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Philips 42PFL8404H LCD TV

// January 11th, 2010 // Uncategorized

After recently purchasing a Philips 42″ LCD TV (42PFL8404H) and finding very few first-hand experience reports online about it prior to, I decided to give it my 5 cent.

This isn’t going to be a full review or even a technical one, just some personal hands-on observations.

Generally, the set is impressive and worth the investment.

The picture quality for HD channels (and other external HDMI-connected sources) is incredible, but only if the mode is chosen properly and according to content from the pre-set picture modes. The one we chose for HD channels was “Cinema”. Contrast and brightness needed slight corrections from the main settings menu. Sound was less impressive*, yet, not disappointing either. For SD channels broadcast in 4:3 format, picture quality looks quite poor compared to the HD ones. Panning for wide-screen distorts the picture ratio on some SD channels. [Our HD sat. receiver provides some 1080i level channels, some 16:9 and 4:3 in SD.]

The software and the advertised NetTV features are slightly disappointing. The menus are slow, not all settings are centralized into easily reachable locations. Usability needs some work in general. Some features like the network media player sometimes crash and stop responding. That, however, does not crash the whole operating system level - other menus and options remain responsive, but only turning off\on the whole set resolves the crash. Obviously not all codecs are supported, as expected. However, none of the MPEG4 encoded source files were playable over the network or from an external USB\flash drive, despite the fact that the support for MPEG4 media files is clearly stated in the manuals. Perhaps some or all that might get fixed by software updates.

The design and exterior of the set is elegant, not at all clunky or overbearing like some of the competitors. The Ambilight feature [back-side lights changing color and intensity according to the displayed content] is actually very appealing, I personally find it a nice touch to the experience.

I would definitely recommend this set, but not if the software features are among the main reasons for buying.

*Update: The sound quality drastically improved after tampering with our sat. receiver that was not configured to provide Dolby output initially.