Philips 42PFL9803H (42-inch LCD)

By Ian Morris, CNET.co.uk
Dec 22, 2008

The Achilles' heel of LCD TVs has, for a long time, been the backlight. In an LCD TV the image is created by a panel that is illuminated from behind. For most uses this is fine, but when you are trying to reproduce black, or something dark, it has an impact on the depth and reality. Mostly, truly deep and rich blacks will come off looking washed-out.

According to Philips, the answer to this is to use an array of more than 1,000 LEDs behind the LCD panel to illuminate the picture. We've seen this done before on a Samsung and even a gargantuan 72-inch Sony TV, and the results have always impressed us. So will the Philips 42PFL9803H manage to win our approval? At S$5,999 (US$4,318.31), we should hope so.

Design

The first thing you'll spot when you look at the 42PFL9803H is the remarkable styling. Rather than a boring black case, Philips has chosen a brushed aluminum one. We applaud this because it's different to every other piano-black TV on the market. The result is a wonderful-looking TV. As you would expect with a stylish TV like this, the front is unspoilt by any hideous buttons--there's a large Philips logo and a thin LED strip beneath the screen that reminds you the TV is on.

The remote control matches the basic color of the TV, but it's a slightly disappointing silver-colored plastic. Pioneer makes its remotes with real metal and we think Philips should, too. As with other Philips models, the remote has a rotating wheel that can be used to select menu items. We aren't a huge fan of these devices usually, but we will say Philips has done a decent job with it.

Connectivity is well thought-out. There are four HDMI inputs--three on the back, one on the side. You also get component-video in, a VGA connection for your media center PC or Xbox 360, and there is a pair of SCART sockets to hook up that older, standard-definition equipment.

On the side panel you'll find an S-video input and composite-video in, both of which are handy for hooking up a camcorder or digital camera.

Tags: Microsoft Xbox, Light-emitting Diode, TV, Philips Electronics N.V., Microsoft Xbox 360

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