It might not be the very best in its
class, but the 46PFL8007 represents a strong start for Philips' new TV
range. We're looking forward to seeing what's coming next
For
- Lovely styling
- Natural, balanced pictures
- Strong motion control with 2D
- Smart features
Philips 46PFL8007: Build qualityThe
Philips 46PFL8007
we have here is the first fruit of that joint venture to grace our
testing rooms, and from the moment it’s pulled from the box it’s clear
that this is a Philips TV.
The metal construction, thin bezel and stylish stand mark this out as
a premium option, and it’s mighty thin to boot. This is a uniform
thinness right across the chassis, too – it’s not one of those sets that
hides all its weight in a bulge around the back like a pair of
so-called slimming pants.
The styling of the remote control is a more qualified success. The
metal face is very Philips, but the chunkiness most certainly is not –
and while the QWERTY keyboard on the reverse provides an excuse for the
uncharacteristic girth, the plain white styling isn’t exactly pretty. If
you don't want to use the remote, Philips also offers a free iOS
control app.
The remote isn’t the only accessory you get in the box. Hidden among
the adapters and instruction manuals is a fairly compact Skype camera
with a very flexible clamp that makes it easy to install on the top edge
of the TV. It certainly isn’t as neat as the integrated camera you’ll
find on the likes of the Samsung 8000-series sets, but for an add-on
device it’s not bad.
Round the back the Ambilight bars of old have been replaced by rows
of rear-facing LEDs along three edges, and while they they look quite
dinky, they chuck out a lot of light and have the same beautiful,
depth-enhancing effect as before.
You also get two USB sockets, and an ethernet connection, but on a
set this thin there's no room for full-size scart and component sockets,
so there's an adapter for each in the box.
Philips 46PFL8007: Picture setupFor a long while
now Philips has been the only TV manufacturer to include picture
personalisation as part of its initial setup, and for this new model the
process has changed slightly. Instead of a number of side-by-side
pictures that are built into the TV, live television is used to
illustrate the various adjustment options at your disposal.
The whole process is a sequence of simple options – do you want more
or less brightness, more or less contrast, etc – with each selection
changing the on-screen picture.
By the end the television should be displaying an image suited to
your personal preferences, and in practice we found that to largely be
the case. A bit of time spent with a THX Optimizer will still pay
dividends for those determined to get the very best from their new
display, though.
Whether or not you decide to spend the extra time fine-tuning the
picture, you’ll inevitably find yourself delving into the menus sooner
or later – and you’ll find them a rather mixed bag.
On the one hand the graphics are bright, clear and well spaced, and
thought has gone into the often-animated transitions between them. The
thing is, the 46PFL8007 doesn’t seem to have the processing power to
really handle the action, so what should be neat graphical flourishes
are often reduced to slow, clunky stutters, which is a big shame.
Philips 46PFL8007: Picture qualityAnyway, put that to one side and stick on a Blu-ray and there’s much more to smile about than to frown at. Play
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(an oldie but a classic tester) and it’s clear from the off that this
is a set capable of serious contrast, with the bright white light
emerging from the centre of the screen while the edges of the picture
remain inky black.
Weirdly, though, the set seems unable to handle those contrast levels
consistently, with many darker scenes being artificially lit more than
they should. That does mean that insight into black areas is excellent,
but it also robs those scenes of some impact and intensity.
Otherwise it is largely a very impressive performance – colours are
vibrant, slow pans (both vertical and horizontal) are handled with silky
smoothness, and while it doesn’t have the overall sharpness or fine
detail recovery of the very best in class, it does provide an
exceptionally clean, smooth picture.
Philips 46PFL8007: 3D performanceSwitch to 3D
and don the very light, very comfortable glasses and the performance is
generally very good. There’s the usual loss of brightness that we’ve
come to expect from active-shutter systems, but you also get sharp,
well-defined edges, convincing depth and fairly balanced colours.
It’s not immune to getting confused by a bit of fast motion, mind, with Scarlett Johansson’s fight at the beginning of
Avengers Assemble
quickly degenerating into a mess of uncomfortable double-images.
Admittedly that’s party because the scene’s 3D production itself is
rather poor, but we’ve seen TVs that handle it better.
Watching broadcast TV on the Philips is a real pleasure. Pressing the
Guide button proves that an EPG can be both colourful and clear and
easy to read, and adding channels to your favourites – and therefore
making them easy to flick to in the future – is a snap.
Philips 46PFL8007: HD & smart TVNaturally
that’s where we put the four currently available HD channels, all of
which look crisp and vibrant. Of course, you’re going to end up watching
some standard-definition stuff every now and then, so it’s a good job
that the Philips does a decent job with it, maintaining colour balance
and digging up a reasonable amount of detail (even if noise around edges
isn’t kepte entirely under control).
Naturally, we can’t end a review of a modern telly without mentioning
smart features, and here Philips has been doing a lot of work. For
music you’ve got Napster, Aupeo! and Absolute Radio, there’s Acetrax,
iPlayer and YouTube for video, and social butterflies get Facebook.
There’s also a full web browser that’s surprisingly nice to use
thanks to quick page loading times, clear text, and the general
responsiveness on offer from the QWERTY remote.
Philips 46PFL8007: VerdictThis is clearly an
accomplished set, and that bodes well for the TP Vision future of
Philips. It’s a touch short of the very best, but this has made us very
excited for the rest of the new range – especially next year’s
9000-series Moth Eye model…
