Philips 32PFL9604 32in LCD TV Review

Just one more comment.

Like all the other reviewers - this site makes the same mistake. Not a single word about how this set behaves with 1080i signal. 99% of all consumers receives 1080i signales for HD viewing. 1080i is not a triviel event for a television, even in the year 2009. Reviwers are still focusing on blu-ray performance, which about 1% of the readers have and use.

Thus the reviews, when it comes to picture quality ( except colors ) are close to useless, since you dont know how the set will reproduce and handle 1080i - till the set is unpacked and connected, and the naigbour tells you.

Users review Philips 32PFL9604:

Build quality, design:
Unpacking the 32PFL5404 was just to unpack a plastic TV set, unpacking the 32PFL9604 was done with respect. The 9604 is an exceptional TV with respect to design and build quality - exceptional is a strong word, but think well used here. Usually you can find spots where components dosnt fit, small design flaws, but this time, I could´nt set my finger on a single spot. The buttons on the right edge is replaced by touch buttons surfaced on the chrome strip, not bubble buttons, real touch - very nice.

The old series has a plastic design and is junk, they tried to improve the design on the new 8404, but its still junk and plastic, other versions have a light color, still junk.

Please note - the official picture shows a light gray stand and bezel, its not - the color is dark gray !

Remote:
The remote is a huge improvement over the 5604, very nice design, a tad too heavy for my taste - the battery port is opened by using a coin-lock - either to give it a solid impression, or in order to avoid that the battery port jumps loose when you drop this heavy remote on the floor. Functionality of the remote is average - the team who decided on the functionality should be fired and replaced. There is light in the ON/OFF and the 3 top buttons, but only when you press them .... whats the idea of having light in a button only when you press it - further the buttons light up when you press any button - waste of energy.

Picture quality SD digital, SCART:
Exceptional - the best picture I have seen on any LCD yet. The options of picture settings are plenty - I chosed to make a set-and-forget in the "Personal" profile, since the menu system is multi step in order to adjust picture quality. The team who made the menu system should be fired and replaced, they should buy a Panasonic and learn !


My "set-and-forget" is:
- Personal setting
- All OFF
- Color temp to normal
- Color on 50
- Contrast high, 70-90 ( depends on the room )
- Light 60 - 80 ( depends on the room )
- Sharpness 0

The minute you set color temp to normal, and disables all picture improvements, you are reworded with a very natural picture. Even an old Trinity movie plays without the LCD´ich look, just as on a CRT or plasma.

Picture quality 1080i , HDMI:
Running HD, such as EurosportHD Tennis with native HD recording, the set behaves about flawless, there may be some jagging now and then, but not on the mentioned EurosportHD event - thus jagging etc depends of the source quality. It seems like the HDMI input is calibrated differently, so a "set-and-forget" is similar, but with color set to 46 and sharpness to 4.

Ambilight:
My grandmother used to have a red lamp behind the CRT for many years - I suppose she invented the "Ambilight", the tradition in my home is a white lamp behind the 50PX600 throwing light on the wall. Always saw the Ambilight as a gimmick, not for me. However - now finally having a set with Ambilight, I see the advantage - it gives a more relaxed TV viewing for your eyes. You could put a lamp behind the TV, but here its build in with many color options, intensity etc, you can turn it on and off on the remote - a wide button at the bottom of the remote, one of the only well placed and designed buttons on this remote. I landed on RED light, lowest intensity as "set-and-forget".

Sound:
Part of the decision point, very good sound for movies, punchy bass and surround adds the last - having a 32" with a small sound is just too much. The mix of picture quality, the Ambilight, the sound, the surround gives an exceptional movie experience on this 32".

NET TV, Ethernet:
Personally I dont know what to use the NET TV for, if I want to surf the net I use my notebook, if I want to hear radio I turn on the radio, if I want to watch YouTube, I use my notebook. Only use for NET TV is for easy updates, perhaps for weather reports in the morning - and for streaming movies on demand in the future.
Upgrade of the software is done without USB keys etc. However, unfortunately, makes the responsible for the SW to think he can send buggy editions on the market - as the consumer can update easily. And the NET TV is buggy. After updating the SW, it will stuck in the first menu, only way to exit is by rebooting the TV. You have to disconnect the LAN cable every time you start a new session. If you unplug the LAN cable, the set will freeze and show a bright white screen. I´m sure they will fix this in the future, and the update is very easy. The team responsible for the NET TV should be fired and replaced.

Conclusion:
This is in my opinion an exceptional TV set, if you got the funds buy it, if not wait till it drops in price. If you just want a TV set and dont care about build quality and design, I suppose the 8404 and others are just fine.