Philips 42PFL3704D 42" LCD TV
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- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (16:9)
- Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
- HDCP Support: With HDCP Support
- Response Time: 6.5 ms
- Broadcast Format Displayed: 1080p (HDTV) 1080i (HDTV) 720p (HDTV) 480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV)
- Screen Size: 42 inch
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User ReviewRead All Reviews »
Perhaps the best picture at even double the price.
Pros
Excellent picture quality, easy to use, and a relatively low price.
Cons
No variable audio out, features are limited, non-universal remote
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If picture quality counts, this set will deliver. If you're looking for all the latest features, it might disappoint you.
When I bought this, it was my first new TV in 10 years. The last one was a reliable and well performing Zenith/Inteq 32" CRT that was starting to suffer from a tired looking picture.
I went shopping around the 3 stores in my area that deal with electronics and the final three choices were a 40" Samsung, a 40" Sony, and this Philips set.
Both the Samsung and Sony had more features, and a wider variety of inputs, but I could not get over how much better the picture looked on the Philips set. It was not the additional 2-inches of diagonal screen space, but the Philips had deeper blacks, no motion artifacts (blur), and had a more film-like quality to the picture. The Sony and Samsung both seemed artificially sharp, even after I had an opportunity to adjust the picture to my liking.
I brought the Philips home, and after connecting it up, was dismayed to see a cluster of stuck pixels in the center of the screen. I was able to take it back and exchange for a different one. The second unit has performed flawlessly.
As expected, the set performs exceptionally well with HD content like Blueray and PS3. At first, I was less than pleased with its performance with analog sources (cable TV) and picture quality with my Sony DVD player (using progressive component video) was highly pixelated and grainy. Playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess resulted in a picture slightly better than the worst Youtube video rips.
However, either I or the TV (or both) have adapted to analog sources, as the picture quality seems to have improved a good deal with such media. DVD picture quality took a dramatic leap up when I bought a stand-alone Blueray player that also upscales regular DVD to 1080p when using HDMI. Some of my anime discs look almost native HD now.
Overall color and picture quality is impressive. Flesh tones are not too pink or orange, blacks are reasonably black, even in a dark room, shadows look good (not posterized dark-green and blue as some LCD's display them) and the picture displays a very bright white without imposing a blueish hue, as the Sony did in particular.
Although a 60Hz set, there are no signs of blurring or ghosting during action sequences, nor any indication that the picture is lagging behind the content. A particularly good test for this is the trailer for Neon Genesis Evangelion which rapidly flashes and cycles between scenes with black backgrounds and bold while or red text.
The sound quality is about typical for a budget set that is not being used with a HT system. The audio compressor works well, maintaing a fairly level sound output when engaged and the graphic EQ is a nice, if not mostly pointless addition. However, when using the analog inputs, if the source has a "hot" signal, it tends to clip the input stage quite easily (regardless of volume level) leading to a snapping sound emanating from the speakers. My GameCube is particularly notorious for this, and did it on the old Zenith set as well.
My biggest beef with the sound system is that the analog audio output is not variable. This is a problem for me, as I use a KLH BassBite II subwoofer connected directly to the audio output to round out the low-end. I now must reach behind the TV stand and manually adjust the volume. Because of this, I now have the subwoofer off for most viewing, and only turn it one when watching a movie, where I will not be adjusting the volume.
The remote is not a universal unit, but is well laid out and intuitive to use. For some reason, there is a completely blank button, which puzzled me; the manual simply indicates that it " does not function on this unit". The set's UI is basic, and does not even have an on-screen clock, never mind features like Guide Plus, or PiP that I used to take for granted. HDMI CEC is sort of hit or miss. Most of the time, when I turn on my CEC enabled Blueray player it will automagically turn on the set and switch it to the appropriate input, but other times it seems oblivious to the commands. It could be the Blueray player at fault in this regard as well.
I went shopping around the 3 stores in my area that deal with electronics and the final three choices were a 40" Samsung, a 40" Sony, and this Philips set.
Both the Samsung and Sony had more features, and a wider variety of inputs, but I could not get over how much better the picture looked on the Philips set. It was not the additional 2-inches of diagonal screen space, but the Philips had deeper blacks, no motion artifacts (blur), and had a more film-like quality to the picture. The Sony and Samsung both seemed artificially sharp, even after I had an opportunity to adjust the picture to my liking.
I brought the Philips home, and after connecting it up, was dismayed to see a cluster of stuck pixels in the center of the screen. I was able to take it back and exchange for a different one. The second unit has performed flawlessly.
As expected, the set performs exceptionally well with HD content like Blueray and PS3. At first, I was less than pleased with its performance with analog sources (cable TV) and picture quality with my Sony DVD player (using progressive component video) was highly pixelated and grainy. Playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess resulted in a picture slightly better than the worst Youtube video rips.
However, either I or the TV (or both) have adapted to analog sources, as the picture quality seems to have improved a good deal with such media. DVD picture quality took a dramatic leap up when I bought a stand-alone Blueray player that also upscales regular DVD to 1080p when using HDMI. Some of my anime discs look almost native HD now.
Overall color and picture quality is impressive. Flesh tones are not too pink or orange, blacks are reasonably black, even in a dark room, shadows look good (not posterized dark-green and blue as some LCD's display them) and the picture displays a very bright white without imposing a blueish hue, as the Sony did in particular.
Although a 60Hz set, there are no signs of blurring or ghosting during action sequences, nor any indication that the picture is lagging behind the content. A particularly good test for this is the trailer for Neon Genesis Evangelion which rapidly flashes and cycles between scenes with black backgrounds and bold while or red text.
The sound quality is about typical for a budget set that is not being used with a HT system. The audio compressor works well, maintaing a fairly level sound output when engaged and the graphic EQ is a nice, if not mostly pointless addition. However, when using the analog inputs, if the source has a "hot" signal, it tends to clip the input stage quite easily (regardless of volume level) leading to a snapping sound emanating from the speakers. My GameCube is particularly notorious for this, and did it on the old Zenith set as well.
My biggest beef with the sound system is that the analog audio output is not variable. This is a problem for me, as I use a KLH BassBite II subwoofer connected directly to the audio output to round out the low-end. I now must reach behind the TV stand and manually adjust the volume. Because of this, I now have the subwoofer off for most viewing, and only turn it one when watching a movie, where I will not be adjusting the volume.
The remote is not a universal unit, but is well laid out and intuitive to use. For some reason, there is a completely blank button, which puzzled me; the manual simply indicates that it " does not function on this unit". The set's UI is basic, and does not even have an on-screen clock, never mind features like Guide Plus, or PiP that I used to take for granted. HDMI CEC is sort of hit or miss. Most of the time, when I turn on my CEC enabled Blueray player it will automagically turn on the set and switch it to the appropriate input, but other times it seems oblivious to the commands. It could be the Blueray player at fault in this regard as well.
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