Decision time, what about the Philips 47PFL9664?

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Recently I have been seeking advice on a number of different screens. It is about time I made up my mind and got one. I have set a budget around £2000 but there is some flexibility there. All I have decided for sure is that 3D is not for me at the moment. So far I have considered the following sets and decided against them:

Panasonic 50" V20, no doubt a cracking TV but too ugly, her indoors wouldn't go for it!

LG 50" Infinia LPK990, looks gorgeous but some reviews suggest image retention and lag.

Samsung 55" LED/LCD UE55B7020, huge, very thin, stunning, but almost twice the price of the LG Infinia! also some reviews suggest clouding and backlight problems.

Samsung 50" PS50C7000, relatively cheap and looks great but no real wow factor from what I have read.

This brings me onto the Philips 47PFL9664. It looks great, it's LCD which I personally prefer, only £1600, excellent images and good sound for TV (although I will be using a separate amp and speakers for movies) I have a few questions regarding this set though. Does the Philips Ambilight 2 really add anything to the TV or is it just a gimmick? Would wall mounting this screen flush to a wall dull the effect of the ambilight? I have also read setting up this screen properly can be a bit of a pain, is that true? My final question regarding this set is are there any similar models out soon before I go and buy it and find out a replacement is due to be released?

As always any help would be appreciated[:)]
 

6th.replicant

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IME, large-screen LCDs (ie 46/47-inch) have backlight/clouding issues.

I'm currently consulting with Trading Standards/Consumer Direct & arguing with the retailer re my 47-inch Philips LCD's woeful backlight-bleeding & motion blur.

In hindsight, I wish I'd bought an LED TV, which appears to be the only current large-screen format that is not beset with various 'problems' (judging by this forum's feedback)?
 
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Anonymous

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davee , id check out the lg 47le8500 , its a rear led tv , reviews are very very positive , it apparently has the best blacks and shadow detail of any lcd yet seen ..much better than even the philips 9704 that costs about £136754.99...
 

Andy Clough

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Davee, I personally like the Ambilight effect on Philips's TVs and do think it helps reduce eye strain, but don't forget you can always turn it off if you don't like it.

And yes, Philips tellies do tend to be a bit more fiddly to set up accurately, but you only have to do it once.
 
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Anonymous

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Cheers for all of the responses so far. I think I will have to find the nearest store to go and demo the Philips. I haven't heard a bad word about this specific set but better to be safe than sorry. Ambilight 2 covers the left and right side of the screen, ambilight 3 on other models adds the effect to the top of the screen. Why couldn't Philips just make this set ambilght 3? How much more would another strip of LED lights cost?!
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6th.replicant

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maxflinn:davee , id check out the lg 47le8500 , its a rear led tv , reviews are very very positive , it apparently has the best blacks and shadow detail of any lcd yet seen ..much better than even the philips 9704 that costs about £136754.99...

I assume we're referring to the same lg 47le8500 review, which in addition to the above also notes, "...uneven backlight uniformity; adjustable dejudder doesn't work well; subpar bright-room performance; ...some stray illumination and uniformity issues...". Does ANY current TV not have backlight/clouding issues (LCD/LEDs) or fading black levels (plasmas)?

In fact, is there a current TV that does not have a major flaw or compromise in terms of PQ?
 
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Anonymous

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6th.replicant:In fact, is there a current TV that does not have a major flaw or compromise in terms of PQ?

It's hard work isn't it? Before flatscreens were common place we just picked up a CRT and got on with it. Now it would seem whatever screen you go for it will have problems.
 
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Anonymous

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Max this 47 inch full LED LG-47LE8900 screen looks a little more promising on paper at least. It is also part of their premium 'Infinia' range. I've just emailed LG enquiring when this will be released. Surely a full LED screen wouldn't have any backlighting issues..........would it?
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Anonymous

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6th.replicant:Daveee:... Surely a full LED screen wouldn't have any backlighting issues..........would it?
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DHYB...
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DHYB?
 
