Hi There, Just thought I'd add to this:
I just changed to the Philips 42pfl7404 LCPD TV from a new Panasonic 42" G10 plasma after it broke (5 flashing red lights after switching on), I only had the panny for 1 week and after my initial excitement I realised I wasn't that impressed with it, I could see the 'green plasma effect' when playing games on high contrast things. And although the G10 had a very nice natural looking picture, I personally found it a bit boring, and despite playing with settings I just couldn't settle for something I was satisfied with. So anyway it broke right on queue, and is now winging its way back to Amazon for a refund!
I called Richer Sounds to say I need a TV and i'm bored with Plasma, so whats the best LCD you have. They advised the Samsung LED (7020) or a brand new Phillips TV which came in that day which they are blown away with. In the shop it certainly stood out and was at least on a par with the 7020 when viewing in the shop. Bearing in mind this might just be the TV Richer are making the most margin on at the moment so keen to sell, the TV did look amazing and I couldn't argue with my eyes. So I negotiated it down to £950 with 5 years warranty and took the plunge. I am going into the shop today to do another price match and hopefully get some more money back. A quick Google and this TV can be found for under £700!!! Seems too good to be true.
I've had the 7404 for about 48 hours, and I am VERY happy with the Phillips so far. It has a lot of settings which can really change the experience, especially HDNM which normally looks AMAZING but can rarley cause strange side effects, but on the whole just blows my mind.
The image the Phillips TV produces is very exciting and dynamic to me, and colours also look good to me (possible not industry standard but who cares?). Black levels look about the same to my eyes as the Panny g10 plasma, not noticeable worse in the dark, and possibly even slightly better in a sun lit room, given the higher contrast.
Gaming with HDMN is not an option given the 200ms lag which is added, Game mode is fine for gaming and the LAG comes down to about 30 - 40 ms I believe. Its a shame you can't use HDNM for gaming as everything looks so much better which its on.
My only slight problem with this after coming from a plasma, is getting SD material to look natural, and not too processed. This can be basically achieved by selecting STANDARD mode and reducing the sharpness to to 0, but I still have many hours of messing around with settings to find the best!
Upscaled DVD and HD stuff looks incredible to me on pretty much any setting, its just a case of finding your personal preference.
I get the feeling this MID range Phillips telly is using the same tech as the higher end Phillps TVs that cost twice as much. Does anybody else have a view on this?
