Today’s premium TVs deliver stunning images and amazing, room-filling sound, but they also come with price tags that are far beyond what many consumers can afford. That’s why there is growing interest in the latest generation “mid-range” TVs hitting the shops this year that, increasingly, offer lower cost access to advanced display technologies that few have been able to enjoy before.
A case in point is Sharp’s new Aquos Mini-LED JP7000 series, which is set to launch in the U.S. and Europe soon, bringing “a new dimension of affordable picture and sound quality” to people’s living rooms. Although it hasn’t yet said how much these new TVs will cost, it’s promising some very tempting price tags, together with a versatile range of sizes – 50, 55, 65 and 75-inches – that should cater to most people’s living room sizes and display size preferences.
We’ve already seen some incredibly affordable Mini-LED TVs hit the market this year, with recent options including Dreame’s V3000, which is available in China now and will come to the U.S. and U.K. early next year. In China, prices start at just 3,999 yuan (approximately £428) for the 55-inch model, which really is not that steep a cost to pay for the kind of cutting-edge picture quality that only Mini-LED and OLED TVs can deliver.
So there’s a lot of anticipation around Sharp’s Aquos Mini-LED JP7000 series, which combines its Mini-LED panel with Quantum Dots to create what promises to be extremely realistic pictures that no LCD TV will ever be able to match. Mini-LED displays are made up of thousands of tiny LEDs, enabling more precise dimming zones and higher contrast, while Quantum Dots enable superior, more natural-looking reproduction of colour.
This will be combined with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10, promising the highest-contrast images with deep blacks for a wide range of content from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The JP7000 also features Sharp’s Aquos Smooth Motion technology, which helps to smooth out the playback of 4K resolution content, reducing blur in fast-moving scenes.
However, there is a major caveat in that the JP7000 only has a 60Hz refresh rate, which is somewhat disappointing considering that the industry is increasingly standardising on 120Hz, even with some mid-range sets. Still, you can’t expect to have every premium feature on a TV that’s not marketed as such, and in the case of the JP7000, rapid refresh rates are one of the main sacrifices, which might knock this one on the head for gamers, many of whom will require something faster. But if you are in the market for a lower-cost gaming TV, we suggest you check out something like Hisense's U7N or Philips' MLED910, which can both be had in U.K. stores for under a grand.
Still, the slower panel is one of the few sacrifices here. Sharp has equipped the JP7000 with a fairly decent sound system tuned by Harman Kardon that consists of a pair of 12-watt speakers and support for Dolby Atmos surround sound. At the rear of the TV, you’ll find a pair of HDMI connections, with one that supports eARC, so that you can make the most of any external soundbar you happen to have lying around. USB connections are there too, and the TV also supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for streaming over the web and mirroring smartphones.
Sharp has opted to preinstall the Google TV operating system on its JP7000 series TVs, and that’s always a wise choice, as it’s one of the most comprehensive bits of smart TV software available, providing access to all the major streamers and thousands of apps in the Google Play store.
To cap things off, the Sharp JP7000 TVs have a sleek, almost frameless design, featuring a virtually imperceptible bezel, which has the effect of making it seem as if the picture is just floating, rather than surrounded by a plastic box. Well, sort of, but you can still see the bezel. Still, it does help to increase the immersion, especially on larger-sized TVs. The TV sits on an elegant yet minimalist central aluminium stand, giving it a premium aesthetic to go with those higher-end features.
Sharp promises that the JP7000 will go on sale early next month. So if you happen to have a new smart TV on your Christmas wishlist that won’t wipe out your entire bank balance, it might be one to keep an eye out for.
