Review of the Philips 56PFL9954

Philips Ambilight 56PFL9954 Tv Review
Philips refers to their new Ambilight 56PFL9954 LCD TV as the "reinvention of home cinema" which holds some water because of one unusual movie-centric feature: the screen has an extremely wide 21:9 (2.39:1) display ratio to match the Cinemascope ratio movies are typically shot in. Unlike HDTV's 16:9 aspect ratio, movies displayed on this set will stretch across the whole screen. Blu-Ray and DVD disks are designed around 16:9, including the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, so the Ambilight has a process to remove them automatically. All video upscales crisply to the set's 2560 x 1080p resolution.


Philips claims this is the fastest LCD screen on the market, with a response time of just one millisecond. This ability to redraw so quickly means there is no detectable motion blur. The Philips 56PFL9954 also has a 80, 000:1 contrast ratio putting it near the top, while shading is near plasma performance. Like other Ambilight TV's, the 56PFL9954 has lights around the sides and top which shine to match the colours on the screen, making it appear as if there is more contrast.

Because of its curious aspect ratio, most broadcast TV will have black bars on the sides, even at 1080p; this can be stretched to fill the screen, but it also means the image is distorted slightly. This cuts off a little bit of the top and bottom of the image, which may not be noticeable for regular TV, but it may make status displays in video games and scrolls on news sites unreadable. No doubt videophiles will spend hours tweaking the Ambilight's settings to get the exact picture they want, but for the rest of us Philips included a mode using on-screen pictures to view differences in display settings, so changing sharpness or contrast is simply a matter of picking which picture looks best to you.

Because of its odd shape, it has a 56 inch screen, but is only as tall as a 42 inch screen because the size is mostly width. The size of this TV means that unlike competitors, there is plenty of space for speakers. The set's Virtual Dolby surround sound provided by two woofers and two tweeters. While better than most flat screen TV's, a separate surround sound system is really the way to go, especially if you want to match audio quality with the 56PFL9954's visuals.

There are several high-tech ways of connecting the 56PFL9954 to computer-based video sources, such as Ethernet, 802.11g Wi-Fi, and USB. The included NetTV browser can access web sites as well as view video from YouTube, BBC iPlayer, and other on-line sources. There is also support for MP3, WMA, JPEG, AVI, WMV, and all manner of MPEG files. There are also five HDMI slots, one component video connection, two Scart connections, a CAM slot, and a coaxial digital audio output connector.


The 56PFL9954's screen offers a new way to come closer to a theatre experience with its Cinemascope-ratio screen, which can display movies using the entire screen, or give some added punch to broadcast signals. Aside from this new format; this TV offers outstanding performance for an LCD screen. Combined with its wide variety of input and on-line support, Philips latest TV is certain to satisfy any viewer.