that occur.

Decent Sound

Just like most Sharp LED-powered TVs, the sound system it uses is the straight-up basics that the Japanese brand is known to use. A powered pair of 10W main speakers are the primary soundstage for the Sharp LC-60LE660X Full HD LED TV, providing an enriched audio field that most have come to expect from Sharp. As per their down-firing/rear-angled positions on the display panel, the sound produced has a seemingly surround sound feel due to the presence of the SRS TruSurround HD system it uses. It’s good that the Cocoro Eye loaded TV has a Bass Enhancer as well, ensuring a nice boom comes through to complement the well-produced high/mids.

Empathy Driven

For a Full HD TV that offers pretty good sound and visual performance, there is really nothing else one would need to make the user experience even better. Or at least I like to think so. Sharp, of course, believes otherwise since it has equipped this TV with a Cocoro Eye system. Does it really work well? Based on the time I had with it, I can safely say they work like a charm. Having been the sort who loves to calibrate TV brightness based on the time of day and leaving the amp on while the TV is off, the very basis of having such TV functions being automated seemed like a dream come true. Throughout the day, the Cocoro Eye ensured I experienced optimum brightness at all times and save even more energy by turning off the screen. The Assist Light function is just as useful as it has saved me twice from bumping into things when I turn down for the night.

Real Purpose

Having these three functions may seem novel but Sharp has a real reason behind including them on the Sharp LC-60LE660X Full HD LED TV – energy saving practices. The brightness adjustment and powered down display functions are to specifically reduce energy consumption. As for the Assist Light, it only turns on when the Cocoro Eye system detects my movement in the dark, ensuring I need turn on any room lights to quietly traverse the darkened living space.

All In

If you ask me whether this TV entry is worth purchasing, I’d say go for it based on only two things – the audio/visual performance is pretty good as it lives up to the Sharp reputation of producing well performing TV panels; and having these alternative smart functions. The latter especially are the ones – the little things – that makes the TV user experience so much better for all.

Specs:
Dimensions (W x H x D): 1355 x 835 x 350mm (with stand)
Weight: 27kg (with stand)
Display: 60in LED X-GEN Full HD 1080/24P Panel
Refresh Engine: AquoMotionLite 400/800
Refresh Rate: 100Hz/120Hz Fine Motion Advanced
Speakers: 2x 10W Stereo with SRS TruSurround HD and Bass Enhancer
Smart Features: USB Video Player, Photo Viewer, Music Player, Photo Frame Mode, Alarm Timer (Sleep), Wireless LAN, Web Browser, Video Streaming App, SNS (Facebook/Twitter via AQUOS.NET), MHL, Optical Picture Control, Active Backlight
Cocoro Eye Functions: Move Sensor, Smart Power Control, Assist Light, RGB Sensor, Auto Colour Adjustment
I/O: 2x Video-in, 1x Component-in (Shared with Video-in), 5x HDMI, 1x RS-232C, 1x PC Input (D-Sub 15), 1x Optical, 1x Analogue Audio-in, 2x USB, 1x Ethernet LAN