TechRadar Verdict
Brilliant big-screen LCD pictures and a mammoth feature list to boot
Pros
- +
Fantastic set of features
- +
Brilliant pictures
- +
Power processing technology
- +
Sleek styling
Cons
- -
Some minor image issues
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We recently went doolally over the Philips 32PFL9632D, with one reservation – its size.
We felt that a 32in screen perhaps wasn't the biggest showcase for Philips' latest and greatest image processing technology. So, we're understandably overjoyed to introduce the 47PFL9632D, which we're hoping will reveal the true extent of Philips' achievements.
This sleek 47-incher looks great, with its gloss black bodywork and stereo Ambilight system spilling coloured light from the TV's left and right sides in sympathy with the image you're watching.
You won't find yourself short of sockets either. A generous trio of HDMIs, component video jack, PC port, USB input and plenty of lower-quality options satisfy every need.
Powerful technology
The next thing on our check list is also the most important: the 47PFL9632D's use of Philips' new Perfect Pixel Engine processing technology. This takes the heady processing brew that comprises Philips' excellent Pixel Plus 3 HD processing and adds three key new elements.
Firstly, there's 100Hz processing, which aims to make motion look crisper by doubling the usual PAL refresh rate. There's also a new 14-bit colour engine, which should increase the number of shades the TV can produce.
Finally, there's HD Natural Motion, a significantly more powerful update on Philips' Digital Natural Motion system for making moving objects travel the screen smoother.
Incorporated within HD Natural motion is processing to reproduce 1080p/24fps sources using a 48Hz refresh rate, which should keep processing 'meddling' to a minimum.
The 47PFL9632D also has an array of scanning Hot Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (HCFLs) in place of the usual static single backlight. This should improve motion reproduction even more, as well as boosting black levels.
Sublime HD performance
Just as we'd hoped, the 47PFL9632D's far bigger screen really does highlight just how outstanding Philips' new processing system is.
When it comes to motion, the king of the jungle stomps around during a run-through of King Kong on HD DVD with a fluidity that's nothing short of mesmerising.
Remarkably, this even extends to camera pans, when the processing has to handle the entire image scrolling by. Amazingly, Philips has pretty much completely removed the motion blurring problem that's plagued LCD for so long.
The outstanding fine detailing and crispness of the Perfect Pixel Engine processing brings further clarity to the proceedings – even if you're watching standard defi nition. The set's Full HD resolution doesn't do any harm to this sense of crispness, either.
Vivid colours
The colours of Skull Island look terrifically vivid, but the tones of Kong's face during the film's numerous dark scenes also look convincingly natural and free from striping. Also, gloomy scenes reveal this TV's black levels to be among the best out there.
There are a couple of small prices to pay for all the 47PFL9632D's processing glories, however: there's rare shimmer around the edges of moving objects, and evidence of ghosting around really small, fast moving objects.
That said, these are puny prices to pay for all the big-screen benefits the Perfect Pixel Engine delivers for the vast majority of your viewing time.
