Guys I got my 42PFL9603 yesterday
What a great TV! I still can't believe it.
Before this set I used to watch TV on a 32" 720p Acer through a digital satellite set-top box because the analogue cable was full of static. Also I played a lot of SD and 720p movies and great 5-6MP photos from my "media center" Mac Mini.
Well, with this baby I plugged the cable antenna and was astonished! Apart from incredibly filtering ALL the static, Philips practically does a full 1080p 100 Hz upscale of the standard-def analogue TV signal through a function that detects edges "on the fly" and interpolates the pixels along edges to make them look like HD!!! Of course places where there are no edges are not as clear as in HD but all in all the image is incredible!!!
The 30.000:1 contrast (not dynamic, mind you) also helps the image, blacks are blacks and a lot of detail is there even in shadows.
As a result, I no longer use the digital STB (apart from some very dear channels that are only available on satellite )
As for the PC image, it was perfect, 1920x1080, one-on-one pixel and great color mapping, as soon as I defined the HDMI 1 input as PC. 720p movies look great, my own 6MP pictures are fantastic, but unfortunately I don't have as yet any 1080p content to watch. But I'm working on that.
The set looks splendid with its glass enclosure, even my mom was blown off though she hates technology. And it incorporates so much simple and smart technology, it seems an Apple product . For example: the image auto-scales and crops live to eliminate black bands as soon as they appear, though when the first subtitles appear under the image the set scales/crops again to let them show -- and stay so even when there is a pause in subtitles. Simple and logic, why couldn't the other guys think of it?
Another great feature is its programmable remote control. In a matter of minutes I taught it to master the set top box and the dvd and simply got rid of the other remotes! This is simple technology that has been available for a long time and which makes life simpler and better -- yet it's simply not offered by many.
Nice touch, the set worked the best with its default settings. The minitechnicus in me fiddled with settings all afternoon just to learn what each is doing, but each time I returned happily to the default choice.
One more nice touch. Though you can edit channel names using the wheel on the remote control (which may be quick after you get used to it, but it's not very accurate) you also have the option to use the numerical keypad on the remote just as a mobile phone keypad (as you do when you write an SMS) and the three-letter groups are present on each key. Smart and simple.
Ambilight Spectra is nice and a good enough reason to prefer Philips, in itself. It works OK in daylight but its strength is in a dimmed light. Though I thought it was more a stunt than a real feature, after two hours of watching in the afternoon/evening I turned it off and suddenly it seemed that the entire glamour was lost and we're back in time... I don't think I could ever buy a non-AmbiLight set again -- after having it seems like a TV without AmbiLight is almost like a B/W one to our parents...
Sound is great as the set has big, professional-looking speakers and a subwoofer at the rear and a great dolby surround option turned on by default. So good that I am no longer compelled to use my (older) Sony Home Theatre with this set.
Network was the one point in which the set failed to impress me. It's true that my set (with a Mac Mini with bluetooth keyboard and mouse underneath) does not have much use of a network connection, but I wanted to try it anyway. I wired the set and went into its menu to see what's there, and it did not discover my Macs. So I opened the (biiiig) book and learned that I have to download and keep opened a media center application for Mac -- only to be able to stream photos and music, not movies. Not interested. Also, I was not interested in testing the USB stick photo/music play -- though I am happy that the set has it for user firmware updates.
I know many of you guys want to know whether the set has the lag problem in PS3 games. I'm sorry, I really can't answer that because I don't own a PS3. In my Wii playing everything was great from the start and with default settings (I just defined the input as Game) but as you know Wii is SD. Sorry.
All in all, this set is fantastic, I've never seen as good a SD image before and trust me I've bugged all the local shops for hours to see the image on each recent TV out there from Sony, Samsung, Philips... If you have an empty white wall you should also consider 9703 which has AmbiLight on top too. For me, there is a window above the TV so 9603 was all I could hope for. Oh and one more info, I paid 2500 eur for it, including 19% VAT, here in Romania. I know it's much but it makes us all happy here and so it's worth every penny!
lu ici :
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthre ... 327&page=5