Sharp PN-655U Professional 65-inch LCD Monitor
Many houses of worship these days, particularly those with larger sanctuaries, have turned to projection systems to visually augment services. That's partly because projection has been the most efficient way to generate an image that's large enough to be seen and read across a sanctuary. Yet, projection, even rear-projection, necessarily has long throw distances that can be awkward if sightlines and installation space are at a premium.
Now, Sharp Electronics is delivering a 65-inch LCD panel, the PN-655U, that's specifically designed for commercial and public installation use, including within houses of worship. The PN-655U can be mounted directly to a wall, can eliminate any throw distance issues, and still deliver a big enough image. It also affords rich messaging in smaller spaces, like vestibules and fellowship halls where other large-format projection displays would often be unreasonable.
The Purpose Driven Panel
Sharp Electronics has actually sold a 65-inch LCD TV for about a year now, but it's from the AQUOS line of higher-end consumer televisions. The PN-655U, on the other hand, is specifically designed for more public installations, including digital signage or display in houses of worship. Some of the differences between the two versions are obvious, including a pro price that is, awkwardly, roughly twice that of the AQUOS TV. That difference may drop as volume increases and economies of scale kick in, but of course the PN-655U was designed for a different use.
Most overtly, the PN-655U is built into a rugged metal reinforced chassis with two large handles on the pack that make it easy to move, hang, and move again. Inside, the backlight and cooling system have been redesigned to support more continuous use, including 24/7 operation. The on-screen menu structure has been redesigned, too, for faster, more efficient set-up and includes a handful of Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture options for size and placement in mixing content sources.
Not surprisingly given the commercial focus, the PN-655U eschews the CableCard and TV tuner of the consumer set and adds professional connectivity with 3-BNC component input, DVI-D digital data input, and the ability to loop-through up to four monitors from one source. And unlike the AQUOS TV that includes a handsomely branded bezel and stand, the PN-655U features a far more modest, black bezel that's designed to not distract from your message or content. The minimalist stand is actually described as a temporary stand and is intended to be removed for eventual wall mounting. To that end, Sharp does offer a tilting mounting bracket for $550, as well as optional speakers for $655 MSRP.
For more public installations, Sharp offers a unique, commercial protective overlay to help ensure long-lasting performance and minimal visible wear and tear. That protective overlay is a $3,000 option, but one that is built directly into, rather than over, the PN-655's bezel. Specifically, Sharp adds a ¼-inch impact-resistant acrylic directly over the glass to protect the panel from scratches and forceful impacts to the front. Since it's inside the bezel, it does not alter the appearance of the panel.
In addition to the PN-655U, Sharp offers a portrait-configuration, 65-inch LCD panel, the PN-655RU. It shares all of the visible features of its commercial sibling, except that it stands on its end. Sharp notes that it even ships on its end in a custom case that looks more apt for a grandfather's clock than a LCD panel. Yet, Sharp does that because the portrait 655RU version (List $29,995) is more than just the PN-655U turned 90 degrees. It includes a redesigned cooling and fan system that allows hot air to escape more efficiently than if the landscape version were simply turned 90 degrees. Sharp has also re-oriented the fluorescent backlight stripes for better brightness uniformity and longevity.
Visions of Grandeur
Both the PN-655U and PN-655RU share the same native 1920x1080 resolution as the consumer TV, and that allows them to take full advantage of high-quality, high-definition video, as well as to display crisp, easy-to-read text and graphics.
Equally important, the PN-655U is able to display a wide variety of signal types ranging from standard definition sources up to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p, as well as either digital or analog computer sources with either a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio. Naturally, there are several aspect ratio settings to view 4:3 natively with letterbox bars or stretched or zoomed to fill the screen.
The PN-655U is not terribly quick to sync to changing sources or source resolutions and that's a little troubling when it comes to public display that could include a variety of source materials. It not only takes the panel a few seconds to re-sync to different inputs and resolutions, but the viewer often has to witness the gyrations of the panel displaying a badly offset flashing, then finally positioning the image properly. In other words, if a digital signage video player includes a combination of standard definition and high definition, video clips could have poor results. The obvious solution is to give the PN655 a consistent video source if possible.
In terms of color, I found the default settings in the "Standard" color temperature mode to lean heavily toward blue. That's not necessarily a bad thing for public display purposes because blue light and cool whites tend to stand out better, lending to a perception of a sharper image, particularly against the typical florescent lights of public spaces. However, there is a "Warm" preset that brings color temperature back down toward equal parts of red, green, and blue, as well as custom user settings to adjust to a variety of ambient lighting conditions.
I measured the brightness at 337 cd/m2 and that's not too far off Sharp's claim of 400 cd/m2 and should be bright enough for most public display situations. The discrepancy can be attributed to my measuring brightness with the panel set-up for typical use rather than the practice of unreasonably cranking up brightness to generate a large number for the spec sheet.
Even without turning up brightness, the PN-655U's black levels were not as rich as one might hope, but that is more a function of LCD technology. And, that does yield video images that are not as rich as one would certainly hope from a home theater display. On the other hand, that's not the target for the PN-655U. Instead, it is designed for producing images in brighter spaces, with the ideal use being a combination of text, graphic, and some video mixed in.
While the hefty price tag will undoubtedly turn smaller budgeted houses of worship away, the PN-655U should be attractive for larger installations, including those looking to augment current projection infrastructures with panels on the side or as digital signage in other parts of a facility. It's a solidly built panel designed for public display use and backed by a full three-year warranty, even for the heavy use one might expect from a retail installation. Naturally, houses of worship often have shorter hours during a given week, but it is a good indication that the PN-655U will be an excellent long-term investment.
COMPANY: Sharp Corp.
PRODUCT: PN-655U
QUICK-LINK: (800) 237-4277
URL: www.sharpusa.com
