Philips 37PFL8605H (37PFL8605)

The specification is the same on all five models apart from one aspect:  on the 32 inch it has a scanning ratio of 100Hz; the rest of the range, the scanning ratio is 200Hz.  Which basically means that if you have got a standard TV that scans normally at 50Hz, it is fifty pictures per second making up the image.  On the 32 inch it is 100 pictures per second.  On the rest of the range, because you are looking at larger screens, there are 200 pictures per second making up that image. 

The reason for that is because when you are looking at the larger screen sizes, if you get any fast movement you need a faster scanning ratio so you are less likely to notice any sort of motion blur or drag in the image.  So, on the larger screens they put 200Hz on - they don’t consider it necessary on a smaller screen at 32 inch.  But the rest of the spec is the same.

First of all, beautiful design on this set.  You are looking at a glass base which is on a swivel.  Glass screen at the front here which runs right up to the edge.  It is a frameless sort of design on the set, a beautiful design.

What I will do first of all is spin the set round and we will have a look at the sockets on the rear of the TV.  We will go through those and then we will start looking at some of the menus and the specification on the range itself.

Okay, so here we have the rear of the TV.  Let’s go through some of these sockets.  We will take it from the top.  We have got here first of all an Ethernet connection.  Just underneath there you have got a scart socket.  You have got Component In on here, which is the red/green/blue connection - things like Xbox 360s and some DVD players use Component - we have got Component here.  That is the separate audio feed for the Component, to take the audio in.  You have also got a headphone socket just here as well.  There is a separate Audio In on here. 

Underneath here, all the sockets are mounted underneath the panel, so you can get away with a very slim bracket on this TV because the socket is completely recessed underneath here.  You have got first of all an additional scart just underneath here as well, so there is another scart socket recessed underneath.  You have got Digital Coaxial Out on here, so there is no optical socket on the back of this TV - they feed the digital signal out of this set through a digital coaxial socket which is on there. 

You have got three HDMIs - HDMI 1, 2 and 3.  So there are three HDMI sockets recessed under there.  There is also your antenna, which is your aerial socket just there as well.  Next to that, just here, it says 3D Out.  We will cover that later in this video clip.  You have also got a VGA socket which is your PC connection just underneath there as well.

On the side of the TV there is an additional HDMI just here on the side of the set.  There is also a USB connection just on here as well.  And you have also got an SD card reader, so if you have got a digital still camera you can pop your card into the side of the TV and have your photographs onscreen as well.

If we just pan out a second on here as well, the set itself has wall fixings on here, so you can wall-mount the TV.  The actual wall mounting for this set, you are looking for 200ml on the width by 300ml on the height.  So it is basically 200 by 300 for your wall bracket connection on there as well.

So we will spin the set back round and we will have a look at some of the features on the TV itself.  One other thing that we didn’t mention on there is your power socket for connecting this up to the mains.  Yet again, that is also recessed.  The power socket is down here and recessed just underneath the panel here.  And just next to that you have got also a main On/Off switch as well.

Okay, so we will spin the set round and we will have a look at some of the features on the TV. Okay, so let’s go through some of the specification on this set.  First of all, it just oozes quality.  As I said, you are looking at a glass base, superb frameless design on the TV.  The remote control is a brushed sort of aluminium metal finish - beautiful design; if I can get a close-up on this for you, if I bring this up to the camera now, it really is a superb-looking remote control; it has got a brushed aluminium finish.  Beautiful design.  Not plastic - all metal.  Absolute quality.

On the remote control itself, you have a Home button on here which puts you into the Menu.  Fantastic menu system on the Philips range of TVs - and beautifully easy to set up as well.  On the keypad here we have got Up, Down, Left and Right.  If we click down to Setup, this range of TVs is LED edge-lit - so superb slim-design panels as well; they are only 5cm in depth.  As we looked at before, all the sockets are recessed so you can get it really close to the wall. 

The settings on the TV couldn’t be easier:  if we go down to TV Settings, we just press OK in the centre of the remote control.  It puts us into the Menu.  Now, on the Picture menu we have got all the adjustments on here for things like the ambilight which we will go through in just a moment; we will show you the ambilight feature and all the contrast, brightness and colour settings on there as well.  In the Smart Picture Mode you have got preset modes for Vivid, Cinema, Game Mode  - whatever you are doing with the set, whether you are gaming on it - you select the Game Mode and it sets the contrast, brightness levels exactly where they should be for when you are gaming on there as well.

