3D, if you happen to want it
3D is best viewed in a slightly darkened room, and it’s worth turning the TV setting up from a natural to a vivid picture mode to counteract the darkening effect the glasses have.
To pairs of active 3D specs are included
The 46PFL9705H has locally dimmable LEDs, like the 32in model. As before, this delivers impressively contrasty pictures with deep blacks and bright colours. There’s no doubt that local dimming is the way forward for crisp, dynamic images and is increasingly the feature to look for when buying a gogglebox.
Now then, what about crosstalk? No, that’s not the level of annoyance generated by fighting over custody of the remote with your significant other, it’s the image degradation some TVs suffer with 3D content. It appears as ghosting effects which can damage the 3D spectacle. It’s a problem absent from plasma but common to LCD.
The good news is that the crosstalk here is minimal, noticeably less than some rivals, though, sadly, not completely fixed.
Next page: Picture perfect
COMMENTS
Ambilight
That's a distraction I could do without. The only way that could irritate me more is if it came with a pair of curtains and a cross-dressing ice-cream attendant shouting "Albatross!".
"But if only Philips had included a Freeview HD tuner"
That kills it stone dead right there for a lot of people - especially at £2100 a pop. There is some controversy about picture quality on Freeview HD, but it's going to look a lot better than SD on a TV this size, so the omission seems perverse. However, when did Philips behave any differently?
Composite not an issue
OMG! I would have to go out and pay 90p for a SCART -> RCA connector.
THOSE BASTARDS!
How dare they remove an outdated connection type, even if the picture quality it produces is complete shite, and every device that uses it that was ever shipped in this country comes with a SCART adapter.
They should knock at least £500 off the cost of the unit!
3D TV doesn't work
I've tested a few sets in stores and the elephant in the room that no one seems willing to admit to is that there is a very small sweet spot for 3D TV. For a screen this size, you need to sit around 2m away from it - no more and no less. Sit too far away and your brain interprets scale incorrectly. I watched a demo of some stage dancers on a 46" Samsung set and when you were 2m from the screen the effect was very good but as you pulled back to normal domestic viewing distances, the performers appeared to shrink in stature so the looked like puppets.
The reason 3D in a cinema works at all is because the screen is so large but even in the cinema if you sit too close or too far away the effect is ghastly and gives you a terrible headache. I saw Up in 3D and sat dead centre in the cinema and the effec was very convincing, but for Avatar I was stuck up close and left of the screen and it drove me nuts and ruined the film. Watching it at home on my 100" HD projector from BD is a much better experience. 3D? No thanks, I'll pass.
