Sharp GM6245K

Is Sharp's 43-inch TiVo model the year's biggest TV bargain?

- 

Much as we love getting our teeth into the latest and greatest hunks of glorious high-end TV tech, it’s also a great day when we happen upon a massive TV bargain. Sharp's 43GM6245K is a 43in TV that manages to combine both TiVo and Freely smart systems with good picture and sound quality, all for just £249.

From a typical viewing distance, the GM6245K is pretty easy on the eye for such a cut-price TV. The grey finish of the bottom edge contrasts neatly with the slender black used for the rest of the bezel. Its two blade-style feet boast a pleasingly shiny finish, too, while presenting such a slender profile when the screen is viewed head-on that you barely notice them.

It's quite chunky by modern TV standards, and its exceptionally lightweight chassis reveals that it is made almost entirely from pretty low-grade plastic. But these budget giveaways are not really obvious once the TV is in place.

The Sharp 43GM6245K uses a VA type of LCD panel, lit directly from behind - a combination that typically delivers better contrast than the IPS and/or edge-lit alternatives commonly used on budget TVs. Sharp claims a huge dynamic contrast ratio for its TV of 1,000,000:1, an on-paper figure that suggests the GM6245K's light output can adjust to changes in source content to a greater extent than you would expect to find at this price point.

Colours are delivered by a Quantum Dot system - though it’s worth saying that other budget TVs that use Quantum Dots don't always make a success of it, seemingly compromising other aspects of their performance in their eagerness to embrace the expanded colour range and brightness available.

The GM6245K’s panel supports refresh rates up to only 60Hz, so there is no support for the 4K/120Hz gaming feeds now delivered by the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X or premium PC graphics cards. There's some solace for gamers, though, in that Sharp's TV carries a Game picture preset that reduces input lag to just 15ms.