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Conclusion Of 42PF9831D Review
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SUMMARY PROS CONS |
Pros
- Unique design. Well built, Sleek remote control
- The ethereal Ambilight Full Surround
- Pixel Plus 3 HD, Clear LCD enhances Standard Definition material
- No significant motion blur
- Bright images, Flexible viewing (in brightly lit conditions)
- No reflections off anti-reflective screen
- Decent digital noise reduction
- Better than average LCD TV audio
- 2 HDMI connectors
- Picture in Picture
- Aspect ratios - autozoom, 14:9, 4:3, 16:9, widescreen
- Multi-card reader, 2 USB connectors
- Allows firmware upgrade (via USB connector)
- WIFI support (with Ethernet card, not include)
Cons
- Expensive
- Average black levels
- Black and white level clipping
- Native resolution 1366x768
- Limited to 1080i source input
- Minor loss of detail and sharpness from 1080i source
- Below average viewing angle 90 degrees
- Video deinterlacing problems – artifacts seen
- PC input limited to 1024x768, with overscan in higher resolutions. Not HTPC friendly.
- No independent memory inputs for different source
- No backlight controls
- Mild buzzing noise on standby
- Menu usability not the best around
Conclusion
The Philips 42PF9831DBuy this for £0.00 at Dixons
Use code 'SALE25' for 2.5% discount
Then code 'DELTV' for free delivery brings to viewers all the major benefits of modern LCD TVs; unique design, brighter images, flexible viewing at all hours and no reflections off screen. While it may have succeeded in eliminating motion blur, the black level and shadow detail performance was disappointing. Still there are many other features which make this flat panel desirable. The Philips LCD TV is available at most major electronics retail store for a little over 2000 pounds, but if you know where to look, it could be a steal for much less.
At that price though, the Philips 42PF9831DBuy this for £0.00 at Dixons
Use code 'SALE25' for 2.5% discount
Then code 'DELTV' for free delivery is not personally for me. It fails on achieving an accurate PQ with the user menu options available and has a poor price-performance ratio on this aspect. However, that doesn't mean it's not watchable. If you don’t want to go into the hassle of calibrating the TV by accessing service menus and playing with your colorimeter, the optimized preset settings may be good enough for you. In addition, there is a huge range of picture adjustments available with this TV and so you are likely to find your best settings with some tweaking. .If you only have access to the user menu, calibrating the TV to the standard D65 is not recommended as you are unable to fine tune your color decoding from the user menu.
Watching the Philips 42PF9831DBuy this for £0.00 at Dixons
Use code 'SALE25' for 2.5% discount
Then code 'DELTV' for free delivery side by side with our resident Panasonic PH9 and Sharp XD1E, we can say that the Philips is a strong performer at higher colour temperatures from D65. The Philips gives an above average performance for SD freeview (with Pixel Plus 3 on), fast action sports and HD movies. Despite of our reservations in the Picture Quality department, the Philips 42PF9831DBuy this for £0.00 at Dixons
Use code 'SALE25' for 2.5% discount
Then code 'DELTV' for free delivery is an impressive set on its own terms and is a welcome addition to any modern household.
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Also Consider:
- Samsung LE40M86BD — reviewed 15 April 2007
- Sony KDL40W2000 — reviewed 5 March 2007
- Sharp LC42XD1E — reviewed 17 February 2007


