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The 32PFL7762D is to be congratulated, too, on its colours. Out are the over-dominant reds and greens and weird skin tones seen on so many budget sets. In are largely natural skin tones, and an impressively coherent and video-friendly general palette.

Black levels are very accomplished for a budget TV too. The evening suits on show during Casino Royale's poker games look impressively black rather than grey and washed out as they tend to with affordable LCDs. And really dark scenes like those where Bond is tortured don't look as if they're taking place behind a veil of mist.

Inevitably the 32PFL7762D falls short of Philips' high-end TVs in a few areas. Probably the most obvious problem is the way harshly contrasting edges can sometimes look forced and over-bright. But also, while colours are very natural and subtly rendered, they do lack a touch of vibrancy versus the best LCDs out there. Plus the picture sometimes seems to flicker, especially during camera pans; the dynamic contrast system is very occasionally a touch clumsy and over-obvious; and once or twice I spotted traces of gentle moire noise over some patches of particularly fine detailing.

It's worth stating, though, that careful tweaking of the TV's picture settings (especially brightness and contrast) can at least reduce the impact of some of these problems. And in any case, their net impact is nowhere near as potent as the impact of all the set's good points.

With so many picture points in its favour, it's surely too much to expect the 32PFL7762D's sound to be any good as well, right? Wrong. It copes really well with demanding Casino Royale moments such as the ‘sinking building' in Venice, delivering vocals with exceptional clarity over the rest of the racket and pushing the soundstage over a surprisingly wide distance. It even delivers quite a bit of bass by flat TV standards courtesy of a subwoofer built onto the TV's rear. This bass causes a little distortion at particularly extreme moments, but it's only minor and seldom distracts you from what you're watching.

Verdict

Although the 32PFL7762D's Pixel Plus 2 HD engine is definitely showing its age now that we're familiar with the sensational qualities of Philips' new Perfect Pixel Engine, it's still more than good enough to make the set's £528 price look like one hell of a bargain.

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