Get a Philips 40PFL9704 LCD TV

Over the past year Philips has managed to stand out, some would even say dominate the large screen Tv market. Not an easy feat given the falling prices and advancements in the industry- and yet they continue their success with the 40PFL9704.

This TV is one of Philips' 9000 series LED Pro range of TVs.

I could talk at length about the classy design of this TV, its brushed aluminium frame and three-sided Ambilight system, and its individual character. But these are not the features that make the 40PFL9704 one of the best LCD TVs on the market. That distinction is achieved by the superior quality of its hi-def pictures and the audio experience offered by its built-in speakers.

The Philips LED Pro is a backlight system featuring 224 LED lights arranged in a matrix behind the entire screen, which are switched on and off individually as required.Other manufacturers are using Edge LED systems, where frame mounted lights shine into the panel can have less effect at the middle of the screen. Sharp's recent sub-$1000 LED TVs use a similar LED system; so at $2500, the Philips LED Pro TVS have to offer something special to merit their price tag.

The 40PFL9704 has an abundance of HDMI ports, five yes five, included with a multimedia USB port and a built-in Wi-Fi module! There is a set of component video inputs, two scart inputs, an S-video port, a PC connection, analogue stereo i/o and a headphones socket. But unfortunately no digital audio output (for home cinema etc).

Although the 40PFL9704 supports most major file formats stored on a USB device, media playback is rather restricted; MP4, MPEG, WMV and some AVI video files (but not most DivX movies) play without any issues, as well as the usual MP3, WMA music and JPEG files.

Though primarily for powering the set's Net TV feature, the Wi-Fi module enables the 40PFL9704 to stream music, video and photos from a computer on the home network.The Wi-Fi streaming feature is markedly slow with video files, but works well with Net TV. Included are some applications giving you access to YouTube videos and Ebay, and are operated from the TV's remote control. Browsing Ebay is also slow, and much easier to do on a computer.

Ambilight Spectra 3 is a collection of yet LED lights around the outside of the TV that projects coloured light on to the walls behind, intended to reduce eyestrain. With lights around the sides and top of the rear of the TV. Philips' Perfect Pixel HD engine adds to the full HD quality picture, this is a 200Hz system with Perfect Natural Motion, a combination designed to rid Blu-ray playback of blur and judder. The 40PFL9704's performance with Blu-ray is excellent, great contrast, with dark areas of the image showing as good as plasma. The LED Pro system lives up to its promise and the screen exhibits stunning contrast all over its full area.

Whilst this TV's HD performance is superb, digital TV pictures appear soft, with processing evident across the picture; the 40PFL9704 does performs best work with High Definition.

The 40PFL9704 has a wide viewing angle, meaning it can be watched from anywhere without any loss of colour or contrast.

With its rear subwoofers, the 40PFL9704 sounds almost as good as a Loewe screen. The Bass is somewhat distanced from the overall sound, but dialogue is clear and full. The great performance does not benefit much from a 'surround' mode but it does give more depth and an impression of some rear effects. Although a litle bulky, the 40PFL9704's speakers are a success and easily able to replace a separate home cinema system.

Performance with Blu-ray discs is excellent.
Great stereo sound with good bass.
Versatile - blu-ray and HDTV and digital video.

Cons:

Sometimes the Perfect Natural Motion feature creates flicker.
Not so good with Digital TV.
Sound quality means abulkier unit.

This stylish powerful LCD LED set is good value if it's within your budget.

This is a great LCD LED TV but a plasma at half the price, is a very realistic alternative.

Get a Panasonic VIERA X1 Series Plasma 720p

The Panasonic VIERA X1 Series for 2009 has upped the stakes in image quality for plasma TV's. If you're a fan of big game sports, blockbuster movies or large scale all out war gaming then this is the TV for you!

Fast moving objects, footballs or missiles, stay clear and sharp as they zip across the screen, thanks to Panasonic's 600Hz Sub-field Drive for crisp, focused images. This TV also has a dedicated Game Mode that cuts down on 'time lag', plus connections for a memory card and an iPod.

Panasonic have embraced the home network ethos, creating an all round entertainment system with their X1 Series of HDTV Plasmas.

