I have had the 42pf9966/79 now for 12 days and am very disappointed. First the speakers rattle like hell and secondly I have found a bug that Philips just can't fix. Trying to turn off the Digital Noise Reduction just cannot be done. Everytime you back the setting to off and switch off the set it defaults back to the maximum setting which results in too much smearing and loss of detail for me to tolerate. You have to go back into the menu system and change it back everytime as it will not hold this setting in the HDMI mode or AVI 1 or AVI 2. Philips said it is the way the set is meant to behave and until there is a firmware upgrade nothing can be done about it. I am surprised that this was missed in all the reviews I have read because to me it is a major problem that needs to be addressed and just a plain pain in the you know where having to make those adjustments everytime you want to watch TV. The amount of smearing caused by the noise reduction being set at the high point continuosly is just too much to bear and I cannot understand why they would have it set this high in the first place. Movies look as if they are made out of clay and even high definition broadcasts are not much better. Is anyone else aware of these problems? I feel robbed after reading the reviews and now ending up with a that I could not even recommend to my enemies.
Perrey Z.
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Eric,
What's the local market for this model? i have the same model but mine ends with /37.
The problem with your unit is rare, i haven't heard or read anything about the DNR been set back to maximum as default everytime you turn in on. Normally, the factory default is "Medium" and will stay that way when you turn it off and back on.
Have you try unplugging it for at least 10-minutes to clear the internal memory? this usually helps. Let me know, i might be able to help you.
As for the speakers, this is one of the unusual problems with the 42PF9966, mine has static when the volume is higher than 45. Try switching off the virtual surround, that might help.
Hi Perry. The /79 is probably the code for this area (Oceania) After contacting Philips they plugged one of their sets in and told me that it would only hold information in the anologue mode. I then got rid of the HDMI connection and went to a component connection. I ended up with a better picture with less smearing and I wondered why,so I went in and checked the setting and Lo and Behold the DNR and the Colour enhancement had been switched off but the picture was pale in colour so I tried to change the colour and the sharpening and guess what! Same problem, kept defaulting back to other settings. I then tried changing my settings but it kept refusing to accept them . After an Hour it finally decided to store them and then for some strange reason I ended up with thin bars either side of my HD signal. Fed up to the teeth I rang my supplier who said they had been in contact with Philips and they said it was quite normal for the set not to store certain settings and that I would have to change those settings everytime I decided to watch TV ,and the settings would stay that way until they committed a firmware upgrade some time in the ether. I had enough, and asked my supplier to take the set back. He apoligised and said if he had realised the inherent problems in this set he would not have been so keen on pushing the brand. Tommorrow I go down to the store and pay the difference between this and the Hitachi. They are throwing in another two years warranty as well because the Philips had a three year factory warranty. Sad to say it was a bad experience and this set according to Philips themselves is very "Quirky". Not the sort of comment that would inspire confidence in the brand. Also Philips are not coming to the party on the refund so the retailer will have to wear the costs and try and flog it off on a floor sale because I have trashed the box and packaging.
Perrey Z.
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Before returning it try these settings., this is how my unit is set.
Auto Picture: Personal. Contrast: 49. Brightness: 46. Color: 49. Sharpness: 1 {Not recommended to be set higher than "1", on ANY Philips FlatTV.}
Color Temperature: Normal.
Digital Processing: Pixel Plus. {For everything, Movie Plus doesn't seem to be much difference when watching movies.}
Dynamic Contrast: Medium {Default}
DNR: Maximum {Default is "Medium" but i get a grainy satellite signal so i set it to maximum, i get a very crisp HDTV and Standard signal with this setting.}
Color Enhancement: On. Tint: 0 {Balance} Picture Format: Automatic.
As for the HD signal thru HDMi, there's nothing that can't be done about the window frame {black bars on both sides, top and bottom} But here's something interesting, none of the current Philips plasma have screen orbiting/burn-in prevention features, but when you're using the HDMi input, the unit activates a screen orbitor that moves the screen 3-pixels to the left and to the right every 10-seconds to prevent burn-in from the window frame effect. There's no way to turn this off or adjust it since it doesn't appear a a feature on the menu, but automatically when the HDMi is in use.
A couple of those settings you mentioned aren't available on the /79 model. As for the DNR set to maximum, that was my main problem with this set. The smearing is exagerrated because it is like a noise reduction program called Neat Image which I use for my digital photography to remove noise. if it is set too high it removes detail and just gives a clay like appearance to objects. That is what i have found with the DNR set to maximum during DVD playback on the Philips. It basically removes detail particularly when the background is blurred or out of focus and gives a plastic smear look to the background and removes detail from any moving object that is in focus giving it that clay like appearance. I committed to the Hitachi 42PD7800TA and have seen it side by side with the Philips so I know it will give me a better picture. I have noted however that yesterday Hitachi have announced a new range of Plasmas due out here in August to September so that could explain why I ended up with a pretty fair deal at $5,200.00AU on the Hitachi, normal retail $6,499.00. Just for comparison the Philips sells for $6,000.00AU with a street price of $5,000.00AU and I picked it up for $4,600AU with a three year warranty so the retailer reckons he can make more on it by selling it as floor stock with a discount than the price he sold it to me.