Sharp's 80-inch TV delivers 'wow' factor on size

— -- The day Sharp's new 80-inch Aquos LC-80LE844U HDTV showed up in our office, it turned heads and widened eyes. It's not every day that we get a chance to review a TV of such magnitude, and this one certainly didn't disappoint when it came to delivering the "wow" factor.

After being around the LC-80LE844U (MSRP $5,999) for a couple of days, that "wow" factor starts to fade and the realization kicks in that this is just an ordinary smart TV with extraordinary proportions. But we still have plenty of great things to say about this TV. The uniformity of the light across the screen is fantastic and the audio quality coming out of its built-in speakers is quite good. The contrast ratio is decent, and it displays greys and blacks very well.

Unfortunately, we also have plenty of not-so-good things to say about the LC-80LE844U. The colors in general aren't bad, but the color temperature is inconsistent, which leads to certain images looking a little "off," usually slightly colder (bluish) than they should be. The 3D effect starts out looking good, but image ghosting becomes too noticeable in too many scenes, and eventually ruins the viewing experience.

Sharp's smart platform, SmartCentral, has just 12 apps available in all, and feels underdeveloped as a result. You would only want to come back for Netflix and Hulu Plus. There's no app store, which many competing smart TVs do offer.

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Purchasing an 80-inch TV is not something that we envision the average consumer doing very often. TVs like the LC-80LE844U might be purchased for commercial properties or for those who have plenty of space to fill in their living rooms—we won't judge. If you absolutely must purchase an 80-inch TV, your options are rather limited, but the Sharp Aquos LC-80LE844U isn't a bad choice, even if it is one of the only ones. Just be aware that the best feature is the massive display.

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For a full in-depth review of the Sharp LC-80LE844U, head to TelevisionInfo.com. TelevisionInfo is a member of the Reviewed.com network, a division of USA TODAY.