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Anonymous

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6th.replicant how long did you have your Philips TV before the backlighting issues became apparent?
 
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Anonymous

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Daveee:Max this 47 inch full LED LG-47LE8900 screen looks a little more promising on paper at least. It is also part of their premium 'Infinia' range. I've just emailed LG enquiring when this will be released. Surely a full LED screen wouldn't have any backlighting issues..........would it?
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it seems similarly specced , could be identical , i guess the odd lcd is going to have clouding , whatever make you choose , you should insist on a no quibble refund if you get any ..

those lgs are very good this year davee , and stunning ..
 
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Anonymous

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My personal advice as posted before is to Dont let the reviews be the only item of your judgement /buy - Use it only as a base line - then you should definatly see it with your own reviewing tools - your eyes !

Besides our personnal preferences , brand / design / feelings / etc etc i think when you narrow your choice to some sets , most of the times we are talking about nice quality sets for quality brands that have overall good image quality and spef... so the next step should be your personnal review .. we are diferent and sensitive to diferent things , so motion blur , phosphor trailling, bleeding, color accuracy, gamma, response time, black levels , etc etc is not perceived the same way by everyone - most people can even notice the diference between a plasma and lcds .. im not saying you can't - just saying go see it for yourself !

good luck
 
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Anonymous

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I was just also checking prices for the Philips 46PFL9704 and it seems to have gone up in price. Best price I can find is £2400, wasn't this only £2200 when it was released?
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6th.replicant

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Daveee:6th.replicant how long did you have your Philips TV before the backlighting issues became apparent?
After approx one week I noticed slight clouding, but it's steadily become worse, especially since I used Andy Clough's suggested setup for contrast, brightness, colour, sharpness etc settings. (Not criticising Andy's settings, overall his suggestions improved the PQ.)

I contacted Philips tech dept, which helpfully suggested reducing contrast to 70-ish & raising the brightness to 65-ish, which in effect reduced black levels to shades of grey, thus blending with the clouding/backlight bleed - marvellous.

The 47PFL7404's other problem is motion blur: any moving object that's tracked by a panning shot has a watery/shimmering outline. Hence, TV/movies shot with extensive use of hand-held camera - eg The Bourne Ultimatum or The Kingdom - actually induce a headache when viewed on a 47PFL7404. However, you can eliminate the watery 'halo', by switching off the HD Natural Motion setting, which in turn de-activates the 24fps & also renders the PQ 'soft'. Philips sent an 'engineer' to inspect the TV and his comment was along the lines of, 'It's not a faulty set - they all do that, sir.' Hurrah, well that's OK then!

The 'engineer' also commented that Philips's suggested solution is to 'tune' your BDP/PVR/games console's settings to complement the Philips TV. Thus far, I'm struggling to find any settings on my Humax, PS3 and Pioneer 320 that enable any such parity with a Philips TV.

My advice would be to not buy ANY Philips TV unless you've extensively demo'd the set instore with your existing BDP, PVR etc.

Not surprisingly, I'm a tad confused by WHF?S&V's 5-star rating for the Philips 47PFL7404.
 
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Anonymous

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I can see why are not happy. Unfortunately most places now only offer the standard 7 day no quibble return period. At the moment I am using an older 40 inch Samsung LCD which I have had for a few years. This set, although now outdated, has been absolutely brilliant. To date I have had no problems with it whatsoever. If I were to spend a lot of money on a newer tech TV that had any of the problems you have encountered I also would be quite annoyed. My problem is literally every TV out there seems to have something wrong with it.

At the moment Richer Sounds are doing the Philips 47PFL9664 with a free 5 year warranty worth £160 (instore only) Quite exactly what that warranty actually covers remains to be seen. Probably just parts and labour for a fault, I doubt they would see motion blur or backlight bleed as a 'fault' should the set have problems with either. I've spent about 10 times longer researching on a new TV than I did choosing a new house. It's an absolute minefield of information, choice and endless contradictions. To be honest I'm getting pretty bored with it all now, I think the Philips it is, definitley maybe anyway
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Anonymous

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davee , seriously consider the panny 50vt20 , its going to be the best 2d tv bar the kuro , better than all the rest , and may even prove to be as good as a kuro , no problems likely , and 3d , again , likely to be the best this year , as a lovely bonus , its a no brainer unless im missing something ?
 

