Love at second sight. 4

As a TV junkie and Fernsehnarr I have in recent years, many TV sets worn, but doing resorted almost exclusively to devices from Sony, LG and Samsung. The Philips 37PFL3507H now my the German / Dutch manufacturer first device flutters in my house and raises the quite critical observation.

Philips currently occurs at technology market quite aggressively and tries for example under the name Philips Saeco clear market leader in terms of fully automatic coffee machines to be. A similar strategy to drive with regard to the highly competitive TV division, where one has entered a partnership joint venture with the Taiwanese TPV Technology. Especially in the field of television technology Philips can also look back on such an innovative development history and is among other things responsible for the leadership of Mart No Ambilight TVs and / or devices with the Cinema 21: 9 format display ratio. The extent of here to be tested 37 "inch LED backlight TV can meet the top dogs Paroli and the high expectations, it is important to find out.

General

The processing of the Philips looks acceptable at first glance, the panel is held in place by a thin casing. The entire presentation, design and appearance, however, seems slightly on average and unsophisticated, apart from a small matt application at the bottom edge of the case. The glass design of the stand proves to be the only highlight of an otherwise complete plastic processing. Brushed aluminum, stainless steel, modern design - nil. For this - business as usual - much glossy and related permanent dusting deposits. In addition, at (very) close inspection the column dimensions between housing and panel are unevenly, which indicates a lack of sensitivity in the final assembly.

The scope of supply needs no further explanation: TV, stand, remote control (incl. Batteries), Quick Start Guide, Warranty Card.
An optional WiFi dongle is available, 3D glasses account for the absence of non-integrated 3D option of the unit.

The assembly of the stand will be as expected for one second spectacle, of course, the device with standard VESA brackets is also wall connection Tough. One annoyance is even with this Philips unit of rigid and tilt in any form - or swivel base is a bad habit that can shake me blankly and permanently Manufacturer across the head..

Commissioning and installation

With 3x HDMI, 1x SCART, 2x USB, CI +, LAN, PC input and digital audio output on the TV is future-proof for now. In an emergency, an HDMI Hub helps for drilling the necessary connectivity. The integrated DVB-T / C Receier an additional receiver is only required for pure satellite operation.

The initial installation is actually designed easily. The menu structure and interface of Philips is self-explanatory, by assistant the necessary steps are processed comprehensible and easy. The complete structure and appearance of the menu is virtually animated to perfection and complemented with information / explanations and thus also for complete laymen usable.

So much for the theory, the practice was in my case, unfortunately, the exact opposite. Trying to perform the channel installation via DVB-T antenna always ended after a few minutes with the sobering conclusion of a "frozen" channel search or a downed menu. So separated by TV power cord from the power supply, same procedure, identical result. Three, four, five attempts later, my mood was no longer quite as good and the remote control serious danger to complete a save by the nearest wall. After the exclusion principle and double and triple checking all sources of error remained the last hope only to update the firmware, which ultimately enabled the desired success and finally flawless and complete initial installation process.

Whether I now simply a device have received with defective software, or I can not judge the problem occurs on site at several TVs unfortunately. However, Philips should raise an understandable self-interest to reduce such problems to a minimum.

The integrated DVB-T receiver receives after tuning 24 programs - a power which certainly need in my rural region - and only and in any case is largely dependent on the external DVB-T antenna performance. Fortunately, proves with new and current firmware and the satellite connection as entirely unproblematic.

The inclusion in the (home) network is as mentioned requires the additional purchase of a WiFi dongle. Since I myself am not a fan of lengthy trips on Internet TV to after several minutes of typing to consider a You-Tube video on the remote control, I will spare me further and detailed tests.

Positive - the Philips operates completely silently, ie no hum, hum or noise is heard. For this, the remote control is very comfortable to hold, so the interaction between the unit and remote control is more or less delay, and the keys have a pleasant light pressure point. The shortcuts to different menu components are almost resolved outstanding, rare, I had a remote control in hand, the easier my viewing experience at this level.

These high standards fulfills the accompanying Quick Start Guide in paper form only conditionally and the integrated Help menu FAQ is rarely a good counselor in emergency situations, which is why I simply googled the answer to the question "How do I sort the channel list according to my own wishes" ,

I would like to mention the negative at this point in the DVB-T mode partially (to) long switching times between broadcasters. Here delays occur in the context of two to four seconds - an eternity.

Image Quality

As has been waived on the part of the manufacturer to a 3D feature, the full attention of the image quality and view in 2D applies. Here the Philips promises at an output of a 100Hz Full HD resolution in 1,920 x 1,080. And the result is truly impressive.

Already in the delivery state, the picture is high without any complaints. At no time ghosting or Clouding, for a whopping but always natural color reproduction without noise or distortion accompanied by good detail and visual contrasts. If desired, the fine tuning of the settings is done completely manually using various parameters or in a very simple Help menu by each the more pleasing to the eye of the beholder comparison image can be selected until an own user settings was found at the end.

And although I do not think much of predefined digital image enhancement filters usually leads the Digital Crystal Clear technology to an additional further noticeable improvement in image quality.

In games mode (XBox) can be seen a slight, but at all times acceptable input lag while playing Bluray material is absolutely no reason for complaints. Even the built-in media player to the USB slot convinces with extensive power and can play the popular video formats (VOB, TS, AVI, MPEG) without any further intervention in the firmware. He fails to rarely contained in some TS container formats Audio codecs. However Again - to completely eliminate all concerns and needs is the operation of a reasonable external media player or PC can hardly be avoided.

Sound

The Klangqualiät the 37PFL3507H is - as actually in all LED's - not overwhelming, but there are also clearly inferior equipment. Since many users now rely on their own surround systems, I do not feel this, however, as a major shortcoming. The performance is adequate at all times for a normal movie night or playing some MP3 tracks. Again, a detailed Help scenario for fine-tuning is offered as desired, whereby one can be aware of the different results then also divided and must.

Conclusion

After weighing up all the impressions and the serious software error on delivery judgmental as unique faux pas, a TV set remains, with an excellent image quality at a good price / performance ratio. The combination of a bit too sloppy processing, rather meager online app-range and the long channel zapping changes justify a star deduction. Remain in effect four very acceptable stars for a solid and decent TV.