Philips 47PFL5603D/27 47-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

- 1920 x 1080p Resolution
- Pixel Plus 3HD with 5ms Motion Response
- 29,000:1 Contrast ratio
- 3 HDMI Iputs, 2 Component Inputs, 1 S-Video Input, Wide Color Ehancer, USB Music and Photo Viewer
- Swivel Stand

Makes any regular DVD look HD
We bought this TV at sams club and we got a 300 dollar in store gift card. We bought the TV for 1200, do the math...good deal!
Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised by how this tv makes our regular DVD's look HIGH DEF. For this, we're going to hold off on Blue-ray for awhile.
The TV is 120hz so the motion of the camera and subjects in the movie seem to move around different, but the quality is awsome.
I don't have a lot of Electronic jargon to throw at you but you need to know you won't be disappointed with this TV. The TV even has audio plug ins for 5.1 surround sound...I've only seen this on computers and receivers.
I'm not sure when the best time to buy a TV is since the price are always coming down. My advice is don't buy a TV with less than 120hz and 29,000:1 contrast ratio (depending on your budget). Because this is the cream of the crop right now...well you can get a contrast ratio better than that, but realistically, you shouldn't get anything lower than that.
Sears or most stores give you 60 days to keep your reciept for price matching. if you own a club membership, I highly recommend you look there first and ask about free giftcards with a large purchase like this.

You get what you pay for.....
This TV has a lot of grainy reception. Don't fall in love with the price (Wal-Mart) I have a HP 37" LC3760N and I think the world of it. If you are looking for a starter LCD TV start there.

Good basic television
I've hooked a blu-ray DVD player and an upconverting DVD/VCR combo player to this telly and it's working out just great. It does have issues with action from the old VCR's - confusion in the upconversion - but overall, this is a nice product. I've never had cable (too expensive) and haven't watched broadcast television (yuk!) in many years, so I cannot comment on that at all. The Philips gives a pleasing picture and fantastic color.

Too Good For TV?
I'm still playing around with this thing so there may be updates to come. I'm not a technophile and bought this monster mostly because of the upcoming digital transition - my plan is to watch mostly off-air hdtv signals, dvds, and some old video.
And this IS a monster, BTW. At almost 80 lbs it's close to the upper edge of my lifting range. Eventually it'll be permanently mounted to the wall, but meantime I'm holding it up while the female of the species meditates on furniture arrangement! I know I'm losing weight, but maybe disks as well...
The menus are NOT right-sized for a 47" tv; they're absurdly huge and unnecessarily obscuring. However the real problem, for non-cable me, is the slowness of the channel-changing. And it's not like you see channel 6.1 until channel 6.2 appears three seconds later - you see a completely blank screen, not even the channel numbers in the upper left-hand corner.
HDTV looks FANTASTIC on this set, though it took a couple of re-channel-formats - and turns of the antenna - to get all the hdtv stations. A fair bit of picture tweaking was required to get an image that doesn't look like shot-on-video: however I now have rich blacks AND stunning detail, despite what the review at NEC (which is of the 42" set) says. The internal speakers seem fine to ME - ok, my previous set was 20 years old...
Non-hdtv looks AWFUL. Judder, artifacts, pixillation - maybe that'd be true of any screen this size. I'm not criticizing Philips, necessarily. However if like me you plan to be watching a lot of old stuff into the indefinite future, I'd strongly recommend a smaller screen!!!

Not suitable for gaming or 1080p content
As I type these words, I am watching them on this very screen, and I thoroughly regret purchasing this TV.
I got fooled by the specs where they said:
* Flicker Free 1080p - It doesn't really give an acceptable, stable 1080p picture. The picture wobbles and squiggles periodically, making you hold your breath in between these occurrences, hoping it's gone away.
* "typical" 5ms response time - No. If you calibrate it with software or console-games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, the lag is in excess of 120ms. If you connect your PC, it gets worse. When is it 5ms? In the menus, perhaps?
So.. If good 1080p picture-quality, gaming or PC connectivity is what you're looking for, then this TV isn't for you.
Oh, and the "game-mode" on this TV gives you an INTERLACED picture that still lags far beyond 5ms. Hohum, 1080 PROGRESSIVE indeed. UselessPhilips 47PFL3603D 47-Inch Widescreen 1080p LCD HDTV.
I guess you got me this time, Philips. Got me good.








