Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips 42PFL5522D - 42" Widescreen HD Ready LCD TV - With Freeview

Buying a TV is expesnive so we want to get it right, and that makes choosing difficult. It is not uncommon to spend months getting confused and looking. That is a waste of life so here are my thoughts about the kind of logic that might guide you followed by my thoughts about this particular TV.

Plasma or LCD?

This choice hinges on two issues (i) how black are the blacks and (ii) is the motion smooth in fast sequences?

Plasmas have an easier time to make deep blacks and that improves your contrast. However do not make the assumption that all plasmas are better than all LCDs in this regard. Neither make the mistake of thinking that LCD's cannot deliver deep blacks - they can. Getting this issue right is all about *which model* you choose. Furthermore, plasmas create an exciting but unrefined picture and so oftentimes your deep back is offset by a crude pricture.

1080 or 720?

If you will use blueray all the time, or you play nothing but games on a HiRes console you might want to get a 1080. But on the downside, when you aren't playing games or using bluray disks 1080s have to do more upscaling than do 720s and that tends to make them worse, not better, in that situation. Furthermore 720s deliver superb games pictures. I have seen both and the difference is there but it is so small as to be unimportant. So, on balance, given that SD looks better ona 720 and given that upscaled DVDs look better on a 720 and given that when HD TV does come on it will be a at max 720 anyway, and games look great on 720, I say get a 720.

Size

We all want the biggest TV our lounge can handle, but is this wise? I say go no higher than 42", and the reason is that with standard definition TV's over 42" seem to show up the lack of quality in the basic signal.

OK so these were the issues as I saw them. How does this TV do?

Superbly!

It has superb blacks

It has never freaked out in fast action sequences (I have had it for two weeks and tried everything).

It has a superb picture, far more refined and *natural* than I saw on any plasmas (including the equivalent Philips which I saw right next to it in Currys).

It is 720 and it is 42" and it benefits from all the advantages that brings.

It is a cinch to set up.

It is a cinch to navigate once it is up and running.

Connectivity is good enough to handle all you could possibly want.

It looks great.

You can get it very cheaply if you look around.

The sound is acceptable, not superb, but this is a common failing of these TV's becuase they have the speakers on the back. Add a Home Cinema or even just a stero pair to this TV and that issue goes away.

At the time of this interview I reckon this is the best TV out there for under a grand (I mean WAY under!).

Regards

Adrian

I had to buy this TV from Currys due to Amazons refusal to ship large items to Northern Ireland. 'Problems with the couriers' say Amazon, so how did Currys get it here?

Anyway, The Tv itself is great for this price. Obviously I can't give it a full 5 stars as it is only 1080i and not 1080p but,as I don't have a 1080p source, this isn't a problem for me. The picture is bright and clear with the ability to set up your own settings profile if the pre-installed ones aren't to your liking. The HD picture is amazing, of course, but it's the SD picture that is of most importance as most TV is still brodcast that way and you won't be disappointed. The sound quality is superb and the TV itself look amazing - important as it's huge and going to be sitting in your living room.

All-in-all a great buy and I'm extremely happy with it - just a shame I had to buy it elsewhere.

I was lucky enough to be able to return this t.v, while the picture was brilliant for bluray films and games the picture was poor for standard digital tv and the sound was awful which is real shame as it looks the biz, feels solid and is easy to use.

BOUGHT THIS TV JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS,EXCELLENT BUY,AMAZING BRILLANT COLOURS, £200 CHEAPER THAN CURRYS OR COMET,SEEM TO GET BETTER PICTURE ON FREEVIEW CHANNELS THAN ON SKY BUT THIS IS PROBLABLY MY INSTALLATION,HAD PROBLEMS AT FIRST WITH GHOSTING WHEN TUNE TO SKY BUT THIS WAS SORTED OUT BY BUYING A HIGH QUALITY SCART LEAD.NOW NEED TO GET HD BUT NOT WHILE SKY ARE CHARING £10 EXTRA SUBSCRIPTION FOR HD CHANNELS

Excellent picture, very good quality with "normal signals" as well as hd, unless you are going to use it with an x box or similar the 1080i resolution is perfect (it will be years before 1080p is used for tv broadcasts anyway) the sound isn't a strong point - fine for normal TV viewing - we use it linked to a hi fi anyway for watching movies- excellent value for money for a 42" with a great picture