Philips 32PW9617 Review

Overall Rating

Outstanding picture and sound - really amazing at night in the dark.
100Hz digital scan, Dynamic noise reduction,

slight picture shimmer with pixel plus activated due to digital natural motion feature - cured by setting back to 100Hz

I'm a bit worried reading all the bad experiences, as I have had mine only a few months.
So far I have been extremely pleased with my set, in all circumstances of use.

Menus are simply laid out, and reminders are easy to set using the nextview function, although I've still yet to read up on when or if at all a full week listings nextview system will be available in the uk in the future.

Pro Logic sound on normal tv is surprisingly distinct, and DD 5.1 at night with the lights off is really great if used with additional amp and front speakers

channels can be easily hidden from the ch+/- via the installation menu, using the lesser used buttons concealed under the flap.
A small trivial thing I don't like is that the screen format button is under this flap, which I am constantly flapping to get the most from the various types of broadcasts we get these days.

The Automatic screen format usually works well.
True widescreen broadcasts are recognised in all cases I have experienced with Freeview, and when changing back to a 4:3 channel, the ratio will revert back to the ratio you last used for a 4:3 broadcast - ie. if you watch 4:3 in 14:9 mode, go to a widescreen broadcast, and back to a 4:3 programme, it would revert back to 14:9.
14:9 is what I often use to watch most widescreen analogue programmes which are not often in actual 16:9 format, but I have to flap the flap to change back to 4:3 mode.
I'll fix my dislike for the lap by buying a new 6in1 Kameleon remote...

What would have been nice, is if Phillips had included their Phillips ondigital/itv digital box in the remote control functionality, which although can control vcr, cd, tape, tuner, dvd, and satellite ...... isn't programmable, and doesn't use the same frquencies as my other equipment.

But really, I'm happy with this tv - it really does seem to be one of the best available


After these reviews, I'm a little worried though - a colour blotch appeared recently, appearing as purple on the 'no signal' blue, and green on white pictures (noticable easily on Colin McRae 4 on PS2)
This has changed from one side of the tv one day (during Italian GP) to the other side another day (whilst watching Champions League)
This would suggest the colour tube isn't going to last the 10 years we would expect of modern tv technology, however I am now a little more optimistic that, having thumped the screen a few times, it has disappeared - so perhaps some colours became trapped somehow.
Despite this I am still happy with my set .... so far!

Really stunning bit of kit, but will have to see how it lasts