Sharp with Roku TV and TiVo OS: what they ship with and what comes off
· 8 min read
| Systems | Roku TV and TiVo OS, depending on the model |
|---|---|
| Models with Roku TV | The ones starting with GD and GJ |
| Models with TiVo OS | The ones starting with GM, GK, HM, HK and JM |
| Base | Neither one is Android |
| ADB | Not available |
| Sideload | Not supported |
| Uninstalling apps | Only the ones the system allows |
| Privacy settings | Yes, and they are the main route |
| Account | Mandatory on Roku TV, not on TiVo OS |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz on the TiVo OS sets; on the Roku ones Sharp publishes none |
| HDR | HDR10 and HLG; Dolby Vision on all but the 43GD2225E |
| eARC | On HDMI 1, except the 43GD2225E, which only has ARC |
| Memory | Sharp publishes neither RAM nor storage |
Four different operating systems live side by side in Sharp's European catalogue, and the only way to know which one you are getting is the model letter. This site already has pages on the Sharp sets running Google TV. This one covers the other two, and it has to open with the warning rather than save it for the end:
Neither Roku TV nor TiVo OS is Android. There is no ADB, no pm disable,
no package list to reach. Almost nothing this site explains can be applied to
these televisions.
If you are looking at a Sharp counting on being able to clean it over ADB, check the letter before you pay. Afterwards there is no way back.
The letter that decides
Going through the official sheets, the catalogue splits like this:
- GR, GP, HR and GF run Google TV.
- GD and GJ run Roku TV.
- GM, GK, HM, HK and JM run TiVo OS.
The field is called "Operating System" and it sits in the specifications block of every product page, so it can be checked before buying without trusting a shop label.
And here is a detail that shows how mixed up it all is: on the sheet for the 55GM6245E, which is a TiVo OS set, the paragraph explaining Dolby Vision ends by telling you that you will see it "on your new Sharp Google TV series". Copied from another range. If Sharp itself gets confused on its own site, a retailer's label is not a source.
The Roku TV sets: two sheets, and very different ones
The 43GD2225E is Full HD: 1920 × 1080. It carries HDR10 and HLG, no Dolby Vision. LED backlighting, three HDMI inputs with ARC on HDMI 1 (ARC, not eARC), a single USB, 2 × 10 W of sound, energy class D and 32 W of consumption. Its sheet also offers it in 40, 32 and 24 inches.
The 55GJ4225E is 4K: 3840 × 2160, and there Dolby Vision does appear alongside HDR10 and HLG. Three HDMI that Sharp declares as "4K @ 60 Hz (2.1)", with eARC on HDMI 1, two USB, the same 2 × 10 W, class E and 63 W. It is also offered in 50 and 43 inches.
Both declare the AV1 codec, HbbTV 2.0.2 and a DVB-T/T2/C/S/S2 tuner. Neither publishes a refresh rate figure: where the TiVo OS models carry a "Maximum refresh rate" field, the Roku ones simply do not have it.
The preinstalled apps Sharp declares are Youtube, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV and many more. That "and many more" is precisely what the sheet does not let you check.
What you can do on a Roku TV
First thing, and it is the big difference from the other closed systems: Roku asks you to link an account to activate the television. It is not optional the way the VIDAA or the Samsung one is: without it the home screen does not start. Worth knowing beforehand, because it is a permanent identifier tied to whatever you watch.
From there, what is within your reach:
Removing channels from the home screen. On Roku the apps are called channels, and on almost any of them the options button on the remote offers to remove it. They really do go, not just from the view. The exceptions are the ones with a dedicated button on the remote: those stay, just like the keys do.
Turning off content recognition. This is the setting that changes the most. It sits in the privacy section, inside the Smart TV experience, and it is the option that talks about using information from the television's inputs. While it is on, the set identifies what is on screen over HDMI and over the aerial too, not just inside its own apps.
Limiting ad tracking. In the same privacy section, under advertising. It does not remove the ads on the home screen (those come with the system) but it does stop them being picked from a profile of you.
