I am about to buy a Philips 30PF9975 LCD but am concerned about some magazines I have read regarding the Component inputs. Is it true that this model wont accept a standard component feed from say an Xbox or a PS2. And what about a DVD player ??. Surely this cant be true, it sounds like madness. Has anyone tried hooking up anything via component, what works and what does not. Have Phililps gone mad !!!. Any info would be appreciated.
Hi, I too have the Philips 30PF9975, the inputs will not accept 576i,480i or 720p inputs but will work with 480p,576p and 1080i. I have an Xbox connected to these inputs and the dashboard (initial setup screen) does not work. But 99% of games play great in 576p mode and some in 1080i too (i have got my xbox modified so that the initial dash and xbox dvd player also work in 576p mode.
Chris I've also got the 30pf9975 (had it for a month or so now). I'm currently using RGB for both DVD and my NTL digital box. My VCR feeds through the ntl box and the tv automatically switches to composite when I play any videos. My question regards the improvement in quality of progressive component in compared to rgb in. Have you compared the two to judge the improvement? I want to know if its worth me upgrading my dvd payer to one with progressive output. The image quality on rgb is very good IMO. Karl
Karl, While the Xbox games are a lot sharper using the component inputs (like using a PC monitor) the xbox DVD player isn't upto much quality wise (suffers from vertical banding like a cheap PC software player). I think the Philips set will show up any nasty artifacts if your thinking about buying a cheap cheap progressive scan player, and wont be much better than RGB inputs. But I would think if you were to buy a fairly decent prog DVD player the picture would be noticibly better. Hope this helps. Chris.
So let me get this right. If I get progressive scan DVD player, it will work with both PAL & NTSC Discs via Component ?.. My current DVD player only supports NTSC progressive scan, so I guess I will need to sell it. What the hell were Philips thinking about when they designed this TV. Surely a model which was nearly £3000 not so long ago should be able to handle anything thrown at it.
Yeah thats right. only accepts progressive scan inputs, NTSC and PAL. Interlaced (480i and 576i) inputs just result in a blue screen.
Yeah thats right. only accepts progressive scan inputs, NTSC and PAL. Interlaced (480i and 576i) inputs just result in a blue screen.
chris, have you tried 480p specifically? Its just that reviews have specifically said that its PAL progressive only. As for quality - I have a good quality progressive scan machine feeding my projector, and it feeds svideo into the philips TV. The TV looks amazing. Unfortunately, my once 'amazing' projector is now looking a little lacking, so I'll have to keep an eye out for the next big thing.
Richard, It definately works great with 480p and 576p. My xbox is set to 480p at the mo. Press the i+ button on the TV control and that even shows 480p, this is using the EXT 5 component inputs though. I am not to sure about feeding into the svideo input though, this could be where it wont except 480p. PS what resolution input is it your feeding into the svideo plug? is it 576p?
Thats reassuring that it at least accepts 480p - might be worth going component on my xbox. My svideo is just normal interlaced rubbish. My DVD player has only one component out, and thats piped to the projector. The svideo is so that i don't need to keep switching round, I can have both connectors running in parallel if necessary. So its no different to a console svideo output. The TV just does a great job of scaling it
Hopefully a kind of logic has appeared. What Philips are trying to tell you is that RGB is just as good as component unless you have a good source, and scart is considerably more idiot proof. Considering the general level of competence in the public, who can walk into Currys and come out with one of these, this can only be a good thing. At least as far as Philips are concerned.
I agree (with MAW) about the interlaced input. I had been a bit concerned with early reviews that I (like it seems richard plumb) read that said the set would take 576p but not 480p. Although can anyone confirm 480p compatibility through both component inputs and VGA or is it only through the VGA? If the component only takes 576p and not 480p then I assume that you won't get progressive input from R1 discs on a multi-region player. Unless you use a component-to-VGA converter. Can anyone confirm this? thanks Karl P.S. been to the movies a few times in the last week and was amazed to see how well the picture on my telly compared with that on the big screen. P.P.S. Currys (and prbably dixons) offer a wall installation deal for this TV on their website for £299! Having put mine on the wall in about 20 minutes I now realize I'm in the wrong business!
Chris seems to have confirmed 480p through component. MAW, I see your point, but it is a bit shortsighted for consoles. If you have a DVD player, it'll be interlaced or progressive. So for an interlaced one, use SCART. For a progressive one, use component - everything will be progressive. But consoles aren't all one or the other. Gamecube and Xbox both have games that only run in interlaced mode - as do most PS2 games. But some are progressive. This screen doesn't deal with that. I'd hope that PS3/Xbox2/GC2 etc all support 480p at minimum (even the boot up sequence)
Karl, real installation is not like that! There are a few threads about DSG installation services, I have no comment, I'm the competition. If we put a screen on the wall we'd expect to set up the rest of the gear, bury the cables, or at least make them invisible in some way, set up surround sound and give the customer a lesson in using it. £300 is value then.
Karl, it I am using components in on the XBox, I assume the VGA input works with 480p as well, I have not tried this. Although the Manual says it does. What is really annoying is that 720p has no support on this TV a fair few xbox games have 720p support. I have attached an image (or tried) of the xbox running at 480p on components to alieviate any fears you might have.
Sorry MAW I meant no offense (Only about an hour after I posted did I remember that you did installations). For the amount of work Currys seemed to be doing (no chasing of cables into walls, no extra cables, and for this set the wall bracket comes in the box!) 300 quid seemed a very large amount of money! Chris/richard - thanks for the confirmation re component vs VGA. Sorry for the confusion - I seemed to get it into my head that chris was feeding his x-box into the VGA port, reading back I can't really see why I thought this. Bummer about the 720p. I think there was a similar concern on the US av forum - even worse there as some of the HD cable feeds are apparently broadcast in 720p. Really odd since the native resolution is very close to 720 lines. Karl
Wouldn't worry about HD - if you get it, it'll take 1080i on component and VGA which most set top boxes/HD dvd players should output Chris, looks like a modded xbox. Do you have it modded to display progressive from bootup? If so, any info how to do it?
Richard, See here:- http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=152822 Also works for DVD playback Ross
Just got myself a philips lcd to go with my modded xbox and I'm having a nightmare getting it to display any sort of picture with the High Definition AV Pack that I've just had delivered I've got my xbox set to NTSC, but I can't even get evox dashboard to display - and this is supposed to work with 480p. I've also tried the patched MS dashboard and dvd player but I'm getting a blue screen and nothing else Has anyone here got a guide on exactly how I should be going about getting this working?
Interesting thread, I have just got the 30pf9975 and have tried to link it component to my Denon AVF100 system. I am told by philips that the two are not compatable because the TV is progressive scan and the denon is interlaced component, so I just get a blue screen with a message saying " picture format not recognised". the denon only outputs composite or s-video via the scart so switching to RGB is not an option either. So at present I am watching in s-video. your thoughts welcome please
change your DVD player if you want progressive pictures, or just carry on using svideo. I have a philips progressive scan DVD player, and the component goes to my projector (wants the best quality), with svideo going to the LCD screen. Picture is still great, as the screen has the same scaler/deinterlacer as my DVD player anyway. I really wouldn't worry about it for a 30" screen.