Philips may have crammed its Aurea line of TVs with all the premium features, but it managed to come up with a decently impressive offering in the non-Aurea 52PFL9632D. This LCD TV sports some of the finest technologies Philips has to offer, except for the kaleidoscopic Spectra Ambilight system that is reserved for the premium Aurea TVs.
Design
The stylish 52PFL9632D features a double frame design: the screen is surrounded by a glossy black bezel with a silver line accent, which is slightly raised above a second frame with a textured finish and another
Philips 52PFL9632D
silver line accent. The silver trim matches the silver pedestal that connects the panel to the glass-framed black stand. It’s an understated design with a classy feel that will definitely blend well with modern interiors.
The silver and black remote commander shipped with the 52PFL9632D has a space-age tapered top design. The buttons are well-spaced and positioned logically, particularly the navigation ring which is positioned near where the thumb naturally rests, making usage easy and convenient. One thing that works against the cascading menu system is the fact that the graphics covers most of the screen, which is quite a hassle when trying to adjust settings that require looking at the underlying picture. The Settings Assistant, which appears the very first time the TV is switched on, is a sweet touch, though.
Screen/picture clarity
It isn’t in the looks alone that this HDTV excels. Sporting the same Perfect Pixel HD Engine found in the Aureas, the 52PFL9632D delivers convincing black levels, fine details, and superb colour reproduction. Thus, images look vibrant and life-like, with hues that are saturated just right. The blacks don’t appear washed out, even on off-angle viewing, and thus gives images a real punch.
With full 1080p HD resolution, the 52PFL9632D resolves every pixel from progressively scanned and deinterlaced sources, and with 24p frame rate support, it plays high-def materials at the same rate these were filmed – eliminating the need to interpolate frames to minimize artefacts. On the downsides, handling of standard-def sources isn’t that impressive, and there is a problem in downscaling high-def sources to 4:3 aspect ratio – the LCD stretches the image to 16:9 ratio, resulting in somewhat skewed images.
Features
Aside from the two-lamp Ambilight system, the 52PFL9632D features a Freeview digital tuner and a wide range of adjustment options. The LCD’s connectivity is full-featured, too, with three HDMIs, a component video socket, USB port and other input/output jacks. However, Philips failed to include a PC VGA slot, and videophiles may have to hook this TV up with a nice audio system to get the best results.
The 52PFL9632D is one of the better performing sets currently in the market, with features that scream high-quality all over. It’s a tad pricey, yes, but every penny is worth it considering the TV’s size and performance level. Buyers looking for a large HDTV with impeccable performance should put this Philips LCD at the top of their list.
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