TKratz

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Daveee:Cheers for all of the responses so far. I think I will have to find the nearest store to go and demo the Philips. I haven't heard a bad word about this specific set but better to be safe than sorry.

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Anonymous

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maxflinn:davee , seriously consider the panny 50vt20 , its going to be the best 2d tv bar the kuro , better than all the rest , and may even prove to be as good as a kuro , no problems likely , and 3d , again , likely to be the best this year , as a lovely bonus , its a no brainer unless im missing something ?

I see what you are saying with regard to the VT20 being a top quality 2D TV with 3D added to the mix. To be honest though Max I am not interested in 3D for the following reasons:

  • Having to replace a perfectly good Denon 2310 receiver or pay £400 for a dual HDMI Panasonic Blu-Ray player. I really doubt that this Blu-Ray player would be as good as a regular player around the same price (for standard Blu-Ray) £400 could buy you the Pioneer BDP-LX52 or the Cambridge Audio 650BD.
  • Buying a £2000 TV that will be £1500 in 2 months when none have sold.
  • Having to fork out for 5 sets of 3D specs when friends come round to watch the football.
  • Having to pay Sky even more than the £60 a month they already have off me to get the odd programme in 3D.
  • Wearing those silly glasses all the time, it was bad enough in the cinema.
  • I think the full 1080p 3D experience with active shutter specs will be impressive at first. As you become used to the effect it will become pretty boring. I think the polarised 720p 3D experience will be quite naff full stop!
  • You just know if you invest in the first 3D TV sets they will be followed by a newer improved version in a few months time.
  • Having to watch films/programmes that have had 3D where it is probably better without. If it does kick off well will we have to watch Sky News in 3D eventually?
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To be honest the only real attraction of 3D for me would be gaming. If there are a lot of good 3D games that come out I will consider buying a screen when they drop in price just for use with my PS3. For now I want quality regular 2D screen that both performs well and looks good in my lounge. The Philips set I mentioned here ticks all of my boxes. It is good quality, aesthetically it looks great, I also think the ambilight would compliment my backlit plasma fire pretty well
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Before anyone shouts at me for putting a TV above a fire it is for show!

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Anonymous

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yes but your going to spend £2k anyway , or thereabouts , and whatever you buy , probably wont be as good with 2d as the vt20 ? at least you will be future proofed , a 3d panny bluray player is imo going to be on a par with any other bluray player , why wouldnt it be ?

you dont have to feel like you have to be fully equipped for 3d for all the house from the off ?

the panny will most likely give you the best 2d for the money right now , with the added benefit of being able to join the 3d bandwagon if it takes off , and when it suits ?
 
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Anonymous

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Max you know what annoys me about you? well let me enlighten you, it's the fact you are probably right!
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Have you come across any reviews for that Panasonic dual HDMI Blu-Ray player? I have no evidence to back up my statement but I still think at £400 there would be much better Blu-Ray players out there.
 
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Anonymous

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at the risk of starting a debate on the merits of expensive blu-ray players , hers some info , you know bigboss ? a forum member here ..

well , hes got a pioneer krp500 , the undisputed best tv ever made bar none , and , hes got a ps3 , and a panny blu-ray player , and he borrowed his friends denon 2500 blu-ray player (bb , please note the correct spelling of blu-ray
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) , he finds NO difference between the three , and im sure he would notice on his tv ?

there is absolutely no reason to assume that a panny 3d blu-ray player would be lacking against any other blu-ray player .. none ..

so , at the risk of annoying you further
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, whats the 50vt20 routes problem
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Anonymous

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LOL Max check this out. I finally make my mind up after months of checking out different screens and this thread gets started.
 

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