[Stupot43]

OK,I`m looking to buy a 36" Tv and have whittled it down to the Philips 36 9525 OR panny 36PF10. Now I read a lot of postings on here about other 36" tv`s but not a lot about the Philips 36". From this I can come to 2 conclusions - either not a lot of people own this tv OR it is that good that there doesn`t need to be any postings about it. Have any of you got this 36 incher and if so have you had any problems with it and how does it perform generally? I don`t want to go and spend £1400 and then find i am going to have trouble. It will be used as a moniter mainly because I have a separates 5.1 system and my dvd is connected via a QED scart lead and RGB. I intend getting Sky digital and would hope to have that connected via scart RGB also....that is why I would like the Philips bacause of the 2 RGB cabable scarts.<br />Your comments and suggestion will be greatly welcomed.

Stuart <br /> <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

[rauer]

[quote]Originally posted by Stupot43:<br /><strong>OK,I`m looking to buy a 36" Tv and have whittled it down to the Philips 36 9525 OR panny 36PF10. Now I read a lot of postings on here about other 36" tv`s but not a lot about the Philips 36".<br /></strong><hr></blockquote>

This telly is still the all time widescreen test winner in the German Video magazine and their reference set.

On the other hand, having owned one for about 9 months I have to say I often wish I didn't. My main problem is with horizontal linearity. The left and right edges are 'compressed' and this drives me crazy. It seems to be a Philips bug/feature. All 'within specs' ofcourse. To reduce this I have to set the overscan to ridiculous amounts in the service menu. Other problems include a buzz from the speakers. Then there are the general 100Hz problems: posterization, without some field interpolation you have the 100Hz motion blur artifacts, with Digital Natural Motion you have it's worse ones. No progressive scan input, but most sets do not have it either.

If I was buying a new TV today, I'd buy a 32 inch 50 Hz set and try to see that particular set in operation to see if it's decent. I'd have the smaller CRT because that doesn't seem to be pushing the CRT technology to it's limits and because I know of no 36 inch 50 Hz TV's today. Then I'd save to buy one day some more advanced quality product like a plasma or front projector.

But then again, many people are happy with their 9525's so maybe it's just me? I have to admit that about all widescreen TV's seem to have more or less problems with geometry and if you are sensitive to the 50 Hz flicker, perhaps a 100 Hz telly with it's problems is the one for you..

I owned a Philips 32PW9525 before but I sold it because I didn't like it. I didn't like Digital Natural Motion because of all new artifacts that it introduces. Sometime it locks the whole picture for a fraction of a second and moving objects breaks the algorithm. There was an very annoying humming from the loudspeakers, especially from the centre. There was also annoying noise (howl) from the CRT. The building quality was poor, so to speak. I couldn't access the service menu either.

I bought a Sony and I'm satisfied with it.

I have had this set for a couple of months now i i have to say that i absolutely love it.<br />It needs a bit of setting up when you take it out of the box. You will have to play around with it for a while until you get the best picture... try turning off some of the digital picture effects etc such as the active control, lower the sharpness setting lower the contrast and brightness and you can get a really good picture.<br />It also has a feature called 'natural motion' which is supposed to make the picture more film like but sometimes it can make distracting blurring around a moving image.However you can turn this feature off and have normal 100hz processing.<br />BTW the tv is extremely heavy .... it will take 2 men to carry it and you may have trouble getting the box through a normal size door, if you do you will have to unpck it outside.<br />Lots of people slag off the Philips tv's but i am really happy with mine ... dvd looks stunning !

[Nic Rhodes]

There is no such thing as the perfect tv. At least not yet. I doubt it will be CRT based either though this is my prefered method of display.

All have compromises and it down what personal priorities the purchaser has. For years many people have been fed up with geometry of CRT tvs. It is only very recently that alternatives have become available.

What is important to you? Component inputs were important to me and that immediately ruled out many tvs. Your priorities will be different.

[rauer]

[quote]Originally posted by Smurfa:<br /><strong>I couldn't access the service menu either.<br /></strong><hr></blockquote>

Contrary to earlier common belief, you can get into the service menu of many Philips TV's with the standard remote. At least with my sw version it goes '062596i'. I think thats correct. I use the menu often but that key sequence has become so automatic that I'm not 100% sure. (Read between the lines: constant tweaking trying to get a decent picture with tolerable artifacts..)

[quote]Originally posted by rauer:<br /><strong>

Contrary to earlier common belief, you can get into the service menu of many Philips TV's with the standard remote. </strong><hr></blockquote>

Whether that works or not depends on number of the chassis of your PW9525. I never tried the 3-pin connector inside the tv.

See <a href="http://home.hccnet.nl/m.majoor/tv__service_mode.htm" target="_blank">http://home.hccnet.nl/m.majoor/tv__service_mode.htm</a>

[loz]

[quote]Originally posted by rauer:<br />[QB]

Contrary to earlier common belief, you can get into the service menu of many Philips TV's with the standard remote. At least with my sw version it goes '062596i'. QB]<hr></blockquote>

I have tried this approach - with the different numbers suggested. And it doesnt work on my set

loz

[loz]

I have had a 36" 9525 since day one.

Overall been very happy.

Yes I get the artefacts, but I find this depends very much on the artefacts present in the source material.

Analog broadcasts - almost no artefacts<br />DVD - very little artefacts<br />Sky (premier channels like some movies - some artefacts<br />Sky ('cheap' channels like documentaries) - lots of artefacts - and posterisation

The digital processing clearly seems to magnify the defaults inherant in an already digitised picture.

You get 3 digital options. 100hz, Digital Scan, and Natural Motion.<br />Strangely, 100hz only shows up in Widescreen mode.<br />Whilst Natural Motion has more artefacts, it also has the smoothest, noise free picture. Superb when there aren't any artefacts.

<br />I also have a large room - hence why I went for a 36". And not surprisingly the further you sit away the less you notice any artefacts. I think the problem with these big sets is that people might sit too close and therefore any problems are more in their face. (I have room for a bigger set, but didnt like rear projection - the room is quite bright - and didnt like the price of plasma.<br />The wife actually fancies a 50" grand wega, but not cheap either)

No speaker buzz as others have reported.

Very good geometry out of the box. very slight bow up in the centre along the bottom. But I only notice it if I look for it.

I thought it was the best looking set - especially on the matching stand. Much smoother lines than the panny or sony available at the time.

I use mine with an av set up. But the TV sound isnt bad at all. Tend to use the TV sound unless watching a film or something where the sound is more important - i.e. I dont use my av sound to watch the news or the history channel, etc

Like the ability to have teletext and picture side by side. Like the teletext store, except I wish you could clear out the memory when you change channels. YOu end up having a total mixture of text from multiple chanels in memory. This actually has some plus points though I guess.

Full PIP would have been nicer of course. but adds to the cost.

It is very reasonably priced now.

The 3 scart with 2 RGB is very useful

<br />regards<br />loz