Philips 32PW9617 Review

Overall Rating

stunning picture
Dolby Digital sound with dvd's - WOW! (when not affected by interference suffered by the wireless rear speaker setup)

1) Wireless rear speakers
2) Buzzing from transistor/capacitor/digital scan? at the rear of tv is louder than on previous sets i've owned.(and yes I have already returned the first set that was the same!)
3) silvery glimmer on moving objects.

The wireless speakers are particularly useless when a tv audience program with clapping or cheering is on. The interference that is caused makes the speakers reverberate as though there is feedback. But at an extra cost you are able stop using the wireless facility by purchasing the necessary cables and wiring them to the tv.
With pixel plus (which is otherwise flawless and the best picture i've ever seen) on moving objects or panning you get a silvery glimmer around the object (a bit like when you could almost see the predator in the film 'Predator')

I would appreciate anyones opinions / advice on curing the buzzing sound from the back of the set? Should I go for third time lucky?

Members' Comments onmagoo.'s Review

• Nah. on 20th May 2003

  Glad someone else has the buzzing too. I'm on my 3rd 9617 now and you can hear the buzz on all of them from 3m away when the volume is reasonably low or whenever there is a quiet scene. Does my head in! Keep the set if you are happy with the picture as my 2nd set had faint black bars and pixel plus artifacts were more prominent. I'm going to see if an engineer can sort the buzzing as Philips reckon this shouldn't happen. However I'm not having a 4th set if the engineer can't fix it. Would be good to hear from anyone else who has the buzzing.

• Michael Khor. on 30th May 2003

  Buzzing sound: this could be the "extra" sound added by the 3D Surround processing. Select your Sound output instead to regular Stereo or even Mono, and maybe the buzz will disappear. I think the audio DSP and amplifier in the Philips TV are not fully shielded and hence susceptible to various interferences, especially from the PixelPlus video processors PCB nearby.
  

• Donald. on 30th May 2003

  Purchased Philips 9617 Dec 02.No problems with buzzing or wireless speakers which I have on spectral speaker stands.
  The shimmering is certainly an issue on certain objects and also the picture on satellite seems a bit cartoon like at times(grass on a football pitch has no definition.
  Dvds are excellent and overall the picture quality is very good

• Nick. on 20th Jun 2003

  I haven't had problems with the sound, which is generally very good.
  
  My problem is Pixel Plus. The movement artifacts are so bad that I've not been able to use it. The problem is still present with a good quality source such as DVD. However, on a positive note, without Pixel Plus the picture quality is excellent.

• Simon. on 22nd Jun 2003

  I tried two 32PW9617C sets. Both had red vertical banding problems (worst on green background). Picture was otherwise superb - but its no use with those stripes!

• Peter. on 10th Jul 2003

  Ref: 32pw9617
  In ref to red vertical banding, I also have
  two faint vertical pink bands not visible all of the time. I have also noticed that when the tv is off, the tube has a couple of ripples on it.
  Any suggestions???

• msp on 6th Sep 2003

  I have had 3 9617 `s and all have shaded bands which are very visible whilst watching football during left to right camera movements. It has become very anoying andmy eye tends to watch the bands instead of the football. Any one else have this. Otherwise very good. Speaker hum rectified by unclipping sender unit

• F1 Mike on 20th Sep 2003

  coloured bands - pink on blue background (ie the 'no signal') green on white, and sometimes yellow on certain colours, seemed to go away when I thumped the screen (thumping things is usually my favorite cure for dodgy goings on)
  
  I too discovered the speaker sender unit seems to work fine when it's further from the tv - seems to pick up the loud hum from the tv and send it to the speakers! :-)
  The hum doesn't bother me really from the tv, but paradoxically, the hum from the rear speaker amp does, but when it bothers me, I just turn up the volume

• 54sjb19 on 3rd Oct 2003

  Picture quality excellent apart from some slight banding watching football and a mind of its own on picture format. Sound - rear speaker interference can be bad - must sit still! Sub Woofer rattles like my first record player. Overall seeing other TVs makes me realise how much better it is.

• F1 Mike on 4th Oct 2003

  I've never had ANY problems with rear speaker interference! - do ensure the amp is free from obstruction - remember, it is just radio reception, and a sofa in front of it will cause interference just like rapping insulation round your hi-fi aerial!
  Maybe you live in an area of high interference - try changing the broadcast channel (under amp speaker, and in install menu)

• wheezygardener on 18th Feb 2004

  Thanks to F1 Mike. I have a pw9618 and I was suffering from buzz from the rear speakers. I unclipped the sender from the back of the TV and just let it dangle free - no more buzzing. What are Philips playing at!!