PHILIPS 47PFL 7422 LCD TV

It's about time we reviewed a large screen high-end LCD TV, for two reasons: it’s Diwali shopping season, and it's been a while since we saw some real 1080p action...

And what better choice than Philips, who seem to have released a diamond-studded Ambilight or something of the sort? No, we did not get that for review, and anyway I don’t see the point of having diamonds on a TV – as far as I know, Philips TVs look quite good as they are, thank you.

We did get the Philips 47PFL 7422 LCD for review though. It costs Rs 1,24,990, raising our hopes that it might prove to be exceptional. Of course, not all expensive things are good... so let's see for ourselves what this huge flatscreen has to offer.

 

Design and Features
This TV looks great, just like other models from Philips. The 47-inch screen is embedded in a glossy black bezel, which is held in place by a silver frame. This frame extends into a speaker bar at the bottom, achieving a futuristic black-and-silver look.

I personally prefer black in totality, but this black-and-silver combo nevertheless hits the spot. The swivel stand provided along with the unit is also shiny metallic, complementing the sleek look.

The connections are at the back, facing downwards, while a single side AV unit is present on the grayish back panel. The left side contains the power switch and channel/volume navigation buttons, which are slim and unobtrusive – this adds to the overall aesthetic appeal.

As far as connections go, the unit contains two HDMI-in, two component-in, plus the older S-video and composite connections. PC input and SCART are present too.

The tech specs do impress: Pixel Plus HD supported (Philips' proprietary algorithm that's said to enhance detail), Full HD W-UXGA display - 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, 1080p progressive processing, 8ms response time, brightness of 500cd/m2, Dynamic Screen Contrast Ratio of 3000:1, Active Control, 2x10 W RMS sound output, Nicam Stereo, Incredible Surround, Anti Reflex Coated Screen, progressive scan, 3D comb filter, six widescreen modes... and whatnot!

Performance
After intentionally cutting the superfluous content out of the design and features, and presenting a direct approach, we planned to review the TV for all its exquisite detail and features. Yes, the time had arrived to see whether aesthetic appeal is all the TV has, or if it actually could be a pillar in your future high-def entertainment rig.

We connected the PS3 and a Philips DVD player to the unit, the latter to play our PAL test DVD. The picture was indeed great. Our gamers were wrenching away at the controllers on a game called Heavenly Sword, and we were viewing it in 1080p, with all the detail and movement on offer. There were a few artifacts here and there, such as some jaggie lines and noise created by the screen itself.

We played our test DVD next in upscaled 720p, which was handled quite well. In component, however, we saw an obvious setback, something that cannot be repaired; basically it’s is not HDCP compliant for HD images through component, so we were back to 576p images.

But who needs that when HDMI terminal is present? (Not that analog component HD is bad, more on that later in an upcoming feature.) So we got back to the upscaled 720p through HDMI from our DVD and ran the tests as usual.

The brightness we found unspectacular, but definitely not bad. Most of the other artifacts arose from the DVD player, so overall the TV does perform well. Detail is awesome, contrast is great, and color is also up to the mark. The tint settings ideally need to be turned off though.

Conclusion
All said, this is a good TV, to say the least. It performs like a pro, and full HD is good thing (I can’t wait for the formats to arrive here in a big way). This device can be considered if budget is not a problem, though it performs best only in its native 1080 mode.