Philips 37PFL9604

To be honest, we didn't really want to like the Philips 37PFL9604.With its £1,200 price tag, it's easily one of the costliest TVs for itssize, so we felt it would be a bit predictable if it was also the best.

However, the 37PFL9604 has turned out to be so blatantlysuperior that any concerns about predictability have given way to puppylove.

The 37PFL9604 sets about the seemingly Herculean task ofjustifying its price right away, having an extremely eye-catchingdesign. Part of its appeal is down to the unusual combination of solidaluminium and charcoal grey in its bezel.

Light fantastic

Therest comes from Philips' Ambilight system, which sees coloured lightsympathetic to the colour content of the picture spilling from the TV'sleft and right sides.

Further confirmation of this 37-incher'spremium nature can be found in the connections: five HDMIs take theconnections standard to a new level only seen on premium sets.

Alsonoteworthy is a USB port able to handle an astonishing variety of fileformats, including – deep breath – AAC LC; MP3; AC3; LPCM; .albslideshow files; JPEGs; GIFs; PNGs; MPEG1/2/4; AVI H.264/ MPEG4 AVC;and WMV9/VC1.

The 37PFL9604 can play the same file types from aDLNA-certified PC, either wirelessly, via a built-in Wi-Fi system, orcourtesy of its Ethernet port.

Even better, the last two connection options can also be used to access the depths of the internet.

Unlikethe online services of any other TV brand, the 37PFL9604's packageincludes a full web browser alongside some really nice 'home' contentspecially formatted for TV navigation.

Best of all is thekiller app: Philips' Perfect Pixel HD video processing engine. With itssilky smooth Perfect Natural Motion element and ability to handle 500million pixels per second, this is arguably the most powerful pictureprocessing system available on a mainstream TV.

Picture perfect

Infull swing, this Philips' high-definition pictures are jaw-dropping.Fine detailing is peerless; colours are among the boldest and mostaccurate we've seen; motion handling is amazingly fluid and crisp (withPerfect Natural Motion engaged, obviously) and black levels areexceptionally profound by LCD's standards.

Perhaps even moreexceptional, though, is the standard-definition performance. The amountof sharpness and detail the Perfect Pixel HD engine adds to a humbleDVD or Freeview broadcast has to be seen to be believed.

What'smore, Perfect Pixel HD delivers its dramatic effects without generatingnearly as many processing side effects as earlier Philips processingengines.

As if all this wasn't enough, the 37PFL9604 alsosounds superb, with far more power, clarity and dynamic range than anyof its rivals. The 37PFL9604's high price forces to us lookexceptionally hard for problems, but, aside from a slightly limitedviewing angle, all we could come up with is the fact that the TV isunusually labour intensive.

You have to regularly revisitthings like the noise reduction, Natural Motion and 100Hz settings tokeep getting the best picture quality. That said, it's a very minorconcern – and one that scarcely detracts from the overall brilliance ofthis full HD gem.

Give it the attention it truly deserves,however, and the 37PFL9604 really delivers a masterclass in what LCDtechnology is capable of.

Powered by What Plasma and LCD TV