I am the lucky person who is the proud owner of the Philips 40PFL9704. My posting on this subject has prompted a number of replies ranging from agreement to a total rubbishing of this (and other Philips models) TV on the basis of its SD performance. I will try here to explain why the experience of people is so variable.
Most potential purchasers first impression of a TV is an "in store" demonstration. From my standpoint as an ex-engineer and attendance at many Audio/Visual exhibitions I would advise purchasers not to take at face value what they see at store demo's.
Exhibition demo's are very carefully set up to give the best possible impression. The highest quality Input equipment (DVD or BlueRay, connectors etc) is used, TV's are well calibrated and are always showing HD material specially chosen to give the best impression. Very rarely would an exhibitor demonstrate SD material off air (Freeview or freesat) due to the variable quality of the signal. Even here however, the quality of the mains supply at many exhibition venues is poor and many manufacturers will go to great pains cleaning up the mains. If you are impressed by a set here you can confidently expect that it will perform well when you get it home
In store demonstrations work on the same principle showing mainly HD material but unfortunately, the ability of staff to set up a model correctly is often severely limited and usually the TV is connected up with "out of the box" settings. I often walk round a major chain electronic store (nameless for legal reasons) and am appalled how awful the picture of most TV's look. SD freeview material often gives a very bad impression of the true ability of a particular model.
Most TV's when correctly set up and supplied with high quality HD and SD material will give an adequate picture. The limiting factor here is the quality of the mains supply and the quality of the interconnects. In the modern world RF interference is everywhere. Computers, fridges, washing machines and lately, low energy lighting, all degrade the mains supply. This RF interference has a knock on effect in the electronics of your TV or HiFi. You have probably noticed that at certain times of day, especially late at night, your HiFi suddenly sounds wonderful and the TV picture becomes a bit clearer. When provided with a "clean" (Free from RF and spikes) mains supply even down market models will improve enormously.
The quality of the mains supply in most stores is awful. With all that equipment on at the same time, generating loads of RF, it is not surprising that the equipment cannot work to the best if it's ability. Where is all this leading? Firstly don't base your impression of a TV on the basis of what you see in store. Read a few reviews, look up the specs but first see if you can improve your current equipment by cleaning up your mains supply. There are companies around such as Russ Andrews who specialise in mains connectors and interconnects that minimise the RF getting to you equipment. They aren't cheap and most people will not think it worthwhile as they don't really care about the quality of their picture or sound. But for those who do and want to get the best out of their electronics, I urge them to try upgrading mains leads and interconnects. You will be amazed what an improvement can be achieved and often will not bother to buy new equipment.
If, like me, you want to upgrade to an HD TV you can confidently chose a model that has received favourable reviews. I have spent a great deal of money upgrading my mains connectors and interconnects and all my equipment (some of it quite ancient) works to the best of it's ability. Which brings me back to the Philips 9704. Good specs, innovative electronics, local dimming LED backlighting and low energy consumption. When I connected up and correctly calibrated this model I got what I expected, the best SD picture I have seen anywhere and HD of superlative quality.
Most potential purchasers first impression of a TV is an "in store" demonstration. From my standpoint as an ex-engineer and attendance at many Audio/Visual exhibitions I would advise purchasers not to take at face value what they see at store demo's.
Exhibition demo's are very carefully set up to give the best possible impression. The highest quality Input equipment (DVD or BlueRay, connectors etc) is used, TV's are well calibrated and are always showing HD material specially chosen to give the best impression. Very rarely would an exhibitor demonstrate SD material off air (Freeview or freesat) due to the variable quality of the signal. Even here however, the quality of the mains supply at many exhibition venues is poor and many manufacturers will go to great pains cleaning up the mains. If you are impressed by a set here you can confidently expect that it will perform well when you get it home
In store demonstrations work on the same principle showing mainly HD material but unfortunately, the ability of staff to set up a model correctly is often severely limited and usually the TV is connected up with "out of the box" settings. I often walk round a major chain electronic store (nameless for legal reasons) and am appalled how awful the picture of most TV's look. SD freeview material often gives a very bad impression of the true ability of a particular model.
Most TV's when correctly set up and supplied with high quality HD and SD material will give an adequate picture. The limiting factor here is the quality of the mains supply and the quality of the interconnects. In the modern world RF interference is everywhere. Computers, fridges, washing machines and lately, low energy lighting, all degrade the mains supply. This RF interference has a knock on effect in the electronics of your TV or HiFi. You have probably noticed that at certain times of day, especially late at night, your HiFi suddenly sounds wonderful and the TV picture becomes a bit clearer. When provided with a "clean" (Free from RF and spikes) mains supply even down market models will improve enormously.
The quality of the mains supply in most stores is awful. With all that equipment on at the same time, generating loads of RF, it is not surprising that the equipment cannot work to the best if it's ability. Where is all this leading? Firstly don't base your impression of a TV on the basis of what you see in store. Read a few reviews, look up the specs but first see if you can improve your current equipment by cleaning up your mains supply. There are companies around such as Russ Andrews who specialise in mains connectors and interconnects that minimise the RF getting to you equipment. They aren't cheap and most people will not think it worthwhile as they don't really care about the quality of their picture or sound. But for those who do and want to get the best out of their electronics, I urge them to try upgrading mains leads and interconnects. You will be amazed what an improvement can be achieved and often will not bother to buy new equipment.
If, like me, you want to upgrade to an HD TV you can confidently chose a model that has received favourable reviews. I have spent a great deal of money upgrading my mains connectors and interconnects and all my equipment (some of it quite ancient) works to the best of it's ability. Which brings me back to the Philips 9704. Good specs, innovative electronics, local dimming LED backlighting and low energy consumption. When I connected up and correctly calibrated this model I got what I expected, the best SD picture I have seen anywhere and HD of superlative quality.
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