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Philips 42PF7621D Review |
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Reviewed: 19 March 2007
Design
With speakers attached to either side of the Philips 42PF7621D, this panel is not the most compact out there. However, what it lacks in terms of streamlining it more than makes up for with bags of style. This is surely one of the most chic and stylish of units out there, and will have your neighbours swooning at first sight.
Features
Before we even crank up the 42PF7621D it has impressed with its specification. A seemingly endless list which includes 2 HDMI inputs, 2 Scarts, dedicated PC and component jacks, CAM slot, digital audio Input/Output and a USB which allows playback of JPEG, MPEG 1/2, MP3 and LPCM give it a class leading edge in terms of connectivity.
Screen size & shape: 42in 16:9 Tuner: Digital Sound system: Stereo Resolution: 1366 x 768 HD Ready: Yes Contrast Ratio: 3000:1 Brightness: 450cd/m2 OTHER FEATURES: Pixel Plus 2 HD picture processing, Digital Natural Motion SOCKETS: 2 HDMI input, 2 scarts (1 RGB), composite video input, S-video input, PC input, CAM slot, Digital Audio Input/Output, USB input.
The main image processing engine on board the 42PF7621D is Philips Pixel Plus 2 HD technology which has a growing reputation for its abilities on the companies smaller LCD panels.
Digital Natural Motion is the other main technology feature of the Philips 42PF7621D which has been designed to eliminate juddering effects that are visible with moving picture content.
Performance
Pixel Plus 2 HD with its colour optimising and motion-handling abilities have been praised on smaller LCD screens, and the technology deserves just as much praise on the Philips 42PF7621D. Pictures, especially with HD content are incredibly sharp and textured. Standard Definition sources hold up well, and although, as expected don't measure up to HD content, they remain sharp and crisp and never suffer from being overly 'soft'.
Colours have a vibrancy that is unsurpassed on any Plasma or LCD we have seen to date. Subtle colours such as skin tones are handled superbly, and although not completely eradicated, there is very little evidence of video noise or edging problems.
Black levels are excellent, and the 42PF7621D excels in that it manages to retain a high degree of detailing within darker scenes. Combined with outstanding colour reproduction across the spectrum and we have an incredibly dynamic flat panel on our hands.
One slight criticism is that the generally impressive digital natural motion sensor sometimes causes some film scenes to look like the actors are moving to quickly for the picture, with a blurring effect behind them. We found that with a little fine tuning the problem could largely be resolved and even though it was not completely eradicated, we could easily live with.
The audio performance of the 42PF7621D is better than most in this class, and never struggles, even at the higher levels required for some movie scenes. As with most standard audio set-ups, a little more bass wouldn't go amiss.
Conclusion
The 42PF7621D is one step away from greatness. It looks fantastic, can match virtually any other panel with its connectivity features and has superb picture quality. A few tweaks to overcome some motion handling problems and this package would be irresistible. As it is, it is still one of the best 42in LCD packages for the money out there.
