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Over the past few days we’ve covered two extremes of Philips current LCD range. At one end we’ve checked out the high-end and feature packed 37in 37PF9830, while at the other we saw the 20in 20PF5320, one of the UK’s smallest and most affordable HD Ready LCD TVs. So we thought we’d round off a little Philips ‘trilogy’ with something more central in Philips’ current range: the 32in 32PF5520D.

This TV has actually been around for a while now, truth be told. But it’s still widely available and warrants our attention for the very good reason that with its age has come a price cut; having launched at a fairly hefty £1,300, it can now be yours for just £800. So is the 32PF5520D now the LCD world’s biggest bargain, or has its performance started to look dated?

After the aesthetic extravagances of the high-end 37PF9830, it has to be said that the 32PF5520D is as dull as dishwater. Everything about it, from the bland grey colour scheme to the plain rectangular lines and plasticky finish smacks of something made on a shoestring. It even sticks out further round the back than most LCDs, for heaven’s sake. Just as well we’re not the sort of people to judge a TV by its cover…

Unfortunately, though, our mood isn’t improved by the TV’s connections. Particularly alarming is the apparent lack of component video inputs and an analogue PC jack, leaving us with just a DVI port and a pair of SCARTs for high-quality picture duties. This seems particularly weird since the TV proudly wears the AV world’s HD Ready badge of honour, even though to earn that badge you have to have component video inputs. Hmm.

The answer to this apparent conundrum lies in adaptors included in the 32PF5520D’s packaging. With these it’s possible to get both analogue PC and high definition component video feeds into the TV via the DVI jack.

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