PHILIPS 17PF9946 17" REVIEW

The Philips 17PF9946 17" HDTV-ready flat-panel LCD TV is more than just great looks. The perfect size for a small space, the 3.4-inch-thick display provides an excellent audio/visual experience with features like Pixel Plus, which uses more pixels for improved sharpness and resolution, Digital Crystal Clear, Active Control Plus+, Virtual Dolby Surround, and unique flat speakers. It even has a built-in FM radio tuner so you can listen to all your favorite radio channels, and up to 40 station presets make sure you tune in fast.
The high-definition (HD tuner not included), 1,280 x 768 WXGA LCD panel uses the latest panel technology, such as Philips' proprietary Digital Crystal Clear package of innovations featuring a 3D digital comb filter (eliminates dot crawl and color bleeding, enhancing fine detail, cleaning up image outlines, and removing most extraneous colors), Dynamic Contrast for deep blacks and pure whites, green and blue color enhancement, and Digital Color and Luminance Transient Improvers. The high 400:1 contrast ratio gives you better subtle color details and the ability to see the picture in bright light conditions, and the 16-millisecond response time means it's capable of handling fast-moving action--including 3D games--without image blur or lag.

Active Control delivers the best picture setting, any time, from any source. The incoming signal is automatically analyzed and key picture settings, like sharpness, color, and contrast, are adjusted. It also uses a sensor to adjust for ambient room light; when the room gets brighter, so does the picture. The 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio is the best for viewing HDTV and DVDs so you can have a more realistic cinema experience, but the TV has zoom modes for viewing 4:3 analog broadcast TV and pan-and-scan-formatted video. Multiple picture-in-picture modes allow for simultaneous viewing of two video sources either as picture-in-picture or side-by-side.

Built-in flat speakers (10 watts per channel) sit on either side of the active-matrix TFT LCD, giving you full stereo sound without needing to connect to an external speaker system. Virtual Dolby surround-sound support simulates cinema surround-sound effects without the need for rear speakers. Dynamic Bass Enhancement provides improved low-frequency response. Philips' Smart Listening auto volume leveling eliminates drastic volume spikes while changing channels or when channels go to a commercial break.

Other features include fantastic 176-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles, 100 preset channels, Autostore for easy tuning, Auto Picture (five modes), Auto Sound (four modes), multilanguage onscreen display, sleep timer, integrated NTSC tuner and RF jack for terrestrial reception, ergonomic remote control, and an antireflective screen.

Want to do more than just watch TV? The 17PF9946 has an FM antenna connector for getting better reception, a rear composite input, S-video, and a component input that helps minimize digital and line-scan artifacts during DVD playback. And, because the TV is progressive scan, it can take advantage of the more filmlike images produced by progressive-scan DVD players. An HDMI jack is available as well for the ultimate digital experience. HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is an uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface that supports standard, enhanced, or high-definition video, plus 8-channel digital audio--all on a single cable. It has a VGA input too, which receives the signal from your PC so you can use it as a TV and a PC monitor. A set of side jacks has a composite A/V input with S-video, a mini headphone jack, and an audio in for using the TV's speakers with your PC.

Personally, i am very pleased with this lcd tv. It has far more connections than on other tv's of this size, and it still retains a clean, slim and curvy design. The sound quality is also impressive. The picture quality is excellent for an lcd tv as long as your reception is good. Superb with digital tv!