TV Tuners:
Apart from the "Ambilight" function, the feature list is not that exciting. Built-in analog cable & DVB-T receivers come as standard these days, but Philips, like so many other manufacturers, neglects to include a second antenna socket. Anyone wanting to connect both cable and digital terrestrial transmissions to the TV simultaneously will have to buy an adapter from a specialist store.

Connectivity:
Two Scart sockets, a set of YUVs or three HDMI inputs are available for interfacing external devices. In addition there are side-mounted S-Video and composite interfaces for camcorder operation, for example. One notable feature is the USB port, which is used for firmware updates, but can also be used for photos or music playback.

Light Sensor:
A light sensor determines the room's ambient illumination and sets the Philips backlight accordingly to the optimal value. This process is so responsive that you do not even notice it happening - you simply get consistently bright and contrast rich pictures.

Philips totally simplified the operation of its range of devices in 2006. Other companies have since continued to develop further, which has meant that Philips is no longer the industry standard for user interfaces.

The menu is sensibly arranged, but often reacts somewhat lazily, and some of the main settings/parameters are found in deeply nested submenus.

Despite the handy and clear remote control, operating the 37 PFL 9632 D/10 can sometimes turn into a test of stamina. It is also quite annoying that the menu covers almost the whole screen, so you cannot see the content behind it. On the plus side, however, channel changing is pleasingly fast, at 1.5 seconds.

Detailed and Color-Neutral Picture:
The analog cable receiver is a clear strength of the Philips. This is noticeable in the detailed, color-neutral picture, which remains sharp even during motion playback.

"100Hz Clear LCD" Motion Enhancement:
The motion enhancement, christened "100Hz Clear LCD" by the engineers, makes sure that news tickers or quick passes of the soccer ball glide blur-free across the screen significantly more clearly than with conventional LCD technology.

"HD Natural Motion" Picture Setting:
With "HD Natural Motion" the developers have integrated another interesting picture setting, which helps to make motion sequences in movies cleaner and more fluid. It calculates and integrates extra picture information, which at first glimpse seems to make motion sequences more harmonious, but on closer inspection distorts the original material. If this is bothersome, then it can simply be turned off.

Deactivating it, however, does have a negative effect on displaying movie pictures, which pick up unnatural saw-tooth effects on moving edges - it is a bit of a shame that the functions are coupled together in this way. Overall, and for that reason, we prefer the picture with "HD Natural Motion" switched on.

"Pixel-Plus Processor":
The Philips engineers are really moving forward with their TVs. In the new model range, Philips has finally managed to display the full HDTV picture on full HD panels without the unnecessary overscan.

The current "Pixel-Plus Processor", released in 2007, is more efficient that its predecessors and now processes the full-resolution HD signal without having to convert it to another (lower) resolution first. In earlier models, this conversion was primarily responsible for the poorer reproduction of detail. Natural looking colors and higher contrast have also been taken care of.

The TV really shines during black-and-white playback, such as the opening sequence of "Casino Royale" on Blu-ray, which it renders with a full and profoundly sharp picture. The patterns and text in the computer animated title sequence are also realized with clarity and detail.

Sharpness Reduction in 24p Playback:
One video processing weakness does appear during 24p playback. Although the pictures are completely judder-free, making the roulette wheel and decoration look exactly as they would at the standard 60Hz playback rate, there is an unfortunate reduction in sharpness at 24Hz.

Fine details of the Bond flick were seen to flicker a little; for example the railings on a yacht, or the decorative stripes on the sea plane (arriving in the Bahamas). The overall result is still better than 1080i playback from a set-top box, where fine details constantly show colored shadows during motion. The slight loss of sharpness with progressive playback is the lesser evil here.

Computer Operation:
Contrary to comparable models released in 2006, the 37 PFL 9632 D/10 does not have a VGA input, but does still give useful results when used as a PC monitor. If provided with a PC signal via HDMI, then this set now displays the signal in pixel-perfect full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution, which is something its predecessor could not manage.

Sound Quality:
In general, flat-panel TVs do not deliver ground breaking sound due to their small casing sizes. The Philips does surprise with its unusually strong bass, but the middle tones sound rather hollow and discolored, so concerts and music videos in particular give little enjoyment. By contrast, speech is surprisingly comprehensible, in particular during TV panel shows.

Contrast: 75

Brightness: 53

Color: 55

Sharpness: 0

100 Hertz Clear-LCD: On

HD Natural Motion: On

Tint: Warm

* applied to realistic playback from HD DVD/Blu-ray material through the HDMI interface in a darkened environment. Manufacturing and HDMI playback device deviations may necessitate slight adjustment. 

Eye-catching: The classy design and atmospheric "Ambilight" make this an attractive set.

Fully digital for PCs: An analog VGA input is missing, but the Philips accepts full HD PC signals via HDMI.

Looks tidy: The slender remote control has dedicated buttons for the main functions.

Almost spot-on: Near-perfect color reproduction even without fine tuning.