Philips 42PFL9632D Review

42in LCD

Picture
Sound
Features
Usability
Value

One of the best all round large LCD TV's.

HD Ready:

yes

Resolution:

1920 x 1080

Rating:

92%

Reviewed: 25 February 2007

Design

Along with many other flat panel manufacturers, Philips have realised that style sells. The Philips 42PFL9632D introduces us to a subtle departure in style for the Dutch electronics manufacturer whose latest range of LCD TV's have evolved into high gloss units with slightly rounded corners.

Just as visually dramatic as previous LCD TV's, the slim outer grey 'grille-like' bezel on the 42PFL9632D along with wider inner glossy black screen frame will undoubtedly gain an instant following.

Features

Philips' acclaimed 'Ambilight' system, which delivers light from the sides of the LCD screen to enhance and complement the current scene appears on the 42PFL9632 in a slightly different guise. In this incarnation a fully back-lit LED (replacing the previous fluorescent source) glows through the purpose built frame surrounding the LCD panel. With light actually shinning through the frame, Philips describes the effect as "bringing light and color to life in an unparalleled, highly visual and immersive fashion, drawing the audience into the full emotional experience".

Screen: 42in 16:9

Tuner: Digital

Sound System: Nicam

Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Contrast Ratio: 8,000:1

Brightness: 550cd/m2

Other Features: Perfect Pixel Engine, HD Natural Motion, 100Hz Clear LCD.

Sockets: 3 HDMI, 2 SCART, Component Video, Composite Video, PC input.

Equipped with a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, the 42PFL9632D is able to map, pixel for pixel, the highest quality input onto the screen without the need for downscaling. Screens with a 1366 x 768 resolution would have to downscale a high quality input (e.g Sky's 1080i format) to fit.

By rights, the latest incarnation of Philip's Picture Processing Engine should be Pixel Plus HD 4, but the Dutch manufacturer believes there has been enough technological development packed into this system to warrant a completely new name, 'Perfect Pixel Engine'

Perfect Pixel Engine, like previous picture processing technology from Philips, has been designed primarily to enhance picture sharpness with both High Definition (HD) and Standard Definition (SD) sources and improve natural detail and colour performance.

100Hz processing and 14-bit colour are the other main constituents of the new Perfect Pixel Engine. 100Hz processing inserts an extra picture frame into the equation to take the frame rate up from 50 fps (frames per second) to 100 fps, improving motion handling capabilities. 14-bit colour offers a much larger range of colours and potentially far more realistic and natural images.

Complementing 100Hz processing, 'HD Natural Motion circuit' addresses the juddering effects that are visible with film based picture content. The technology improves on 'Digital Natural Motion' by employing greater amounts of processing power to improve motion fluidity.

Performance

With the 42PFL9632D, Philips have directed a lot of their technological energies on solving that perennial LCD TV problem associated with Motion handling capabilities. Although very fast horizontal pans are susceptible to very slight juddering and vertical movement gets a little worse in this respect, the 42PFL9632D displays a fluidity of motion that most rival LCD's will struggle to match.

Where the 42PFL9632D really excels is with its Standard Definition (SD) performance. As the High Definition capabilities of many LCD TV's are usually guaranteed, the SD performance, especially of larger screens is where the battle for the hearts and minds of consumers will be won. The 42PFL9632D has done as much as any LCD TV to convince us that SD on a large LCD TV can really work. With almost a total absence of video noise, the 42PFL9632D will cause many plasma manufacturers to take a quick look over their shoulders.

On a larger screen, Full HD has the platform to show us what its all about. Of course, the screen itself has to be capable enough to take advantage of the configuration. With High Definition (HD) material on the 42PFL9632 we become immediately aware of its capabilities. We have come to expect excellent HD pictures on flat screens, but on the 42PFL9632 they are pristine. The quality of the screen along with Full HD produce a level and sharpness of detail not bettered by any LCD TV. Colours are superb, with a vibrancy and subtlety which makes the whole viewing experience full of realism and immensely enjoyable.

Black levels are again at least a match for for the best large screen LCD TV's, and provide a platform for an incredibly rich and vibrant colour palette. 14-bit colour provides an exceptional range of colours which translate into highly realistic and wholly natural images even with tricky skin tones.

Before we get too carried away, we have to point out that black levels are still behind the best that plasma technology can offer, and motion handling capabilities, although impressive, will not appeal to everyone. Many of you out there prefer the more 'natural looking' motion handling capabilities of plasma, while LCD can appear over processed and just too vivid.

Conclusion

Excellent all round performance with a particularly good Standard Definition showing make the 42PFL9632D a very interesting proposition.