SHARPNESS

Control over the presentation of fine detail in a picture, independent of course picture content. At least that’s what it is supposed to mean. It was originally introduced into color TV sets that used a notch filter decoders. That would be almost every color TV set on the market before the mid-1980’s. The filter took away all high frequency detail in the black and white portion of the picture. The sharpness control attempted to put some of that detail back in the picture. As comb filters became common on expensive sets, there was no longer a need for the sharpness control. Somehow it became difficult for manufacturers to take away a control consumers had seen on sets for years. Now days the only place a sharpness control should exist is on a VHS machine. It should be removed from the TV set altogether. In fact, at least one high end direct view set, designed for DTV, doesn’t have a sharpness control.