Need quick feedback on PHILIPS 42PFL9703

[adder]

well newer 5,7 series have toned down the sharpness a bit,which i feel is better compared to the older ones including the 9703.
the 9703 does have the philips 100hz system which the 3,5 series lacks.

ur obervation of SD on 9703 is correct its not the best out there,the philips however has realy good motion capabilities due to 100hz ,philips 100hz system is one of the best,the 9703 being a 08 panel,its black levels are still not realy that good at the best even with backlight dimmed when percentage of blacks are 90% of the screen the blacks will just about match tvs from 07 sony/samsung low end models.

u can also go in for the LG LH90,with local dimming the blacks are decent on par with tvs from sony and samsung except their local dimming sets.

u can also go with a HD ready plasma ,samsung and panasonic plasma are certainly priced cheap,the blacks levels of these tvs are better then every IPS based lcds that i know including the LH90 and 9703,but as u know plasma display images differently so u will need to have a look at it urself,it will be quite the opposite experience from lcds i.e soft,dim.u may have to think about the lighting conditions in ur house.
i would rule out the LG plasma medicore blacks ,either consider the samsung 42B450A or the panasonic C10.

 

[longshanks]

Could I expect a slightly better SD picture at home? I'm trying to audition the same model elsewhere, but it's not available..

Oh yeah, not slight improvement but a considerable amount of improvement. like i said its a very good tv out of the box but once you calibrate it right after say a few hours of viewing it will excellent.

 

[addagalla]

well newer 5,7 series have toned down the sharpness a bit,which i feel is better compared to the older ones including the 9703.
the 9703 does have the philips 100hz system which the 3,5 series lacks.

ur obervation of SD on 9703 is correct its not the best out there,the philips however has realy good motion capabilities due to 100hz ,philips 100hz system is one of the best,the 9703 being a 08 panel,its black levels are still not realy that good at the best even with backlight dimmed when percentage of blacks are 90% of the screen the blacks will just about match tvs from 07 sony/samsung low end models.

u can also go in for the LG LH90,with local dimming the blacks are decent on par with tvs from sony and samsung except their local dimming sets.

u can also go with a HD ready plasma ,samsung and panasonic plasma are certainly priced cheap,the blacks levels of these tvs are better then every IPS based lcds that i know including the LH90 and 9703,but as u know plasma display images differently so u will need to have a look at it urself,it will be quite the opposite experience from lcds i.e soft,dim.u may have to think about the lighting conditions in ur house.
i would rule out the LG plasma medicore blacks ,either consider the samsung 42B450A or the panasonic C10.

I'll check out if I can audition a Philips 7 series then.

LH90 - I didn't like the SD performance. It's not very bad, but Samsung did better and Sony even better. And I personally don't like the build quality and aesthetics of any of the LG LCDs.

BTW, HD Ready Plasmas will still look good in HD content, right? I mean the downscaling shouldn't cause any loss in picture quality? Yeah, I did think about the plasmas in general, I'll probably try something to make my drawing room slightly darker if I like the TV. And soft images are fine too if there is detail, contrast, color, etc.

 

[addagalla]

Oh yeah, not slight improvement but a considerable amount of improvement. like i said its a very good tv out of the box but once you calibrate it right after say a few hours of viewing it will excellent.

I don't mean that it's not true, but that's a little hard to believe that it makes a considerable amount of improvement. I mean, the sharpness of the image might still stay right because it's the upscaling algorithm used that matters?

 

[adder]

BTW, HD Ready Plasmas will still look good in HD content, right? I mean the downscaling shouldn't cause any loss in picture quality? Yeah, I did think about the plasmas in general, I'll probably try something to make my drawing room slightly darker if I like the TV. And soft images are fine too if there is detail, contrast, color, etc.

well HD ready plasma or any other HD ready tv will look best in its native resolution and there won't be any PQ loss in downscaling from 1080p tp 720p.

 

[addagalla]

Any first hand experience on the menu problems I mentioned on 9703? The menu looks just awful, seems to have far fewer settings and it occupies the whole screen most of the times!

 

[longshanks]

Any first hand experience on the menu problems I mentioned on 9703? The menu looks just awful, seems to have far fewer settings and it occupies the whole screen most of the times!

I am not sure if you can fix the menu. You could try and update the firmware or the service menu for additional settings.

YouTube - Philips LCD TV PFL Serie Service Menu

This thread might help:

PHILIPS 32/37/42/47/52 PFL9603/9703 Thread - AVForums.com

 

[cmsajith]

I am not sure if you can fix the menu. You could try and update the firmware or the service menu for additional settings.