The microphone. The sheet mentions Roku's free mobile app, which among other things does voice search. If you do not use it, leave that permission off.
What cannot be done: installing anything that is not in the Roku store. There is a developer mode, but it is for loading channels built with Roku's own tools, not Android apps. No APK will do.
The TiVo OS sets: six models, one system
TiVo OS comes from Xperi, and Sharp's own sheets say so in the small print. Six models in the catalogue run this system, and they share more than divides them: all six are 4K at 3840 × 2160, all six declare 60 Hz maximum refresh rate, all six carry HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, all six have three HDMI 2.1 at 4K and 60 Hz with eARC on HDMI 1, plus ALLM, two USB, Dolby Atmos and HbbTV 2.0.3.
What changes between them:
- 55GM6245E: Quantum Dot panel and 2 × 12 W of Harman-Kardon sound, the only one of the six with it. IR+BLE remote, class F, 73 W.
- 55HM5246E: Quantum Dot, 2 × 10 W, IR+BLE remote, class F, 74 W.
- 55JM5245E: Quantum Dot, 2 × 10 W, IR remote, class F, 74 W.
- 65HM5245E: Quantum Dot, 2 × 10 W, IR remote, class E, 81 W.
- 55HK4245E: standard colour gamut, 2 × 10 W, IR remote, class E, 63 W.
- 70GK4245E: standard colour gamut, 2 × 10 W, IR remote, class E, 92 W.
Each one also has siblings of the same diagonal under another reference: the 55HM5246E sits alongside the 55HM5446E and the 55HM5746E, and the 70GK4245E alongside the 70GK4445E and the 70GK4745E. If you see two references of the same size at different prices, the difference is not in the panel.
The apps Sharp declares here are Youtube, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and many more. One fewer than on Roku: no Apple TV.
What you can do on a TiVo OS
TiVo OS is built around what the sheets call Universal Discovery: the home screen is not a grid of apps, it is a list of content mixing live broadcast, TiVo+ (160-odd free channels, according to the sheet itself) and streaming. That is the system, not a layer that can be taken off.
What you can do:
Not accepting personalisation during first setup. This is the most important moment and the one most people click straight through: that is where it is decided whether the television may analyse what you watch in order to recommend. If you already accepted, it is reviewed in the privacy settings, and it is worth looking again after every update.
Uninstalling the apps the system lets you. Same as on VIDAA: if it allows it, the option appears when you highlight the app on the home screen. The ones that are there under a commercial deal do not offer it, and there is no way to force it.
Not linking an account. Here, unlike Roku, the television works without signing in. You will need an account for its store, but not to watch television or to use the HDMI inputs.
Checking whether your model has a microphone. Of the six, only the 55GM6245E and the 55HM5246E advertise voice control on their sheets, and they are precisely the two declaring an IR+BLE remote. On the other four, with a plain IR remote, there is no microphone in the remote to turn off.
What Sharp publishes on none of the eight
Not one nit of brightness. Not a word on dimming zones. Neither RAM nor storage.
That last one happens on its Google TV range too, but with a difference that
matters: there you can get the figure yourself with df -h /data as soon as
you connect over ADB. Here there is no way in. Without ADB, the memory of
these televisions is a figure that simply does not exist anywhere.
And on the two Roku TV sets, there is no refresh rate either.
The reasonable way out
If the system falls short for you (because the store does not have what you want, because the recommendations never stop, because in two years it stops being updated) the way out on a closed television is more reasonable than on an Android one: leave it as a screen.
A mid-range external player costs little, keeps updating for years and turns the set into what you probably wanted: a decent panel with an interface you do choose. With eARC on HDMI 1 on seven of these eight models, the sound still goes out where it should.
If you have one
What is most missing from these televisions is the real list of apps they ship with, the one Sharp hides behind that "and many more". If you have a GD, a GJ or any of the TiVo sets, tell us what you found on first switch-on and what the system let you remove. It is the one thing no sheet will give up.