» Philips 47PFL5603D/27 47-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Philips 47PFL5603D/27 47-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Too Good For TV?
Comment: I'm still playing around with this thing so there may be updates to come. I'm not a technophile and bought this monster mostly because of the upcoming digital transition - my plan is to watch mostly off-air hdtv signals, dvds, and some old video.

And this IS a monster, BTW. At almost 80 lbs it's close to the upper edge of my lifting range. Eventually it'll be permanently mounted to the wall, but meantime I'm holding it up while the female of the species meditates on furniture arrangement! I know I'm losing weight, but maybe disks as well...

The menus are NOT right-sized for a 47" tv; they're absurdly huge and unnecessarily obscuring. However the real problem, for non-cable me, is the slowness of the channel-changing. And it's not like you see channel 6.1 until channel 6.2 appears three seconds later - you see a completely blank screen, not even the channel numbers in the upper left-hand corner.

HDTV looks FANTASTIC on this set, though it took a couple of re-channel-formats - and turns of the antenna - to get all the hdtv stations. A fair bit of picture tweaking was required to get an image that doesn't look like shot-on-video: however I now have rich blacks AND stunning detail, despite what the review at NEC (which is of the 42" set) says. The internal speakers seem fine to ME - ok, my previous set was 20 years old...

Non-hdtv looks AWFUL. Judder, artifacts, pixillation - maybe that'd be true of any screen this size. I'm not criticizing Philips, necessarily. However if like me you plan to be watching a lot of old stuff into the indefinite future, I'd strongly recommend a smaller screen!!!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not suitable for gaming or 1080p content
Comment: As I type these words, I am watching them on this very screen, and I thoroughly regret purchasing this TV.

I got fooled by the specs where they said:

* Flicker Free 1080p - It doesn't really give an acceptable, stable 1080p picture. The picture wobbles and squiggles periodically, making you hold your breath in between these occurrences, hoping it's gone away.

* "typical" 5ms response time - No. If you calibrate it with software or console-games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, the lag is in excess of 120ms. If you connect your PC, it gets worse. When is it 5ms? In the menus, perhaps?

So.. If good 1080p picture-quality, gaming or PC connectivity is what you're looking for, then this TV isn't for you.

Oh, and the "game-mode" on this TV gives you an INTERLACED picture that still lags far beyond 5ms. Hohum, 1080 PROGRESSIVE indeed. UselessPhilips 47PFL3603D 47-Inch Widescreen 1080p LCD HDTV.

I guess you got me this time, Philips. Got me good.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The best value for the size and quality
Comment: This is a really good TV. It looks and sounds great. Connection is easy. We installed it with a wall rack that fit no problem. I waited 15 years to upgrade my TV but I wanted a good one that was reasonably priced. This is the one.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Quality High Definition for the Economy Price
Comment: I've been selling this particular model for about three months and I've been very impressed with how well it has held up against not just constant demo usage but from customer feedback as well.

First off I must warn all potential customers that with any high definition television you MUST HAVE A HIGH DEFINITION SERVICE if you want your channels to look as awesome as those televisions on the show room floor. Televisions do not magically take a cable signal from a coaxial cable and make it high def. That said, with the 1080P picture quality you can also enjoy the high definition if you have an up conversion DVD player, a Playstation 3, or an XBox 360 Elite/Halo 3 console so long as you have an HDMI cable to transfer the signal. Sadly, the Wii console only sends out a maximum signal of 480 which is not high def.

To compliment the 1080P picture quality is the 29,000 contrast ratio. Most economy-class televisions under $2000 sport around a 2000-8500 contrast ratio, which is OK but let's face it; like the song by Queen you want it all and you want it now. Samsung A3 series typically sport around 8500 contrast while economy-priced Sony Bravias are even less, making the Philips 29,000 far superior.

On top of that, the quality and endurance of the Philips 47 is top-notch. In my eight years of selling screens, Philips is one of the longest lasting if not the longest in the economy-class. They don't use cheap parts like Emerson, Sanyo, or RCA but have the same (if not better) picture as a Samsung or Sony. I hardly see any Philips returned and if they did, it's usually because they want to upgrade to the 52-inch.

The sound isn't bad for a big screen but, like any other, it is designed to be complimented by a surround sound. Nonetheless, depending on the acoustics of the room this model can operate fairly well without one although don't expect a true Pro-Logic II experience.

All-in-all the Philips 47 does something few other screens can; give the economy-class shopper a screen that dominates in picture quality making it affordable to all who want to experience true high definition.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: smart move
Comment: After much on-line research of available large screen lcd's, settled on this Philips. Very pleased with this product. Delivered fully assembled including stand. Install took less than 10 minutes. Audio and video both very good.

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