Philips 37PFL7603D Review

Supplied by CNET
We like:
Picture; sound; design; features
We don't like:
That remote control wheel will drive you round the bend; not very cheap; bright backlight in dark scenes
Also known as:
Philips Cineos 37PFL7603D; Philips Ambilight 37PFL7603
You might also need:
HD source, such as Sky HD or Virgin; Blu-ray player or games console CNET UK judgement:

This is a good, sturdy TV for people who want high-end performance on a smaller scale. Picture and sound both help to sell the package and the styling is clean, fresh and attractive

SRS said:
I have a 37PFL7603D and it really is the best TV I've ever seen by far, both for picture quality and looks. Just superb.
Originally Philips stated that they didn't need 100Hz technology for the 37" because the panel came from a different manufacturer to those used in the rest of the Cineos range, so had different response characteristics. Will be in interesting to see how much better the 37PFl9613D is. Perhaps the original panel supplier got too expensive, so an upgrade was needed?
Chandler (UK)
When my old Philips Matchline TV finally gave up, I was secretly overjoyed because now I could justify buying a snazzy, new LCD TV. Although I prefer Philips products, I thought I would shop around this time because we're talking about a difference of at least £400 between the cheaper models and this Philips 37". So I spent days weighing the pro's and con's of this make and that, whether to get HD Ready (cheaper!), Full HD, 32", 37", 42", blah, blah, blah.

After reading endless reviews, I rebelled and just bought what I fancied in the first place - this Philips 37" LCD with Freeview and Ambilight. You can find quite a few technical reviews on the web and ultimately, all they really tell you is that no TV is perfect and all have their flaws. So trust me - just arm yourself with a few simple requirements and then go shopping!

Here's mine:

• Full HD (It's a lot of money so it needs to be a bit future-proof)
• High contrast ratio (At least 20000:1)
• Wide viewing angle (otherwise you have to sit directly in front of it)
• Good quality make (so that you can take some things for granted)
• Stylish (some LCD's are really ugly!)
• Affordable

When the TV arrived, only one side of the Ambilight worked, so I had Amazon send a replacement. They also arranged for pickup of the faulty one - all free of charge. I was just a bit unlucky here. It could happen anywhere to anyone. Full marks to Amazon for making the exchange process easy.

The replacement is however, perfect. The picture and sound are wonderful and the Ambilight gives the whole thing an extra dimension. My TV sits upon a corner floor stand and isn't wall mounted, but the Ambilight is still very effective. I just need to lighten the colour of the wall behind the set to enjoy the more subtle colour changes.

Operating the TV is really simple. There are quite a few settings that you can fiddle with, but there's also a question-based setup utility that will reset the picture if you mess things up. It shows you a series of photo's/movies in a vertically split-screen format, and you just say whether you prefer the left or the right side. Great feature!

One of the features I couldn't initially decide on was whether to buy the 37" or 42" as there's not a lot of money between them. But my lounge isn't really that large (about 20' x 14') and this 37" is more than big enough. It's large without being too intrusive. Personally, I dislike the massive screens that are being pushed by retailers that dominate your room. You'll get a sharper picture from the smaller LCD's. The smaller screen also has a better contrast ratio (44000:1) which is all important on an LCD, otherwise the picture tends to be a bit dark.

The Philips 37" LCD Ambilight more than fulfills my expectations. I love it and can recommend it to anyone.