Philips 42PFL7404H

With the PFL7404H, Philips has come up with an affordable television with high-end features. The main feature missing is a network socket which won’t be missed too much by users who know how poorly TVs generally do as multimedia players. As for online content, it's still too early for this to be a real sales argument.

Hardware, design and build

This apart, the PFL7404H has some nice features: a Full HD 1080p matte panel that is almost impervious to reflections, a functional remote (but without backlighting) and compatibility with several multimedia file formats (mP3, jpeg, DivX SD and HD) that you can play from a USB key or drive.

When it comes to connectivity you get just the standard, apart perhaps from the coaxial digital audio out where most other manufacturers go for an optical out.

The biggest fault is that the menus are a little slow and not cyclical. The last option on a menu doesn’t give direct access to the first; you have to go all the way back up the list in the other direction.

Default image quality
This rating isn’t included in the overall rating

This is a weak point on all TVs but you have to say that Philips doesn’t pull any punches here: colours are poor, too blue, brightness is badly distributed, the image is hard but also lacks precision because of over zealous noise reduction. It would be difficult to do worse if you tried! Fortunately a few modifications suffice to improve the situation.


Image quality in cinema mode

Switching to cinema mode gives a much more natural image. For our tests we fixed the contrast at 80, so as to calibrate the white at 200 cd/m². Colour was set at 50 and sharpness at zero. We use this last setting for our TV face-off protocol for screen capture. Those who want a sharper image can always increase sharpness. Especially as upscaling of SD is a bit blurry and will benefit from some additional sharpness. We also disactivated the dynamic filters in the Pixel Precise HD menu. HDNM and 100 Hz Clear LCD can be activated according to personal taste. The problem with HDNM is that it produces a lot of artefacts around fast moving subjects and sometimes on slow moving ones. Philips would do well to offer less radical base settings as you find this fault throughout the Philips range.

Ghosting is well contained though it remains perceptible. We expected more from a 100 Hz TV.

The calibrated black level of the TV is a little too high (0.22 cd/m²) and therefore gives an average contrast of around 1000:1. Using it in a totally black or dark room is not recommended therefore. However, in a bright room the PFL7404H really comes into its own, especially as it can get up to 354 cd/m² if you push it hard.

The colours are excellent both in terms of the colours themselves and colour temperature. Top score!


The colours only lose a little of their quality when you’re off to one side. It's mainly the blacks that suffer from too wide a viewing angle. This is nevertheless one of the best LCD TVs in terms of viewing angles. The image remains acceptable when you watch from the sides, even if it isn’t anywhere near as good as when you’re watching straight on.

Audio quality

Philips usually delivers good sound on its TVs in comparison to other manufacturers. Without being great, the PFL7404H gives good enough results though lacks precision. You have to say that none of the speakers face the viewer. All the same the volume levels are powerful enough to fill the room.

Energy consumption

With an excellent score on standby (less than 0.1W) and well contained when turned on, this TV is well placed in terms of energy consumption. Once the settings were right, it used 131 W with our test pattern. This makes it better than the current average.