Philips 42PF9831D 42

Unique Features

The Philips 42PF9831D LCD panel has a resolution of 1366 x 768. It incorporates several new technologies—and initially, the most notable is the Ambilight Full Surround. This television is very striking: The “Full Surround” moniker denotes Ambilights on all sides, and the white border creates an effective “canvas” for the lights when the unit is not wall-mounted or placed up against a wall. The speakers are set into the bot-tom part of the white border, so the screen itself looks as if it is floating in front of the border.

This is an absolutely gorgeous flat-panel television—one with the technology to back up its good looks. First and foremost is Clear LCD,which incorporates two functions: 1) a high-voltage power unit to speed up the reaction time to 6ms, and 2) a new cathode fluorescent lamp system that can be selectively lit to vary the amount of light for pixel areas, and to decrease the amount of time a pixel area is lit. This also darkens blacks, as selective areas in the black part of a picture can be dimmed. This is supposed to reduce motion blur significantly—one of the major bugaboos of LCD panels.

The next technology is the Pixel Plus 3 processing system, which not only processes images, but also adds the ability to enhance color, scale images, decrease noise, and also sharpen the edges of objects to create a cleaner image. This particular version now has enough processing power to work even with high-definition signals. 

Philips has made the remote just as striking as the television, using a clear Lucite piece for the top of the black plastic remote, and it is well laid out for logical operation (though I could not find the universal codes for programming the remote to other devices anywhere in the instructions). 

Installation/Setup/Ease of Use

This unit slides out of the box; has just one large instruction paper, as with a computer or printer,to help set you up; and the stand only requires three screws for assembly (plus two for attaching the Philips to the stand). This setup is in-credibly easy compared to the last large LCD I put together, which almost took the skin off my hands when I used the multiple Allen wrench screws to put it together. You still need two people to get the panel on the stand, but I have yet to see any flat panel that is as easy to set up. 

The setup menus are very straightforward,and are, frankly, some of the best I have seen.The only real problem with the menus is the lack of a separate tint control, so you have to settle for color and color temperature controls.The connectivity options are quite good, with the full array of video and audio inputs, but more importantly with the presence of two HDMI inputs. The ability to connect a digital audio connection to one of the HDMI ports is a nice touch. This is necessary, as the Denon DVD-755 I am using has a DVI out, and after using a converter to hook up an HDMI cable,I am able to connect audio via a digital coaxial out instead of using only analog cables. 

Next, I hook up a Time-Warner Scientific Atlanta 8300HD cable box via an HDMI connection, and a Denon DVD-755 DVD player via its DVI out to the HDMI connection.  

Final Take

So how does all this technology work? In a few words, extremely well. I let the panel run-in overnight, and then set up the picture controls. I have to decrease the sharpness all the way down, as the ringing from the sharpness control is just plain annoying, as with many pan-els. After all this, I watch analog television as fed from the cable box. The picture quality with Pixel Plus 3 is impressively good, probably the best that I have seen from an LCD panel. Analog television is clear, with about as little noise as I have seen from a panel, and although it can not overcome the compression inherent in cable television, it still manages to give a fairly clear picture overall. The Pixel Plus processing does lend some artificial feel to certain characters in motion, but this tendency is consider-ably less than in past Pixel Plus versions.Overall, colors are quite accurate, but there isa slight greenish tint at times with this unit—a tendency I can’t dial out completely with the tint control—but this is not a continuous problem and is only noticeable with certain programming. 

Black level is probably among the best I have seen for an LCD panel. Black detail is nothing to write home about, but that is true of every LCD panel in existence. This is a very bright panel, and it is easy to dial in a comfortable setting with good contrast, black level, and brightness. The Ambilight function is very bright on this unit—not only with the quantity of lights all around the panel, but also in the overall brightness of the lights. The borders really show the intensity of the Ambilight function well, and in a dark room, I had to turn down the Ambilight intensity to about 50 percent, as between the brightness of the panel and the Ambilights I was starting to get a suntan. Still, the Ambilight does as it is supposed to do—decrease fatigue and expand the “feel” of the picture into the room. I set up this television in my bedroom, and due to the viewing distance being only about 7 to 8 feet, I might actually prefer the Ambilight surround television instead (Ambilight on top and sides without a border),but this is just personal preference.  

High-definition programming results in a very clear, crisp picture that is simply excel-lent. With a good high-def feed, it is easy to get that looking-through-a-window feeling that only the crispest, cleanest panels can provide. 

Watching DVDs with this panel just goes to show how good the high-definition picture can be, as the DVD picture is very, very good. As for the speakers—they are actually quite listenable, clear, and non-fatiguing.
Overall, this panel is a technological tour deforce in the world of LCDs (though it does have a relatively high price for a 42-inch screen).While I wish this were all based around a 1080p panel, the quality of picture and the excellent experience with the Ambilight function easily make this a very desirable television. I highly recommend those in the 42-inch market to take a hard look at this television, and those who want to spend less can actually opt for the regular Ambilight or surround Ambilight units that still incorporate the LCD technologies, but at a lower cost. Now, if only Philips could start cranking out bigger LCD panels, perhaps a nice50-inch (or larger) one…

Specifications

Philips 42PF9831D 42" LCD Television 1366 x 768p 16:9 42" LCD Panel Contrast Ratio: 4500:1 Full Surround (four-sided) Ambilight with white border Pixel Plus 3 Clear LCD CableCARD Interface Two HDMI inputs, 2 Component inputs, 3 Composite/S-video inputs (one on each side), RF Input, Memory Card Input Digital Audio Input and Output Built-in Stereo Speakers Table Stand Included Dimensions: 50.4" (W) x 34.3" (H) x 4.5" (D) (with stand) Weight: 83.8 lbs. Power Consumption: n/av Power Consumption/Standby: n/av MSRP: $3,999 Philips www.philips.com