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Reviewed by David Mackenzie
Philips' 32PFL7404H is a nicely-designed, overpriced 32” display that doesn't really bring anything special to the table to justify its price tag. Read the full review...
Reviewed by David Mackenzie
Philips' 32PFL7404H is a nicely-designed, overpriced 32” display that doesn't really bring anything special to the table to justify its price tag. Read the full review...
I was planning on buying 32PFL7404 or 8404 for for Christmas and you've stopped me in my tracks. I am now wondering which is the best 32inch TV. Having done much research the Philips won out over Panasonic . I dread re-starting the process.
Any advice?
Is 7404 review applicable word to word for 8404 aswell? I think the panel and processing aswell as Picture features are ditto same, only bells and whistles are ambilight, speaker grill and internet. If its true, my research takes a bashing!
I had almost decided on the 42" 8404 for my bedroom. This was based on the AV forum owners and reviews elsewhere which was not so critical before this one. I currently have a 42PX80 plasma with 1080i upscaling for SD. I dont think i will be able to live with the flaws even if its in bedroom.
If you were to tell me to run out and buy a 32" LCD TV, I'd come home with a Samsung LE32B550.
I reviewed the 40" version here and was amazed at the value for money.
Keep in mind that I haven't reviewed the 32" version in the same in depth manner, but I have seen it and it seems to perform as well.
If you were to tell me to run out and buy a 32" LCD TV, I'd come home with a Samsung LE32B550.
I reviewed the 40" version here and was amazed at the value for money.
Keep in mind that I haven't reviewed the 32" version in the same in depth manner, but I have seen it and it seems to perform as well.
Thanks for that. Whats your verdict on Philips 32PFL7404, please?
Loads of options out there for a great set just as good as the Phillips for under £400. The LG 32LH2000 32 LCD HDTV is a great example and a really good quality set for under £350.
Last edited by Phil Hinton; 19-12-2009 at 6:39 PM.
I was in Richer Sounds today and they were doing the 47PFL7404 including 5yr warranty for £1000. This seemed good value especially comparing it with the price of the 32". Would the reviewer agree?
Ultimately we need something for a maximum of a grand and we mainly watch freeview and play xbox 360 here. It is a large room (17 foot squared) so we think a 47 can be handled though anything 42 and up is a winner for us. Is there something we should be considering instead?
Scott, yes - if you have that sort of money to spend on a TV at 46-50", look towards the Panasonic NeoPDP TVs. They're the best displays you can buy right now at that sort of price and outperform any LCD (especially the Philips) in terms of black level, motion resolution, and viewing angle.
Some model numbers for you:
TX-P50V10 (about 1.3k) or
TX-P50G10 (about 900ish).
Now you surprised me as every place I have gone has suggested LCDs because we mentioned the xBox 360 is a big part of our use. In fact the selection of Plasmas has been quite small in comparison. I have been revisiting the plasma forum on this site and see I have perhaps written plasmas off in haste?
Do you always favour the plasmas over LCDs or was the mix of xbox & freeview a factor in your recommendations? I am just back from the usual suspects (Curry's, Dixons) and paid special attention to the plasmas. It may be to do they were showing a 30 year old movie or that my eyes are pushing forty but in all honesty I struggle to see the difference. £1000 is a lot of money for me to spend on A/V so I taking a painfully long time on it! I had thought I had crossed which technology to use but your recommendations have put me back a step!
Definitely do not write off Plasmas - especially not for gaming.
You probably visted stores who told you not to buy a Plasma for gaming because of the old burn-in worries (static life or score counters getting permanently etched into the screen). A few issues with that: first, it's mass hysteria. I've never seen a Plasma TV with screen burn that's been used with good, accurate picture settings. If you run in the "Super Razzle Dazzle Ultra Bright Processed" mode, there's a chance you might get burn-in - but these picture modes look horrific and are really only there to catch your eye in the store, not for home use.
Secondly, you should be aware of Input lag if you're going to be gaming. Digital video processors (like the ones found in the back of LCD and Plasma TVs) can cause a delay in the picture being sent to the screen. Think about the ramifications of that for video games: you press a button on the controller, the Xbox 360 processes your action, but the TV doesn't display it until a few milliseconds later. Those few milliseconds make a big difference to the immersive feel of the game. LCDs tend to lag more because their video processors perform Response Time Compensation, meaning that the TV delays the video a bit and "pre-treats" the LCD panel to try and avoid the dreaded LCD blur. Plasma TVs don't need to perform tricks like that because their motion resolution is naturally very high.
Some input lag measurements from recent TVs:
Philips 32PFL7404H: 180ms with "PC Mode" off, turning it on cuts it to 30ms, which is suitable for gaming.
Samsung UE46B8000 "LED LCD": 108ms, 51ms with "Game Mode" on. Quite annoying, but some don't notice it.
Panasonic TX-P65V10 Plasma: about 15-20ms. Immersive, fluid, removing a barrier between you and the game.
Third: many modern video games have less static on-screen graphics than TV channels! There's a few games where the life counters (etc.) will fade into view temporarily to give a more immersive feel. Compare that to modern TV channels which are covered in stupid TV station logos, news tickers, etc.
Quote:
Do you always favour the plasmas over LCDs or was the mix of xbox & freeview a factor in your recommendations?
Always. The only time I would recommend LCD over Plasma for a home TV would be if you're going to install it in a very sunny/bright environment (like a conservatory) where the light would wash the picture on-screen out.
If you struggled to see the PDP/LCD difference in a store, I'm not surprised - TVs in stores are horribly set up and will probably all look pretty terrible. If I was to set an LCD (especially one of Philips' - black level is not their strength) up next to a Plasma in your own living room, you'd see the differences straight away, especially with dark films.
The best Plasmas have the advantages in black level/overall contrast performance, motion resolution, viewing angle, best screen uniformity, and lowest input lag. Other than the aforementioned sunny conservatory scenario, I can't think of any reason to avoid them.
Perhaps the mark-up on Plasmas isn't as high for big-box retailers, though. But I don't see why that should be turned into your problem.
Last edited by David Mackenzie; 31-12-2009 at 11:58 AM.
Hallo David.
Thank you for this very usefull review.
The only question I have is about contrast ratio/dynamic range. I really don,t understand what "good" (or "average", "exellent"...) means. I mean could you specify - 100:1, 500:1 or may be 2000:1?
Best wishes.
I didn't look at the service mode of this TV, but the RGB levels are probably just the same adjustments as those in the user menu, so there'd be no real benefit.
1920x1080p panel
E. & O.E.