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Philips 42PFL7404 Review |
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Reviewed: 24 January 2010
Outstanding
picture performance
Black
levels slightly disappointing
Philips now competes on price
While many of us would agree that Philips have consistently produced some of the best LCD TV's around, relatively high prices have prevented them from making any significant impact on the sales charts.
The PFL7404 range represents the Dutch manufacturer's attempt to create a flat panel TV that sells as well as it performs. Philips have been careful to retain the core functionality which makes their TV's perform so well, while omitting some of the more 'desirable' elements of top end TV's.
Features such as 'Ambilight', Philip's acclaimed system for delivering light from the sides of the LCD screen (via strip lights) to enhance/complement the current scene and 'WebTV' have been omitted. Their 'stripped' down PFL7404 no longer sports all the 'bells and whistles' but has been designed to perform as well, in terms of picture performance, as any other TV - at a much more competitive price.
Design
With the look and feel of a premium product, the 42PFL7404's aggressive pricing is certainly not reflected in poor design or finish.
The main bezel, as we would expect, has an ultra glossy black finish, but a subtle hint of turquoise and a surprisingly pleasing transparent outer frame give it a more stylish appearance than most mid range TV's. A frame width of just under an inch adds to the stylish effect.
Features
While the high end 9000 series gets the latest incarnation of Philips' picture processing engine, Perfect Pixel HD, the Pixel Precise HD system on the 42PFL7404 remains one of the most powerful pieces of core electronic circuitry currently available.
Screen: 32in 16:9 Tuner: Digital Sound System: Nicam Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Contrast Ratio: 80,000:1 Other Features: Pixel Precise HD, HD Natural Motion. Sockets: 4 HDMI (v1.3), 2 SCART (RGB), S-Video, Component Video, Composite Video, PC input, USB.
With a response time of 3ms, Pixel Precise HD promises some of the smoothest pictures around. While it loses Perfect Contrast and Perfect Colour, processing power is still rated at 250 million pixels per second. The goal is to enhance picture sharpness, detail, colours and motion handling with both standard and high definition sources.
An element of 'Pixel Precise HD', 'HD Natural Motion' technology 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. The system actually predicts the content of extra picture 'frames' to produce the enhanced smoothness.
Many consumers will never touch the extensive picture tweaking options buried in manufacturer's on screen menus, but Philips, more than any other manufacturer, provides ample opportunity to adjust picture settings should you wish.
As we have discovered with previous Philips LCD TV's, to get the very best out of them, the picture requires tweaking in various instances. Your endeavor will be rewarded however, if you are prepared to invest the time and energy in getting to know HD Natural Motion, noise reduction and Advanced Sharpness to name but a few
Philips' Invisible Sound System integrates a wOOx subwoofer with two dual-excursion passive radiator drivers to improve low frequency performance while concealing the speakers behind the TV frame
While Philips maintain that a unique invisible speaker system has been designed to deliver discreet and powerful acoustics through a slim frame, we can't help thinking that the decision to replace the visible speaker is one that owes more to budgetary constraints.
With a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, the 42PFL7404 is able to map, pixel for pixel, the highest quality input onto the screen without the need for downscaling. Also on the spec front there is 100Hz processing along with an impressive 4 HDMI(v1.3) inputs, 2 scarts and a surprisingly useful USB port through which you can display your holiday snaps (JPG's) in their full glory, play MP3 soundtracks and present .alb slideshow files.
With all these top end features, you might be left wondering how Philips have managed to shave so much of the price. Well, in addition to the slightly less well specified image processing engine, 'Pixel Precise HD', the 32PFL7404 loses the 'Ambilight' system found on higher end LCD TV's from Philips and comes without an Ethernet port. The absence of Ethernet connectivity means that there is no internet connectivity or access to a DLNA enabled PC.
Performance
Along with the recently reviewed 32PFL7074, Philips' 42PFL7404 demonstrates a sublime High Definition (HD) performance. To really appreciate the strength of the 42PFL7404 in this respect you need to place it alongside its direct competitors, the likes of Samsung's B650 range. The Samsung, while demonstrating a strong performance in this area, can't match the High Definition ability of its rival.
The HD performance is stunning in every respect, with a level of detail, clarity and realism that is only matched by a small number of high end flat panel TV's. Every imaginable nuance of detail is produced in a pin sharp representation of on screen detail. The Philips really does begin to encroach on that select group of TV's that produce what we can only describe as a sublime HD performance - and for the price that is quite a remarkable achievement.
While the HD performance of the 42PFL7404 was comparable to high end LCD TV's in the Philips range, the absence of Perfect Pixel HD becomes much more apparent with Standard Definition (SD) material. The SD performance is what you would expect, and more, from a decent mid range LCD but it can't compete with the pin sharp detail and noise free pictures that high end offerings can produce.
Nevertheless, the level of Standard Definition detail and picture stability offered by the Pixel Precise engine is comparable with the better mid range LCD TV's. The 42PFL7404 produces SD pictures not entirely 'noise' free, but the level of interference never encroaches to any great degree on viewing enjoyment.
The Motion Handling ability of the 42PFL7404 is one of the main reasons why SD and HD material is so watchable. The picture stability offered by the motion handling element of Pixel Precise HD in the shape of 'HD Natural Motion' produces pictures not entirely free from an element of 'blurring' but nevertheless as accomplished as anything in this price bracket. A response time of 3ms ensures that even the fastest on screen action maintains a level of detail and composure that few TV's in this price bracket can match.
Adding to the growing list of things we like about this TV, the 42PFL7074 impressed with its ability to deliver a gloriously vibrant Colour palette that maintained its composure with tonal accuracy even with tricky areas such as facial tones. There are plenty of screens out there which display one of these two attributes, but it is much harder to find a screen which combine the both and with such a high degree of competence.
The only disappointing aspect of the 42PFL7404's performance came in the shape of an average Black Level response. The 7404 suffers (albeit only slightly), from an element of 'greyness' with Standard Definition. This is not a serious issue, but placed alongside its main competitors, the 7404 falls just a little short in this respect. We are now used to even mid range screens offering good detail across darker scenes and deep lustrous blacks.
As with most flat panel TV's, the Philips 42PFL7074's acoustic ability left us disappointed but not surprised. The hidden speaker arrangement was not great on the 32in and the larger model has an even greater struggle with the more demanding soundtracks. To be fair to Philips, the sound is no better or worse than most TV's, suffering alongside most of its competitors with a lack of strong 'bass'.
Conclusion
Philips have created another LCD TV that produces the goods in terms of picture performance, but now with the added advantage of price competitiveness. The 42PFL7404 competes head on with the likes of Samsung, Sony and LG in this sector. Add superior build quality along with stylish looks and Philips look like they have created a winner.
Philips 42PFL7404
