The LC52LE700E is Sharp's first affordable mass-market LED TV and very own prospective OLED-killer.

While the company has dabbled with LED-backlighting before, with its super high-end XS1E range of screens, they cost two arms, a leg and half a lower intestine, so it's welcome to see the brand finally bringing its own form of the technology to the wider marketplace.

The cost reduction can partly be explained by the fact that the screen features a backlight consisting of so-called UltraBrilliant white LEDs, rather than the RGB array used in the XS1E.

These new LEDs, proprietary to Sharp, feature a unique 'double dome' light amplifier lens for extreme high brightness and multifluorescents for improved colour fidelity. And by adopting a full array of LEDs distributed evenly behind a diffuser, the backlight has best-in class uniformity.

Rival manufacturers, such as Sony and Samsung, have latterly adopted side-firing LED systems, allowing for even thinner screens, but risking issues with brightness uniformity.

Interestingly, the Sharp doesn't employ any local dimming. Another cost-cutting measure?

Local dimming requires the LED bulbs to be individually driven depending on screen content. When areas of the screen are dark, the bulbs in that zone switch off (or dim). When brightness is called for, they shine brighter. It's a system that allows for both deep, bold blacks and bright, brash whites on the same image.

While this particular screen does have a full set of white LED bulbs behind the LCD panel, it doesn't switch off in zones. However, Sharp argues that its UltraBrilliant LED System has other plus points – it's capable of high brightness, and offers environmental benefits including longer life expectancy and lower power consumption.

The screen also debuts the brand's latest Full HD glass. Dubbed the X-Gen LCD Panel, it utilises a new pixel design that permits more light to pass through even while minimising light leakage.

Aesthetically, there are some ramifications of adopting a Full Array backlight, but these are minimal. Yes, the 52LE700E has a rather weighty posterior, chiefly in comparison to the Samsung 7000 and 8000 screens, but as that is entirely down to the rear-mounted LED array, it's a fair trade off for white level performance.

Sharp lc52le700e

What can't be so easily forgiven is the 52LE700E's anonymous, bland face – it's so devoid of expression and character, it could be one of Sir Alan Sugar's assistants on The Apprentice. It's hard to imagine this set standing out in a crowd of other LED TVs. And that might be a problem for sharp.

Fully-loaded however, as all parents would say of their similarly characterless, fat-bottomed offspring, 'It's what's on the inside that counts.' and they're right. Good news, then, that sharp certainly hasn't skimped on the feature count.

Apart from the backlight, there are a number of things added to this high-end model that impress, certainly in a home cinema sense. To begin with, there's a healthy array of expert picture adjustment modes, including a full set of individual colour bars to slide up and down as you wish.

Traditionally, picture calibration on sharp panels has been an awkward and mainly subjective affair, often leading to frustration with the basic controls, such as contrast, brightness and sharpness.

And the preset modes on the 52LE700E are, quite honestly, dreadful (although our Tech Labs reckons the Low preset is reasonably accurate for white balance). Thankfully, these additional sliders help, and you'll want to put aside a good afternoon to play with them.