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Philips 42 PF 9831
The Philips 42 PF 9831 TV is a 42" (106 cm) LCD flat-panel TV and was introduced to the market in early 2006 for around 4,500 GBP.
Florian Friedrich, February 15, 2006
- Clean and bright picture; good picture presets.
- First class features and manufacturing.
- Integrated "Ambilight" technology makes TV viewing more fun.
- The contrast is only average.
- The picture from the analog video inputs is not very sharp.
- The casing of the 42 PF 9831 is a bit cumbersome.
With the 42 PF 9831, Philips has built a truly superb LCD flat-panel TV. The pictures even look good in bright surroundings, but in darkened home-theater conditions it cannot compete with a good plasma in terms of contrast. Additionally, at around 4,500 GBP it is also the most expensive LCD in the 42 inch class.
Currently, Philips is the only big European TV manufacturer. Globalization has not passed them by, however, and they produce LCD flat-panels in factories shared with LG, the South Korean manufacturer. The glass screens come from Korea, pre-filled and fitted with color filters and a Polish factory then adds lamps and electronics, and turns them into operational LCD panels.
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Screen Resolution:
The 42 PF 9831 has a 106 cm screen diagonal and a 1366 x 768 pixel LCD panel at its disposal. It is not therefore full HD, but achieves only the so-called WXGA resolution. Hence, if you are watching HDTV broadcasts or a film from a Blu-ray disc, the Philips will hold back some of the detail.
"Clear LCD":
One feature that Philips has already done away with in its current LCD range is "Clear LCD", which is supposed to visibly improve picture quality in motion sequences. The principle works as follows: Instead of permanently backlighting the display, as done previously, the backlight only shines for the duration of each frame. The theory behind this is to conceal the delay in changing the polarization of the liquid crystal pixels.
The eye perceives rising and falling phases of polarization as blurriness, which on traditional LCD sets, can lead to fast moving objects appearing to have a sort of "trail" behind them. So, whenever the polarization of the liquid crystals changes to allow more or less light to pass, "Clear LCD" briefly switches off the backlight to allow the pixels time to catch up. Of course, the viewer sees only the end result and not the modification process.
So that the Philips' picture does not flicker like a conventional 50Hz tube TV, the backlight operates at 75Hz (with PAL material). Philips has since had to give up on "Clear LCD" because it sold the manufacturer that makes the lamps it requires. Moreover, the technology is very expensive and, given the steadily falling prices of flat-panel TVs, it is not seen to be competitive.
Many current LCDs use 100Hz technology to be able to display outlines with similar precision. The panels have also become quicker to react, so the pixel lagging problem is not as pressing as it was when "Clear LCD" was introduced.
"Ambilight":
Another trademark of this model is, however, still present in current Philips models: "Ambient Lighting Technology" or "Ambilight". This is an integrated ambient lighting system that surrounds the unit in soft light, which is pleasant and less straining for the eyes.
The really particular feature is that the light is not static - it adjusts to suit the color and brightness of the screen's picture content. This effectively makes the picture appear somewhat larger than the actual screen.
Features
Teletext and EPG:
The Philips comes factory-fitted with an analog cable and digital TV (DVB-T) receiver. There is also a speedy Teletext function (capable of displaying the more aesthetically pleasing "Level 2.5") and an Electronic Program Guide (EPG). The EPG is a bit spartan, however - it does not work at all with analog channels, and only provides info on the current and next DVB-T programs.
Multimedia and "Media Manager" Software:
Multimedia, by contrast, does rather well on the 42 PF 9831, which can output video, music or photos directly from a USB stick or memory card. Another nice feature is its ability to link up to a PC via a network cable (wireless is optional). The packaged software "Media Manager" turns the TV into a neat playback platform for PC multimedia content, which makes easy work of high-res photos, but unfortunately does not accept HDTV video.
"Full Surround" Ambilight:
This set is fitted with the new "Full Surround" version of Ambilight, which works on all four sides of the screen, as opposed to just two in previous versions. This gives a glowing corona around the picture, which reduces eye-strain when viewing in a darkened room. The lamps are a bit power hungry though, increasing the power consumption by up to 60 Watts, and even when used alone with the TV picture switched off, the power meter still clocks a whopping 120 Watts. Those with sensitive eyes will also notice a slight flicker in the Ambilight.
Operation
Screen Menu and Remote Control:
The screen menu has been very clearly put together, and reacts instantly to the user's commands from the remote control. We also loved the remote's futuristic styling, but watch out: The high gloss finish picks up every single finger print. While the remote was great to use, it stopped short of true perfection, as it lacked specific buttons for switching the picture format and AV input.
TV and DVD Picture Quality
All the video inputs give a strong, natural picture with good color reproduction, but the analog inputs do exhibit some deficits at maximum resolution - 5MHz, instead of 6.75, is hardly a peak value. The picture converter's performance is only average, with quite a lot of overscan (cropping the edges of the picture). This is a bit of a relic from the early days of TV.
The "Clear LCD" technology makes its advantages plainly obvious with standard TV pictures - fast moving banner texts are displayed sharply and without irritating streaking effects. In dark film sequences, however, "Clear LCD" is less effective - artifacts do appear in some rare cases. In "Panic Room" for example, areas of color are occasionally seen to billow a little where the camera moves at length through the rooms of a large house.
In low ambient lighting, the Philips struggles with the usual blue-tinged backlighting problem found with LCDs. It is most noticeable in dusky scenes dominated by warmer tones, such as the Orks' weapons factory in the "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring".
HDTV Picture Quality
Unfortunately, "Clear LCD" does not work in HD mode. Nevertheless, the 42 PF 9831 takes well to high resolution material. Feature films from the "Premiere" HD film channel look bright, delicate and cinematic, and are sensitively emboldened in "Pixel Plus 3 HD" mode.
With its WXGA screen resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, the Philips actually only gives half the detail theoretically possible with HDTV (1920 x 1080 pixels), but in the visual test this hardly had an effect. It rendered the radiator grill of a limousine in "Apollo 13" (HD DVD, beginning of Chapter 3), for example, with just as much fine structure as did a full HD Pioneer plasma that we compared it with. 24p format material is not accepted, however, leaving films from Blu-ray discs with an unnatural judder.
Computer Operation and Sound Quality
Computer Operation:
The 42 PF 9831 is not really much use as a computer monitor, as it will only handle signals up to 1024 x 768 pixels, which is lower than its native resolution. This means that computer images are displayed in 4:3 format, and that fine text is blurred.
Sound Quality:
Philips has put the loudspeakers beneath the screen in this model. Speech is easily understood, the high tones are clean, and even the bass - always a challenge - sounds convincing. The stereo is just a bit narrow though, and does not really suit the rather expansive casing.
Settings for the best home-theatre performance*
Contrast: 75
Brightness: 50
Color: 50
Sharpness: 3 (middle setting)
Tint: R-WP 120; G-WP 109; B-WP 75; R-BL 6; G-BL 11
Pixel Plus: On
Digital Natural Motion (DNM): Off
Clear LCD: On
Dynamic Contrast: Off
DNR: Off
MPEG Artifact Suppression: Off
Color Improvement: Off
Active Control: On
Light Sensor: On
* 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.
Quick Points Summary
Light sculpture: The corona-like ambient lighting system makes TV viewing more relaxing.
Expansive: The casing is almost as big as a 50" model.
Right on: The TV offers two HDMI inputs, Analog HDTV is achieved via YUV and VGA.
Whittled: The stylish remote control is easy to use, but fingerprints really show up.
Media Center: With a multiple card reader and two USB ports, photos, music and video can be output directly from storage media.