Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips 47PFL7432D/37 47-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Ambilight

Please note: I am including this model in my reviews as the problem outlined below affects all Philips brand TV's with digital tuners. This has been acknowledged by Philips engineers themselves. Please read below and the costly mistake I made...



So I began this frustrating journey a year ago, after purchasing a Philips 47" LCD TV (model: 47PFL5432D/37) from my local Las Vegas Costco. The problems however, did not pop up until two months ago.

Now, before I proceed any further, allow me to explain the 3 problems I am currently having with this unit. I am going to be using a phrase "halfway turns on" more than once through the next few paragraphs and I want to be absolutely clear on what that means. When the unit "halfway turns on", I mean the following:

1. The unit's power supply/transformer/whatever audibly clicks twice. This is the same noise the unit makes when it is powered on normally. (ie. "ca-click" )
2. The blue LED in the corner does NOT illuminate. For all intents and purposes, the unit appears to be off. However,
3. If the power button is pressed on either the side of the television, or the remote (does not matter which method is used), the LCD backlight INSTANTLY turns on, illuminating the screen, as well as the blue LED turns on. This to me indicates that when the unit "clicks" as described in #1 above, that the TV is turned on and drawing power from the the electrical outlet. There is no power-on self test. There is no few seconds of dark and then the TV illuminates, as when it is powered on normally. Again, the screen and blue power LED illuminate INSTANTLY after the either power button is pressed a second time.

Now, the three separate problems I am experiencing with the unit:

Problem #1
The television "halfway turns on" randomly, at any time. Nothing has touched the remote. No one has pressed the power button on the side of the unit. It just "halfway turns on". I cannot recreate this problem, as it does it whenever it feels like it.

Problem #2
When trying to start the television, by pressing either the power button on the remote, or by pressing the power button on the side of the unit, the television does not respond. Repeated presses of the power button (either one) yield nothing. Then, roughly 20 seconds later, the unit power cycles itself. What I mean by this, is that the unit audibly turns off, then right back on. (ie. ca-click, Ca-Click! off, then on) After a few seconds, the unit's LCD backlight illuminates and the TV works normally. I cannot recreate this problem, as again, it is completely random, but it is happening at a rate of about 5% of the time.

Problem #3
When the unit's clock is programmed, so that it displays the correct time for my region (PST), the unit will automatically "halfway turn on" every morning at 5 am, every day. Initially, I kept waking up at 5am with no idea what was waking me up. After a few mornings of this, I was able to isolate it to the television. Since I work in the IT field, I began to troubleshoot the TV to the best of my ability. Power cycling it, leaving it unplugged overnight, flashing the firmware, etc, etc. And much to the chagrin of every support person I've spoken to (7 now and counting), I've shown them that there is no time set in the 'On Timer' portion of the menu.

By the time I had identified these three problems, my warranty had just expired with Philips by 5 days. So Costco, rather than having the TV serviced under their warranty, contacts Philips to see if they will still cover it under their initial warranty. Phillips agrees and issues a repair order to my local authorized Philips service center. They come out, initially diagnose the problem, take the TV, and I am told, replaced the mainboard. Within two minutes of them returning the TV, I am able to recreate the problem, showing them that it still has a problem. I then call back Costco, and am elevated to a "Presidential Liason" at Philips. After sending a lengthy email describing the problems I have experienced thus far, I get the following reply (copied verbatim):

I copied your to our product specialist. Apparently we're not understanding that this is a normal function of the unit can in fact be turned off if you wish not to use the clock feature. I myself was not aware of this. Our product specialist had this to say:

"When the TV "wakes up" at 5:00, the TV is performing a background channel scan to check for new channels and for ones that have moved to another channel location (this is possible with digital channels). This is per design intent of the TV. The TV clock controls when this occurs, and by putting the clock into the manual mode and clearing the time, the TV will not wake up to do this channel scan. That what I was trying to have the customer do, however, I suspect that the time did not clear. It may be possible to put the TV clock into the manual mode, then unplug the TV for a long time (an hour), then plug it back in. That may clear the time and stop the wake up at 5:00. Again, if the time is not cleared, this background channel scan feature will still operate. If the customer wants to use the clock feature of the TV, there is no way to prevent the wake up. The choice is live without the TV clock, or live with the noise when the TV wakes up.

Note: replacing this customer's TV will not resolve the issue, because all of the TVs have a clock feature."

It would appear the "turning half on" is the background scan if I am following the specialist and this is supposed to occur.


Sure I can live without the clock. But then I begin to sacrifice other functionality, like being able to actually use the On Timer functionality, as well as any other functionality that is based off the internal clock. And the real kicker? The TV is able to update its firmware (by downloading a .bin file from Philips onto a flash drive), allowing you to flash it and resolve any issues in relation to its software. But the engineers, and Philips, would rather take the stance of "Sorry, tough luck!" and "Not our problem," rather than fix what is an obvious flaw. Why can't the television do this housekeeping procedure after it has been turned on? Why have to do it at 5am? And for the record, Philips never made any attempts to address the other two problems listed above.

After contacting Costco regarding the issue, they stated that they would be unable to offer any help or replacement as "this isn't a problem; the television is operating under designed specs."

So do yourself a favor, and avoid purchasing any Philips brand flat panel televisions, as per their engineers, EVERY television is going to have a clock feature and I would have to assume until told differently, set to turn on at 5am. And as my case has shown you, Philips doesn't give a damn about fixing their own flaws. Thought everyone would like to know, so they can avoid a costly mistake.

This is a great Tv,Its more exspensive but so far I glad I purchase it.The amberlighting is a very cool,I couldnt see owning another tv without the background lighting.Only had it a few weeks but so far I don't see how I could be anymore please with my purchase,alyeah other then I paid for the warranty which was exspensive, I've yet to find out if they ever applied the coverage,they never sent me back anything.

This is my first big screen I've owned. Its a great TV, great quality sound, video.

Few negative key points though -- the TV takes about 10 seconds to turn on from the moment you press the on button. Secondly, when you're flipping through channels I like the kind of TV that flips through channels instantly not with a 2 second lag, other than that the TV is awesome!

One thing I absolutely love is the Ambilight feature. Its awesome watching movies and having a nice dark room and dark setting with the ambilight feature on. And you can choose how you want it, whether you want it dynamic, relaxed or moderate. Its a great feature for an LCD.

This is a great addition to our home. It has really changed the way we watch movies. We already had a surround sound system, but we were missing the fantastic screen. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to watch movies or sports.

I shopped for months looking for the best feature set, quality, and look for the price - and this is the set I ended up with. Two months later, I still love this TV. The picture is fantastic and X-Box 1080p HD looks completely mindblowing. I still only have a Samsung upconverting DVD player, but even those movies/shows on DVD look fantastic.

Also, the Ambilight and swivel base give this set a cool and functional edge over other units costing much more.

The only problem is that with this new set you may find yourself watching all of your old DVDs again (just to see how they look). Plus, if you have lots of HD cable channels like me, you find yourself watching EVERYTHING just to see what visual wonders your new set will kick out today.

The end result? Expect your couch to have a large, permanent imprint from where your backside is constantly planted. Buyer beware...this set will turn even the most active person into a total couch potato!