HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was very good. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. Color accuracy was very good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. A general lack of contrast gave images a somewhat flatter appearance with little depth. Depth of black level was below average, with darker scenes in particular looking hazy, with little contrast. This was among the brightest models we've tested (with the backlight control turned up), so the picture is well suited for a very sunny room. A lower backlight setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. There was slight display non-uniformity that created brighter cloudy areas most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie). We routinely see this issue with LCDs and severity can vary from model to model. Film mode operation for HD film-based content was excellent, with no visible jaggies along the edges of objects during motion scenes. Deinterlacing was very good, with minimal jaggies visible when converting 1080i video content, such as from cable, to the display's native resolution.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Philips has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide the same picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions -- say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. The picture did show some dimming from the sides but not to any point we found distracting. With dark scenes this model didn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on the vertical position of the viewer's head. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly.
ULTRA HD PERFORMANCE. Overall UHD performance was very good but HD-to-UHD upconversion fell short. All native 4K content (non HDR) we played on this model, including movies and test videos, was presented in full 4K detail with excellent fidelity when played back via the TV's HDMI input. Via the USB port, high-resolution photos were displayed in full 4K detail but added oversharpening reduced picture fidelity. With regular HD content, the TV's HD-to-UHD up-conversion processing fell short, revealing some visible jaggies along the edges of diagonals when playing HD content.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance had very limited effectiveness. When playing HDR content, the TV does not trigger new picture settings that are optimized for HDR. Therefore, we couldn't optimize the HDR image without adversely affecting our optimized HD settings so we left the settings as is. As a result, the display had a very low peak brightness capability (by HDR standards) and did not enhance the realism of our test videos mastered for high dynamic range, while revealing little contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights within a scene. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail from black to white, with no obvious banding on areas of the image that have subtle shade variations. There was no visible loss of near-white shadow detail in the brightest areas. Brighter colored objects remained nicely saturated.
MOTION BLUR. This Philips TV has good motion performance, with some blurring on our motion tests, thanks to Philips's "120 PMR". This feature is designed to reduce motion blur, a shortcoming of most displays.
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. Though not as mirror-like as on some models, this screen surface is glossy and therefore susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has good sound quality; about average among the models we've tested. When watching a blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it delivers decent performance but falls short of the better performers. Bass was lacking in depth and a bit in definition, but treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was a bit thin and closed in. The speakers produced a good volume range so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments, but quality does degrade at high volume settings. Also, at higher volume, dynamic compression kept the sound from distorting but also limited the clarity of peaks in loudness, which can be a bit distracting on some audio content. Most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. The dark labeling of the connectors on the TV console is very difficult to read. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. Philips includes a traditional button keypad remote for control of basic functions. The high contrast labels on the buttons make them easier to read in a dimmer viewing environment. It includes buttons that allow direct access to streaming services from Netflix, VUDU, YouTube, and NetTV. Consider the TV's stand is 43 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides advanced Internet capabilities via its "Net TV" portal with access to a library of applications, and a full Web browser. Movie streaming services include Netflix and YouTube.
CONNECTIONS. This model has three HDMI inputs-- one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), one "component/composite shared" input (which means you can only use one type or the other at a time). It also has one USB port, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking; DLNA, to access files within your home network; Casting, which allows you to send streaming content from your mobile device to the TV via your home network; Screen mirroring, where the image on your smartphone or other compatible device can also appear on the TV.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A printed user manual. A quick start guide. A remote control with batteries.
ABOUT ULTRA HD TESTING: We test UHD picture quality using 4K movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We check the TV's ability to reproduce 4K image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a 4K movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, as well as from files stored on flash drive plugged into the TV's USB port. We also check how well the TV can upscale HD movies to the display's higher UHD resolution while keeping artifacts such as "jaggies" along the edges of image content to a minimum. The best UHD TVs, and HDTVs, present high fidelity images that reveal the full quality of the best source content without degradation.
