Although it comes with a Full HD panel and a TNT HD tuner, this TV is no competition for the current top performers but positioned rather as an extra TV for those looking for a budget model. It has none of the latest technologies (fluidification of movement, 100 or 200 Hz, DLNA network compatibility or Ambilight). Let’s see how it compares.

The spec

There’s nothing to make the Philips 42PFL5604H stand out from competition. No embellishment then, everything kept to a strict minimum, both in terms of connectivity – just three HDMI sockets – and features and functionality. There is a brightness sensor but this is no substitute for adjusting the backlighting settings manually, something you can’t do on this model.
Like on most Philips products, the coaxial format is used for digital audio whereas most other manufacturers use the Toslink optical socket. A USB port allows you to read MP3 files and photos.
The access menu with different functions has finally been redesigned and looks more modern than on previous generation sets. It isn’t however as developed as on some of the competition, with Sony still the boss with its PS3 XrossMediaBar system. The main criticism of the menus is the lack of cyclic navigation. This means that once you get to the last option, you can’t get back to the first in one click but have to return to it step by step.

Display quality

As with other Philips TVs the 42PFL5604H suffers from a greying of the blacks. Once again the backlighting cannot be set manually and you cannot deepen the blacks. It is constantly on full unless you activate the brightness sensor and allow the TV to adapt itself to the ambient brightness of the room, fine as a solution for the general user but not much cop if you like to work the settings yourself.
It does seem as if the film mode allows you to limit the strength of the backlighting as we measured a clear reduction in luminosity ( 429 to 224 cd/m²).

Default contrast is around 900:1, and black levels 0.25 cd/m² for whites at 224 cd/m². These are promising readings especially as the colours and gamma curve are excellent.
Angles of vision also measure up and are at a level rarely reached by other LCD models on the market. Only plasma screens do better.
Unfortunately after these sensor readings, the practical tests don’t give such good results: Films, both in HD (Blu-ray, TNT HD…) and SD (DVD, TNT…) lack precision. The image is much too soft and lacking sharpness.
Things are not any better with rapidly moving on-screen objects: ghosting is very marked and makes it difficult to see objects that flit across the screen, giving the impression that they are fluffed up.
To conclude this section, we note that use with a PC is fine and that the 42PFL5604H has an input lag of 3 images per second.

Sound quality

While lack of depth in blacks is common with Philips, so is above average sound quality. Here the sound is really quite nice, especially for an entry level model.

Energy consumption

The 42PFL5604H consumes hardly any energy in standby. We got readings of between 0 and 0.1 W. Consumption when on is however well off the pace.