Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crystal Clear Indeed, 11 Jan 2007
I was looking for an HD LCD TV specifically for my xbox 360 and i found this. An excellent 20" widescreen. At first i thought "ah 20" not so big" but in fact for what i want it for it looks massive and great. The picture quality is so clear and crisp it blew me away. The only issue i had with it was the lack of YPbPr sockets so i was unable to use the 360's HD components cable instead i bought a 360 HD VGA cable and a VGA - DVI-I converter which works wonders. The HD is all it's cracked up to be and more as this TV appears to push a brilliant image at 720p and even 1080i.
The sound is also very good, with virtual dolby surround sound. If you have a nice sound system that is great but if not then the included sound is very nice, with good bass and spatial effects.
Lastly the design, all i can say is it looks swish, modern and stylish while still being simple. I am so pleased with the TV so far as previously said, the only slight niggle was the lack of YPbPr sockets.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great TV for the value conscious buyer, 16 Mar 2007
I'm extremely impressed with this television. I use it as a PC monitor for my mac mini and as a television for freeview.
For freeview the picture is sharp and the choice in sound is good for what you're watching. You have the choice of stereo or virtual surround sound. The virtual surround sound isn't exactly surround sound, but it fills the room better with sound and for playing music is fantastic. Then there's the usual, theatre, music etc. etc. modes which are very good depending on what you're listening to. Unfortunately this TV thinks too much when watching television, it flicks between widescreen and 4:3 all the time when adverts come on or if you change the channel, of course in the end its the broadcasters at fault (maybe one day we could all decide between widescreen and 4:3 as a universal format?). But as I've only had this a few days, I shall endeavour to find a way to turn this function off perhaps? I don't have a high definition device as such, but my Mac Mini is connected via a DVI-I cable to the television, so perhaps in a way it is.
As a computer screen, the image is clear and crisp, it's fantastic to have such a large monitor and in widescreen. If you are going to connect a PC to this or any other TV just be aware that an analogue connection is blurry when it comes to reading text. All CRT screens (basically older technology than LCD or plasma) do not need the quality of image for TV screening. Only LCDs and similar are any good, and to make sure of a good quality image, you need a good quality connector. I first used a RCA connection and the image quality was too hard to read when it came to text to use the TV as a monitor. However I got a DVI cable and it's extremely crisp and bright. I have no experience of VGA to DVI connections, but would guess that it would be better to have a computer which started off with a digital signal HDMI or DVI because VGA is analogue.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great picture, shame about the connections., 17 Jul 2007
This is one of the few HD Ready 20 inch LCD TV's available. Pity then that it is connected via DVI. This may be more flexible, according to the blurb, but if you want to connect to an Xbox 360 then your journey has just begun. Like a previous reviewer, I bought a 360 VGA cable and a converter to plug into the DVI socket. However, this does not give you HD. The signal is not routed into the HD feature of the TV. To access the HD, as Phillips' technical support finally explained, you need to use the original HD AV cable supplied with the 360 full system and then get a component to dvi converter which is only available, apparently, from one company - Triangle Cables in the USA (www.trianglecables.com). Part no. HDTV200. This cost about $45 via Fed Ex 2day delivery. Then, to get the sound to work, as Phillips technical support finally told me, you need to go to Maplins and get a "Two Phono to 3.5mm Stereo Adapter" part no. N85AN. Cost about £2.30. This plugs into a small DVI "in" socket and your red and white plugs go into the back of it. Do all this and you get a terrific gaming experience.
Be warned, the new Elite Xbox with HDMI still needs all this faffing about before it will access HD on this model, as Philips technical support finally told me.
Okay, guys, why not put all this in the instruction book? It might save a lot of time and money!
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