botaky Posted October 7, 2007 Posted October 7, 2007 I was in the market for a 32" bedroom TV recently, and decided on the new Philips 32PFL9432/98. It's the top of the line model featuring their proprietary Perfect Pixel HD technology (previously known as Pixel Plus). However, the model sold in Singapore comes without Ambilight, which is only available on the 42" and larger models. This is probably to lower cost and target it at the right price point for those buying a 32" TV, which is a wise decision. I can't see anyone spending over 2k on a 32" bedroom TV. The most expensive 32" in Singapore is the Sony D series, with a RRP of $2099. This Philips model is currently selling for $1899, which puts it in the same price range as the Sony V series. The full specs of this model I'm reviewing is available here: http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/sg/consumer/cc/_productid_32PFL9432_98_SG_CONSUMER/widescreen-flat-TV+32PFL9432-98 Upon receiving the TV, I promptly went about setting it up according to recommended calibration found on AVS forums. I paired it up with a StarHub HD box, and a PS3. Watching a blu ray movie on this Philips TV was a delight. Picture was vibrant, colors strong, and details good. I toggled the Perfect Pixel engine on and off to see what the difference was, if any. There was, indeed, a perceptible difference. The picture looked sharper and more detailed with Perfect Pixel enabled. And it works on SD material too, although sometimes causing the picture to look more noisy instead. But overall, the enhancements were good. Switching to the SCV HD box as input source, Discovery HD and NGC HD looked wonderful. In fact, I was completely awestruck when I was watching "Sunrise Earth" on Discovery - a program that features panoramic scenery. The picturesque landscape just seemed to jump right out at me from the screen. I felt as if I could literally reach in and touch what I saw! The lack of HD content locally is the bane of us HDTV owners. And the cold hard truth was nowhere more apparent than when I started watching the SD channels. Even though the HD box upscaled SD to 1080i, SD will always be SD. Some of the older materials, in particular, looked almost unwatchable. But this is true for any HDTV. I was hoping Perfect Pixel would work its magic here but sadly it didn't. And since I couldn't stand watching unnaturally stretched SD content either, I set the HD box to 576i, and watched SD channels with bars on the side - something I can't do with a Plasma TV. The good thing was that even though I set the TV to 4:3 mode, it automatically switched to widescreen mode when 1080i content was detected. One thing I noticed about this TV was that it seemed to be darker than the rest. And this was apparent at Best Denki and Courts where I first saw it displayed alongside other LCDs of the same size. At first I thought it was due to the settings, but it wasn't. However, this didn't turn out to be a bad thing at all. It turns out that this TV looks "darkish", only because the other competing LCD TVs are overly bright (which makes them look washed out in comparison). I have another 32" LCD TV - a Sony V series which I got from the recent SingNet promotion. I got it out from my mom's room, and set it side-by-side with the Philips. Both were connected to the SCV HD box - the Philips via component, the Sony via HDMI (results were the same with the connections swapped). Note that the Sony has also been configured with recommended settings from AVS forums. At first I couldn't believe it, but the side-by-side comparison confirmed it - the Philips had a better picture by a mile. As I said, the Philips picture looked darker. But that was actually due to its better contrast, which makes it look like a Plasma. It had that same "Plasma--ish through the looking glass" kind of look. When viewed in the dark, I almost thought I was looking at a Plasma TV. In comparison, the Sony V series LCD looked overly bright, and its colors were very typically LCD-like fake. I felt as if I was watching an unoptimized computer monitor when I looked at the Sony. The Sony did display subtitled text a little crispier, but that I attributed to its overall picture "whiteness". There was a downside to the Philips though. In order to get darker and better blacks, dynamic contrast mode had to be turned on. At times it seemed to give a kind of dynamic iris effect, which was quite noticeable and annoying. The benefits outweigh the faults though, and I'd concur with the general recommendation of keeping dynamic contrast enabled at "minimum". If you had a custom tint enabled, the dynamic contrast appeared to change the tint as well - a behavior which I would deem as "incorrect". I'm hoping this can be corrected in a future firmware revision. The Philips 32PFL9432/98 (and its bigger siblings of the same range) can be updated easily by the way - just like a PS3. Simply download the new firmware onto a USB thumb drive, plug it into the side of the panel, and follow the instructions on screen. Another thing I noticed with this Philips range was that probably due to the amount of processing it needs to do to the picture, the image comes on a split second later than other TVs. Put it beside other LCDs and you'll notice it when scenes are cut from one to another. Transitions also seem to have a peculiar "interlaced" effect at times, which I attribute to picture processing artifact. It's not major but some people may notice it. Again, it's something I hope can be fixed in future firmware revisions. I was given the opportunity to swap my Philips 32PFL9432/98 with a Sony 32" D series. In fact the offer still stands as I type this. But considering the Sony D series is similar in component to the V series which I compared here, I doubt I would make the switch since I really like the Philips' picture quality. If someone owns a Sony D series and would like to offer a comparative review to convince me otherwise, please do! Otherwise, I highly recommend the Philips 32PFL9432/98 to anyone looking to purchase a reasonably priced 32" bedroom LCD TV. There are lesser models at a slightly cheaper price, but I don't think any of those comes close to the Philips.
kayel Posted October 7, 2007 Posted October 7, 2007 Wow, good review. I have always liked the PQ of Philips TVs, ever since my first Pixel Plus 29" CRT bought about 4 years ago. What I especially liked was the Digital Natural Motion technology, which greatlty reduced the judder you see. Colours were strong and not overly saturared. Overall it was a fantastic experience. I'm also eyeing the 42" version of the TV you bought, but at $4999, it's way above my budget. Even though I've not seen the actual set on display, I can just drool reading the specs. 3x HDMI, 1080p connectivity, etc, just awesome. Still gotta look out for the display to see with my own eyes just how good this TV is. Two other problems though: (1) my current LCD TV is just a year old, so the wife will flip if I buy another so soon, (2) a 42 incher may be too big for my living room.... Sigh!
watchthewaves Posted October 8, 2007 Posted October 8, 2007 How about the PFL7432 then? Popped into Courts and say this 42inch full HD model going for $2999. The sales person said that it was an offer price that was exclusive to Courts.
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