VIERA X1 Series Plasma 720p features include:

• 720p Resolution
• Contrast Ratio: 30,000:1 Native; Infinite Black Panel
• 720 Lines of Moving Picture Resolution
• 600Hz Sub-field Drive
• VIERA Image Viewer
• VIERA Link
• AR (Anti-Reflective) Filter
• Game Mode
• 3 HDMI Inputs
• 100,000 Hour Panel Life

Get a Sony 400-disc Blu-ray Player

Sony's "Elevated Standard" (ES) BDP-CX7000ES 400-disc Blu-ray Disc^TM and BDP-CX960 and MegaChangers, and its BDP-S1000ES single disc ES player will soon be available to consumers.

The Blu-ray Disc MegaChanger models  have the capacity for storing and playing 400 Blu-ray Discs, CDs and DVDS, providing consumers with new levels of convenience and accessibility.

You can organize your library by downloading information from Gracenote's MusicID® and VideoID^TM products.   When you insert a disk into the device, Gracenote technology downloads the title, release year, director, and some cast and genre information, allowing you easily search for your music or movies.

BDP CX-7000ES and BDP-CX960

The BDP-CX7000ES has 24p True Cinema^TM output with full HD 1080/60p. Conforming to high-quality ES standards, it has an RS232 connection and IR-in which enable it to integrate with third-party automation control systems.

Exceptional audio and video quality come from a 7.1 channel analog output, Sony's HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping technologies. The HD Reality Enhancer continually analyzes each bit of the original source, reproducing detail and sharpening edges while at the same time reducing the effects of film grain.  Super Bit Mapping realizes true 14-bit equivalent color tone from 8-bit sources to provide smoother color gradation.

The BDP-CX7000ES allows you to use Sony's Precision Cinema HD Upscale Technology to upscale your standard definition DVDs to 1080p when the device is connected to a 1080p display via HDMI.

Advanced conversion and processing allows the Precision Cinema HD Upscale to detect changes in the image at the pixel level, while the moving and still parts of an image are processed by separate algorithms. This cause the backgrounds to be sharp while moving objects are devoid of motion artifacts.

The 400 disc BDP-CX960 MegaChanger also has 24p True Cinema output, full HD 1080/60p and Precision Cinema HD Upscale Technology.

The  BDP-CX7000ES and BDP-CX960 both have Ethernet ports that allow you to connect to your local home broadband network to access BD-Live^TM content and download metadata from Gracenotes and software updates. An extenal port for local storage allows you add your USB flash device in support of BD-Live content.

Both model supports  7.1 channel Dolby® TrueHD and Dolby® Digital Plus, DTS®-HD High Resolution Audio, DTS-HD Master Audio decoding and bit-stream output via HDMI.

The BDP-CX7000ES will be available in August at a cost of $1,000. The BDP-CX960 will be available in the fall at a price of around $800.

BDP-S100ES

The  BDP-S100ES is a single-disc Blu-Ray Player, part of the ES line. It has built in Wi-Fi® (802.11N/G/B/A) capability for easy BD-Live access.  It has full HD 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema^TM.  Sony's Precision Cinema HD allow you to upscale standard definition DVDs to 1080p.

You can use an existing wireless home network to connect to the Internet so you can download and stream BD-Live content. You can download trailers, additional scenes, interactive games, short subjects and other content from select titles. You can use easy firmware updates to keep your player up-to-date with the latest Blu-ray Disc features and media.

The BDP-S1000ES is compatible with most wireless routers.  Wi-Fi Protected Setup^TM, which enables you to connect to enabled wireless routers easily and quickly, is supported.   The BDP-S1000ES is Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) ready, so that it can be connected to other DLNA compliant devices. This allows you to use your TV to watch digital photos.

The BDP-S1000ES also includes Sony's Super Bit Mapping, HD Reality Enhancer and Precision Drive HD technology.

The player also supports x.v. Color Technology and Deep color video output and is compatible with many video formats, which include BD-ROM/R/RE (BDMV and BDAV modes), DVD-+ Video/R/RW, CD/R/RW, and MP3/JPEG on BD/DVD/CD recordable media. It is compatible with advanced audio codecs including 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS -HD Master Audio, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio decoding and bit-stream output, as well as analog 7.1 channel output.

The BDP-S1000ES will be available in August 2009 at a price of around $700.