Sharp’s 90-inch smart TV: hands-on with the world’s largest LED TV

When Sharp broke its own record for the world’s largest LED TV with a Wi-Fi-enabled 90-inch behemoth, many were skeptical: would a nearly bed-sized television really be viewable in only 1080p resolution? At a recent Pepcom showing, we were able to put Sharp’s smart TV to the test. Although it looks best from over ten feet away, the screen’s relatively low resolution actually isn’t too bad until you come within about five feet of it, after which the image quality becomes distracting. Both with live-action video and gaming, it’s quite watchable, but I’d have trouble describing the experience as feeling particularly high-definition or justifying choosing size over resolution here, especially for over $10,000. More favorably, the active 3D works well at almost any angle, as long as you’re at the ten-foot mark or further.

When asked about why Sharp hadn’t chosen to deploy 4K resolution, a spokesperson said that the company was planning to do so sometime down the line but wasn’t able to give us anything more specific. It is rather impressive finding something so large outside a theater, and we’d be happy to see a higher-resolution version. Even now, anyone with the means to buy a 90-inch television can likely afford a room big enough to sit back in. That said, they can probably also afford to wait for any of the super-high-definition TVs or OLEDs that will soon be coming our way.

Kimber Streams contributed to this report.