If we just click out of there for just a moment and go back into the Menu, you have got Quick Picture and Sound Settings on there as well.  If we select that, it will ask us do we want to start; so we just click OK for do we want to start.  It will ask us do we want to run the TV in Standard Mode or Energy-Saving.  So on this side of the screen, this is the sort of picture you will achieve on Energy-Saving and this is the sort of picture quality you can achieve on Standard Mode.  You have got to make the decision what you think is best.  To be quite honest with you, this TV, the power consumption is extremely low with it being an LED TV - you are only looking at 148 watts anyway, even in Standard Mode.  So extremely low power consumption.

On this one, I would prefer the Standard setting.  So we just press OK.  It puts a little tick on there to say that is what you have selected.  And then it says to select your personal picture settings - Standard or Personal.  So if we just, say, go over to Personal and click OK, it will then go through the mode and ask us which side of the picture do we prefer - whether it is the left or the right.  If you prefer the right-hand side of that image, it is highlighted in the box here - just click that.  It puts a little tick on here.  It will ask us again, Which side of the image do you prefer?  So select whether it is left or right and then just click OK.  Yet again, same thing - left or right.  It just takes you through a few preset modes for you to select.  And it is a nice easy way of setting up the colour, contrast, brightness and sharpness to the picture that you prefer.

It then goes through the sound stage, which switches us through the sound settings and asks us which of the different sound settings we prefer on there as well.

Now, you have also got ambilight on this TV.  So I am just going to come out of this for a second, and what we will do, we will just dim the lights in here and we will go through the ambilight features for you - which we will do now.  Okay, so what we have here now - we have just dimmed the lights in here to show and demonstrate the Philips ambilight system to you.  What the ambilight system does - you have got lights behind the panel at this side, the right-hand side and the left-hand side of the screen.  This is the Philips Ambilight Spectra 2 system.  And what it will do, when you have got a blue image on the screen here, or red, it will project that light behind the screen for you. 

It actually gives you the impression first of all of having a bigger set than what you have actually got because it is projecting that light behind the screen, which also produces a bigger depth of field when you are viewing the actual product itself.  And it immerses you more in the movie or whatever you are watching; you get a better feel, a better depth, and just a better overall sort of experience of what you are actually viewing. 

It is pretty much a unique feature to Philips, and does work really well.  As I said, that colour system will change depending on the colours of the screen; whatever the colours are on the screen, they will be projected behind the panel, onto the wall.

You can also enter the Menu on this TV; at the moment we are using a white background on here - but if you have got beige walls, or whatever they may be, you can first of all set on the TV the correct colour for the backdrop of the TV as well, to make sure that you get the correct colour balance that is being projected onto it.

So, a beautiful, unique system from Philips there - it is called the Ambilight Spectra 2.  But as I said, it gives you real depth of feel to the image and it really immerses you into the movie or whatever you are watching there as well.  Okay, so we have seen the ambilight feature on the TV there. 

As I said, you are looking at a range of sets here which is 200Hz scanning, apart from the 32 inch which is 100Hz.  500,000 : 1 contrast ratio - extremely good contrast ratio.  The sets are all full HD so it will cope with 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolution.  Extremely thin panels - LED technology.

You can also, with this range of models, on the 8605 series, upgrade them to 3D TV.  They are 3D-ready but you would need an additional unit - it is called a PTA02 - to adapt this TV to 3D.  So you don’t have to go out and, you know, in a year or two’s time start changing the TV, deciding that you want a 3D TV - this TV is perfectly capable of receiving and showing you 3D images.  You just need the PTA02 adapter to go on the set, with which you will receive two pairs of glasses when you buy that kit.  That kit currently retails for £249.  The kits themselves are available from the end of August / early September of 2010.

The TV set itself has web function capabilities; you can either wire it through the Ethernet socket which you have seen on the rear of the TV - but yet again, you can also do it wirelessly.  To do it wirelessly you will need an adapter called a PTA01, which is a wireless dongle you will be able to plug into the USB socket.  And then you can actually start browsing the web wirelessly.  Yet again, that particular unit at this moment in time retails for around £50.  That is the PTA01, if you want to get a wireless dongle for this so you can browse the web wirelessly.

So, a range of sets here which is absolutely stunning in features and build quality.  I will tell you know, if you are looking for an LED TV, a flat-panel TV, I would probably look no further.  It is an absolutely stunning set - not just in picture and sound quality, but also in build quality as well.

If you want more details on it, I would say give me a ring - my name is Chris - on 01204 861 861.  Or go to our website which is www.soundandvision.co.uk.  Or just click the link for more details.  Thank you.