YouTube - Philips LCD TV PFL Serie Service Menu

This thread might help:

PHILIPS 32/37/42/47/52 PFL9603/9703 Thread - AVForums.com

Getting into the service menu will void the warranty. The last entry date will be recorded to an inbuilt EPROM.

You cannot change the full screen menu, the same menu is being followed for couple of years and i have seen in some models they made it as semi-transparent.

Have you tried setting the sharpness to 0 (preferred in all TVs) and reduce the contrast from the default (100)?

 

[longshanks]

The Philips india web site lists only 3/5/7 series though. Don't know how 9 series is made available in India in some of the showrooms.

The 9 series has reappeared in the Philips India website now.

Philips - 9000 series LCD TV 42" Full HD 1080p - 42PFL9703/98 - 9000 series - Televisions - Sound and vision

 

[pungan]

Is this same model they had last year or is it new in line of 9664 and 9704 models.. I am actually waiting for these two tvs in India.

 

[addagalla]

Is this same model they had last year or is it new in line of 9664 and 9704 models.. I am actually waiting for these two tvs in India.

I think they are different. See

Philips - 9000 series -

Philips - 9000 series LCD TV 42" Full HD 1080p - 42PFL9703/98 - 9000 series - Televisions - Sound and vision

Per What HIFI 9664 is miles ahead of competition in almost every respect (except where it comes a close second in terms of motion and black levels).

Any definitive information about when 9664 & 9704 could be available in India? And the prices? If 9664 would be released in India in a 2-3 months and if the pricing (discounted) is around 90K, I don't see a point in buying 9703 at 80K now. The price of 9664 is 1500 GBP in UK, which is 1.16L, same as the price quoted for 9703 (1.19L) on Philips India web site. May be the 9664 & 9704 are on the way and that's why the retailers want to clear their 9703 stock?

 

[spirovious]

Contrast ratio of 9 series is less than 5 (33 & 50000)

 

[thetas]

May be the 9664 & 9704 are on the way and that's why the retailers want to clear their 9703 stock?

I really hope they launch 9704...but now they have already relaunched 9703 on website so I don't think they will.
42" 9703 was already available at Arena...they quoted me 1.3L (@1.15L with discounts) about a month ago. The point to note is they have reduced the listed 42" price by 10K.

 

[addagalla]

I really hope they launch 9704...but now they have already relaunched 9703 on website so I don't think they will.
42" 9703 was already available at Arena...they quoted me 1.3L (@1.15L with discounts) about a month ago. The point to note is they have reduced the listed 42" price by 10K.

1.15L? The offer I have now (79K) now suddenly looks like a steal!

 

[longshanks]

The offer I have now (79K) now suddenly looks like a steal!

It kind of is.

 

[alokbharti]

I found this tv at reliance digital hyderabad recently during diwali.. side by side with sony w550, v550, and samsung b550.. amazing PQ.. even SQ was good.. HD content looked great.. on my request salesman played a DVD movie.. SD quality was comparable to sony and samsung..
looks like this tv is in totally different league..
I thought it is a bit costly (i was quoted the final price as 89k).. as an offer I was getting any philips HT with 25% discount..

 

[thetas]

1.15L? The offer I have now (79K) now suddenly looks like a steal!

Just that you are almost buying a second hand piece.

 

[addagalla]

Just that you are almost buying a second hand piece.

Nope. It's not a showroom piece, I'm getting a sealed one.

On that note, would it be just sufficient to take care of the following things to avoid getting a display piece if I go for this?

- check usage hours on service menu (apparently it is 0-6-2-5-9-7-MENU)

If that's not possible

- note the serial number of the unit on display
- take commitment from store to take back the unit if we find it to be a display piece (physical inspection)

 

[thetas]

Nope. It's not a showroom piece, I'm getting a sealed one.

On that note, would it be just sufficient to take care of the following things to avoid getting a display piece if I go for this?

- check usage hours on service menu (apparently it is 0-6-2-5-9-7-MENU)

If that's not possible

- note the serial number of the unit on display
- take commitment from store to take back the unit if we find it to be a display piece (physical inspection)

Well...if its a pack piece at that price then it certainly is a steal!
But will still recommend to take the offer with a pinch of salt...(why would one sell a brand new piece -50K of oldprice || -40K of new price). Try enquiring the reasons for satisfactory answers.

 

[addagalla]

Well...if its a pack piece at that price then it certainly is a steal!
But will still recommend to take the offer with a pinch of salt...(why would one sell a brand new piece -50K of oldprice || -40K of new price). Try enquiring the reasons for satisfactory answers.

I thought I don't need to bother about the reasons as long as I can ensure that I get a packed piece. But yeah, I guess they will give some stupid reasons if I ask.