Fast Navigation:
The well laid-out remote control combined with easy-to-read channel presets and excellently structured menus permit fast navigation, and offer a high degree of user comfort. However, typical to Philips, the screen menus cover the entire display, which is a bit daft since the results of any fine tuning will only be apparent once the menu system has been exited.

Picture Presets:
None of the five presets, however, deliver a correct and natural picture without some tweaking (refer to the "Best Settings" box). Even a rather useful feature of the TV has its problems: The picture settings for each AV input are stored separately and independently, which is all well and good, were it not for the fact that each setting has to be tuned by hand during installation for its optimum configuration - and that is time consuming.

The analog tuner is not that remarkable. Even with the sharpness reduced, the picture shows introduced artifacts and picture errors, making even the fonts in subtitles or names almost completely illegible.

Noticeably crisper are pictures delivered through a Scart-connected external device. However, the best picture quality comes from equipment connected to the YUV interface - the resulting picture comes across a tad more naturally than even through the HDMI interface with its higher specifications. If the Philips 42 PFL 7662 D/12 receives its signal through HDMI-connected playback equipment, then gray shades are noticeably more graduated and colors deviate from their original.

Apart from the more usual analog interfaces, modern DVD players also offer digital HDMI interfaces as standard. In addition, top players also scale the disk content for this interface from the usual PAL or NTSC standard to a high-resolution format, and thereby eliminate line flicker associated with de-interlacing.

A representative for this high-end category of player is the Denon DVD-2930, which also supports picture playback in the 1080p format - a mode that is just not properly supported by this Philips TV. Here, film material is represented at just half its normal vertical and horizontal resolution and further worsens the picture quality. Hence, optimized DVD playback, through high-end equipment of this kind, should only be made at 1080i for the best viewing pleasure. This recommendation is not just valid for picture sharpness, as only 1080i signals are displayed natively without overscan. The path taken to achieve this is quite a bumpy one: The option is available through "Features" Menu - "Display" - "Native 1080", and is deactivated each time the viewer alters the picture source.

However, the native format is worthwhile as proven by the British Superbit DVD "Gladiator". Without overscan, the picture is clearer and appears almost three dimensional; close-up shots of the Gladiators themselves come across with an incredible depth of focus. With extremely dark scenes, however, the Philips is not so accommodating with patchy bright spots appearing in the set's corners, which affect the perceived contrast.

Test pictures from the Blu-ray "Digital Video Essentials" DVD prove just what the Philips is capable of achieving. With the overscan function deactivated, full HD test pictures mesh exactly with the screen resolution and reach their full contrast potential. Even though the de-interlacer performs its duty exceptionally well and almost removes any sign of screen flicker, some still percolates through.

Reducing the backlight brightness in darker scenes transforms the natural contrast ratio of 600:1 to an impressively high 2,600:1. Regrettably though, this dynamic backlight control is not without its side-effects. In the movie "Apollo 13", for example, there is an observable over compensation of the controller. A lack of controller reaction speed is the culprit and causes the screen to bloom in paler scenes through excessive illumination when immediately following darker screen imagery.

The color authenticity and extremely sharp HDTV pictures do nevertheless impress convincingly. In the slightly noisy HD DVD edition of "Mission Impossible III", the Philips accurately renders the film grain, and the movie is presented just as it would be at the theater.

In the opening credits of the Blu-ray edition of the Bond movie "Casino Royale", the Philips beautifully interprets fine details, and fonts are rendered with crystal clarity. Even the complete crane structure is recognizable in the crane scene (13:13 playing time).

Although this Philips set recognizes and converts 24p material, it is not error-free and is prone to judder as internally, the algorithms convert the material back to 60 Hz. Hence, 24p compatibility is nothing more than deceptive packaging.

The factory preset for the audio setting is a little muffled. Luckily, a seven band equalizer is at hand to improve upon it. The quality is not sufficient for the complete movie experience, or even music, despite the Dutch manufacturer raving about its "Incredible Surround".

As with the majority of flat-panel TVs, the best sound can only be attained through an obligatory externally connected stereo hi-fi set or AV receiver. Unfortunately, the Philips does not possess a separate dedicated audio output, and so anyone wishing for this feature must forfeit one of the Scart sockets and use an appropriate adapter.

Mode: User

Brightness: 51

Color: 54

Contrast: 100

Sharpness: Minimum

Color Temp.: Warm

Contrast+: On

Native 1080: 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.

Beautiful and practical: The Philips 42 PFL 7662 D/12 has a swivel pedestal and is above average in its overall finishing.

No interface for older generation PCs: Searching for an analog VGA interface will be in vain. However, all the major video connections along with analog cable and digital DVB-T TV reception are catered for.

Manageability in compact format: The rather compact remote control sits well in the hand, but the button inscriptions are just a touch too small.