Just discovered this excellent forum; very helpful to a non-techie like me.
I want to buy a 36" widescreen ; read the stuff on this forum and settled for the FS76.
Went to John Lewis (High Wycombe) who said they would do it for £1599 but the chap who served me stated that he would not recommend it...claimed Philips 36PW9607 was much better.
Came back and read the horror stories around the 9607 and am now really confused.
Both looked pretty similar picture wise with the set up they had in the store so difficult to choose on that basis

Basically want a large screen to watch sport (footy and golf) and general programmes (all via sky digibox). Also, of course, hooked up to DVD and VCR

I can't seem to find any reviews on the FS76; are there any out there ?
Any advice woiuld be much appreciated

The fs76 has had some good reviews, it got 4 out of five in What video widescreen mag and similar reviews in other mags. Some comments stated that the picture is exceptional with good geometry and very vivid colours but there could be problems with analogue sources so only get the tv if you have digital ie sky, dvd etc. The tv requires these type of digital inputs to truly shine. Steer clear of the philips as it currently seems to have to many problems.

[DJM]

If you look through the archives of this board you will find plenty about the FS76 and the Phillips. It will take you about a week to read it all and at the end of the day you will find that some people love the Phillips and some people love the Sony. At the moment more seem to love the Sony than the Phillips.

I bought the 36FS76 and have to say it is a really good set. Not entirely convinced that the digital signal is better than the analogue, but that may be that my aerial is old and the Freeview strength only just pops into the green.

With all big CRTs you do need to sit reasonably far away so that the inevitable artifacts produced by 100Hz or pixel plus or similar do not overtake the picture.

With the FS76, DVD source is brilliant, and VCR is pretty good. You can easily adjust the settings (geometry etc) which is a big plus. Go look at the sets in a specialist shop where you can really play with them and get the correct distance away from the screen, Then decide.

By the way, I bought from a Sony centre and paid less than the JL price you quote, so look around before you buy.

Hope that is of some help.

When I brought the 36FS70 from JL in Watford the guy said that Sony was always the best. I had mine replaced for a 36NX200 because of the scrolling bar problem. The Pixel Plus sets I have seen suffered from pixellation. That was on a 32" set so I don't know if it would have been worse.

I've had no problems with my replacement Sony and it looks the business.

[SimonO]

Save some money and read a good book instead..!

I went for the Sony... If you like the Philips, just make sure you are happy with the Pixel Plus... I don't think it's very good for sport IMO...

I have a sony, i have the same requirements as yourself.

I am very dissappointed with the detail on football and golf where the subject is not in the foreground ie normal view of football with half pitch in view, golf showing player in distance.
The image is very blurred/grainy whereas i would expect a much more defined image and seen on previous 'cheap' TV.
This is on 50hz as 100 hz artifacts make watching football unpleasant.

on films terrestial/sky and dvd the picture is at times faultless,
but on my TV the picture quality varies enormously from day to day (all sources affected at same time)

on this score i am due to take a delivery of a new tv same model as this is the tv i want and from these forums i believe the TV should display better and more consistant pictures than i receive

I watch football at 100Mhz and I have never noticed any problems on my Sony.

Gibsy - IMO Sony is streets ahead of the Philips 9607 - I am waiting on my 36fs76 from JL - see my thread "36FS76 Best Price"
on how to get a bargain frm JL on it - £1424 + delivery/setup + 5 year warranty...

[scooby do]

Forget the Philips for football it is the worst of the bunch.

Sincere thanks to all of you.
Armed with this advice I'm of to JL tomorrow to get my FS76 !

Update on trials and tribulations,

New TV arrived last week,

Picture miles better for footy and golf, thats without changing any settings and on 100hz, footy finally watchable.

Can finally agree with most people on this forum in that this is a pretty good TV.

The moral is don't take any crap from the retailer about it is expected picture quality, 100hz processing blah blah blah,

kick up a fuss and refuse to accept the TV if the picture quality is not up to scratch.

[WSH]

A Comet salesman told me the 9607 had the best picture because pixel plus had more lines so it was better than any other TV.

Our FS76 buzzes, the colours bleed and the picture is soft. The geometry is bad too.

The first FS76 we had, with a chip in the corner of the case was fine though.

WSH, checkot the Philips Pixel Plus thread..

[WSH]

Originally posted by nathan_silly
WSH, checkot the Philips Pixel Plus thread..

I read that thread till my eyes hurt a while back. Bit like the 'scrolling bars - Official response from SOny' thread. Very long.

Another update, question for other owners

watched footy on sky last night spurs v some dodgy outfit,

picture pretty good although still not totally sharp for wide agle views, but watchable and close up very good.
tried to watch rugby union on beeb (terrestial) and wide angle shots were hopeless, very blurred, 100htz artifacts etc etc.

also watched enigma on sat night on sky and that had some curious display problems, may be termed pixilation ? looked a bit like a watercolour moving around.

Just wondered if anyone experienced the above, and are they to be expected as i read about low transmission rates for some channels at times ?

[Adrenochrome]

Originally posted by bluebull
Another update, question for other owners

watched footy on sky last night spurs v some dodgy outfit,

[WSH]

Originally posted by bluebull


also watched enigma on sat night on sky and that had some curious display problems, may be termed pixilation ? looked a bit like a watercolour moving around.

I didn't see pixellation on Enigma through cable but the contrast and colours was awful for some reason. Switched to LIVE mode and things improved.