A 55" High Definition & Widescreen TV!
Written: Feb 04 '01 (Updated Apr 27 '01)
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Pros: Superb picture quality!
Cons: The Price!
The Bottom Line: This is a nice TV with plenty of extras, it would make a great TV for the home theater system.
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| surferdude7's Full Review: Philips 55PP9701 55 in. TV |
This is the look of the future in TV viewing, a 16:9 image ratio with high definition resolution. A true High Definition TV will be in the Widescreen ratio instead of the traditional ratio in the near future. So if you are in the market for one, I recommend High Definition with Widescreen.
List price for this beauty is $4,999.00, most good Audio and Video retail store will knock off $400 to $600 if you really do some talking with them.
16:9 Widescreen
Your regular TV is a 4:3 ratio, this come down to for every four inches the TV has horizontally it will then go three inches vertically. The same ratio goes for the Widescreen of 16:9 ratio, for every sixteen inches the TV has horizontally it will then go nine inches vertically.
This gives you just a basic idea of the size of the Widescreen TV verses the Traditional.
The 16:9 ratio is generally about the size as released in the movie theaters. The breakdown of the 16:9 is 1.78:1 and the motion pictures are in reality of 1.85:1 or greater ratio, which make it very close.
High Definition
This is a tricky area because they are not 100% for sure of what resolution they are actually going to go with. They are going to use somewhere around 1080 lines of resolution for the digital broadcast.
How does that compare with today's broadcast and equipment? Today's broadcast for TVs are at 480 lines of resolution, VHS tapes use only 245 lines of resolution and your DVDs use 525 lines of resolution.
So you can see when they go to over 1000 lines of resolution it will make the picture so much clearer.
The Philips 55P9701
The Philips TV has 1500 lines of resolution for the best quality picture possible. It has a 1500 x 1080i interlaced image display resulting in 1,620,000 pixels.
Philips has what they call the PixelMax system. It is a new designed lenticular screen that has a 1/3 finer pitch at .515mm verses the traditional screens of.72mm. They include a Genesis line doubler and video processor that will convert your standard definition interlaced signals into smooth progressive output.
The PixelMax system also has a chip that transforms video input into your Widescreen 16:9 or the Standard 4:3. There is an enhanced green phosphor that gives you deeper and more natural colors while it reduces image persistence and flicker.
This 55' TV gives you a 160 degree-viewing angle, this means you can move 160 degrees from the center to each side without much loss of picture contrast and clarity.
There are four viewing modes to choose from; 4:3 Standard, 16:9 Widescreen, 16:9 Panoramic, and 16:9 Movie Expand.
PIP (Picture-in-Picture) this unit has two built in tuners, this means all you have to do is run in two inputs from your cable and not from your VCR.
There are all your typical hookups plus the High Definition Video Component and RGB Inputs. Vertical Sync Plus (S)VGA DB15 Inputs and Gold Plated Phono Inputs for Y, Pb, Pr, Horizontal Sync. Another plus is a Subwoofer Output so you can add a Subwoofer to the TV.
The Remote Control
This is a Universal Remote Control that will run most VCRs, DVDs, Digital Satellite Systems, Cable Converter Boxes and Decoders.
It has Guide Plus+ GOLD Electronic Program Guide. It shows the current channel or locks into a selected channel. You can get a lot of information from it like, listings, plot descriptions, ratings, artist names, and program length. It also includes a one-touch record, a one-touch scheduler, a direct tune, it lets you sort-by-theme and a news guide.
Some of the features it uses for the 55" TV are Auto Window PIP with Action Freeze, Position and Swap and Auto Sound and Auto Picture.
Overall
This is a really nice High Definition Widescreen TV, the picture quality is great and the sound is unbelievable. Though I recommend with this TV and any big screen is, that you should add a Dolby 5.1 and DTS ready receiver and five separate satellite speakers with a powered sub woofer to get the most out of your entertainment.
I highly recommend the Philips 55P9701 - 55" High Definition Widescreen TV.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 4499
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surferdude7
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