Philips 42 PFL 7403

[admin_exported]

I am literally praying for your help here. I have the opportunity to buy the Philips 42PFL 7403. Had SONY from last years W series to this years 40 inch Z series. The Z, after one week had such backlight issues that even SONY repairmen could not salvage it and they gave my money back. So its time to move on. Samsung is also out of the question after reading widespread review of inconsistent backlight in all corners and clouding!. So now it comes down to this. What hi-fi gave a favorable review to the Philips 42 PFL 7603D. What is the fundamental difference between the 7603 and the 7403 - ambilight only?

Reviews generally for the 7403 is very poor. I cannot understand why. If according to what hi-fi the 7603 is very good, then I dont see how the 7403 could be a disaster.

Can someone please shed some light on this issue for me before I make another fatal mistake.

Thanks a lot!

 

[strapped for cash]

I've not encountered the 7403 Philips, but the 7404 is a good choice -- digs up bags of detail, colours are pretty good, and blacks are reasonably deep. The picture is not as stable as on the 9664, which uses the Philips 'Pixel Perfect' engine rather than the 'Pixel Precise' technology used on the lower spec 7404 series, but it's definitely worth a look. It's 32" sibling was the winner of last months WHF supertest, though reviews of the 42" model are thin on the ground...

 

[Anonymous]

Very good thank you. That seems to be a step in the correct direction already. I forgot to mention that I am stuck in the middle east. Today the brochure has been delivered to me in the afternoon and I could compare the specifications of the 7603 (the one mentioned in what hi-fi review) and the 7403 which I can get. For some odd reason the 7603 is a 8 bit panel and the 7403 is 10 bit. Furthermore, the response time in milliseconds (ms) for the 7603 is 5ms and for the 7403 is 3. And even more interesting is that the 7603 has Pixel Perfect 2 HD where the 7403 has Pixel Perfect 3 HD. Believe me this is correct according to Philips glossy brochure. It may also add further confusion to my current predicament.

Hope others out there could lend a helping hand (view).

But once again thank you strapped for cash for your info and swinging me few inches closer to buying this TV. And I must say, in my modest opinion, it looks far more beautiful than any of Sony's recent incarnations (with their stupid backlight and all...)