Using a TV with DVD players, Blu-ray players, satellite receivers & Co. isn't always as easy as you'd imagine. The quality of the remote control and on-screen menu are also crucial for everyday use. Find out here how the Philips 56 PFL 9954 H fares on these points.

Remote Control:

The On/Off button and the button for the main menu - labeled with a house symbol - are pleasingly large, and therefore easy to find. Thanks to several hundred integrated control codes, the remote control can also operate many DVD players, satellite-TV receivers, and home-stereo systems.

Excellent: The aspect-ratio button sits between the volume and channel buttons, clearly labeled with text (FORMAT) and a symbol. The navigation cross for operating the menu is easy to use.

The lower end of the remote control hosts a number pad, which primarily serves for direct access to channels by number, but is also used for entering information in Internet mode. Also excellent: The SOURCE button, directly beside the 0 button, calls up different AV inputs.

Overall, the Philips' remote control is both attractive and functional. All buttons are easy to press and facilitate accurate operation with an obvious pressure point. The button-grouping is consistent and logical, but the labeling could have been a tad bigger. Overall, the handset looks tidy.

Battery-Changing:
Battery-changing is awkward - you need a coin to open the battery compartment on the back of the remote control. Luckily, you don't need to change the batteries often.

On-Screen Menu:

The on-screen menu's 3D-looking symbols lend it an elegant feel. The menu has a centralized construction; the user can access all functions via the remote control's menu button (labeled with a house symbol). The first main-menu page offers access to the TV's basic functions such as TV, multimedia (BROWSE USB, BROWSE PC, BROWSE NET TV), the user manual, and settings (SETUP).

The electronic user-manual is a great inclusion. Unlike a paper copy, you can't misplace it, and it also stays constantly up to date: If Philips integrates new functions into the 21:9 TV, the company simply updates the electronic manual.

Unfortunately, though, access to picture settings is more awkward than with other TVs. If, for example, you want to re-adjust the sharpness, you first have to undertake 13 steps of operation. Panasonic shows how to do this better: With their TVs, you're usually only a few buttons away from the desired setting.

The menu could be a little faster. With some commands, it allows itself a second to think before reacting. When you bring up the picture settings, the menu covers the majority of the screen, but it shrinks when you change a parameter.

Selecting external video sources is practical and easy. The corresponding button is clearly labeled with a symbol, as well as with the text "SOURCE". Pressing this button brings up a list of inputs for the user to choose from.

Channel-Search and EPG:

The channel-search process works perfectly. When you first turn on the Philips, an installation menu automatically carries out all the initial setup steps.

You'll need to have some patience if you choose the full search in the SETTINGS submenu for digital cable reception - the process takes almost an hour to complete. At least you can then be sure that it really has found all of the channels.

Intuitive channel navigation is especially important for digital cable reception, which offers several hundred channels. Here, however, the Philips disappoints. The channel list reveals itself hesitantly and then consumes almost the entire screen. The channels are not sorted sensibly; instead, the TV arranges them simply in alphabetical order. There's also no option to display only free-to-view channels.

The Philips allocates analog channels to channel number 301 and onward, and radio stations to channel number 1001 and onward. Separate lists would make the viewer's life a lot easier. In terms of channel navigation, Philips could learn a lot from Panasonic, which masters user-friendly navigation in models such as the TX-P 42 GW 10.

The Electronic Program Guide (EPG) is disappointingly uninformative. On each page, it shows only the current and upcoming broadcasts for eight channels. What's more, it throws away useful space by only occupying a 16:9-format area of the screen.

Connecting External Devices:

Connecting external devices is seamless - just choose the socket you need. This might sound obvious and not worthy of mention, but on Pioneer TVs, for example, you first have to set up which inputs you actually intend to use. A practical feature on the Philips: You can include a shortcut to an AV input of your choice in the main menu for fast access.

The side-mounted inputs on this 21:9-format TV are also easy to reach when the set is wall-mounted, and the sockets are clearly labeled. The headphone socket could have been a little more central, for optimal accessibility.