The Philips 46PFL8007T is the 46" version of the Philips 55PFL8007T, which we reviewed here.
The PFL8007T series features a glossy LCD panel with Edge LED lighting. It has online functionality with DLNA and a good media player. It supports external NTFS hard drives and most of the HD videos we tried on it. The only flaw we encountered was that the software was unstable and frequently froze. A firmware update could go a long way.
The panel's a bit more responsive than average with a 10 ms ghosting time. After configuring the settings to be optimal for movies, the colours turned out perfect with an average Delta E of 1.6 and a balanced average gamma of 2.2. The contrast is fairly good (2,300:1), although other models have the upper hand (the 40PFL5507H has 5,000:1). Like most Edge LED TVs, this one has noticeable clouding. You can easily see the LED light beams and patches of light.
3D images turn out well-defined. This is the real deal as Full HD 3D goes. And there's practically no crosstalk, the only minor exception being in images with especially high contrast.
The sound, however, is disappointing. The quality stays good at low volume, but once you crank it up a bit the lows and highs go all over the place. An all-in-one home cinema speaker kit could be a worthwhile investment.
As with many Edge LED TVs, the 46PFL8007T doesn't consume much energy, although there are competitors that consume less.
For a more in-depth view of this TV, please see our review of the 55" version: Philips 55PFL8007K.
In every other way, the 46PFL8007T's specs are identical to the 55" model we tested, and one should expect similar results. However, certain brands use different panels for different-size TVs, in which case the results we've published do not apply to the respective panels, as the contrast, black levels, colours and ghosting may vary greatly. For those brands that do use the same panel for each diagonal size, they will give exactly the same results (except for the brightness, which can vary only slightly from one size to another, thereby affecting the contrast). We noticed this phenomenon through our own measurements, and the statements that various brands have made to us confirm our suspicions.
The PFL8007T series features a glossy LCD panel with Edge LED lighting. It has online functionality with DLNA and a good media player. It supports external NTFS hard drives and most of the HD videos we tried on it. The only flaw we encountered was that the software was unstable and frequently froze. A firmware update could go a long way.
The panel's a bit more responsive than average with a 10 ms ghosting time. After configuring the settings to be optimal for movies, the colours turned out perfect with an average Delta E of 1.6 and a balanced average gamma of 2.2. The contrast is fairly good (2,300:1), although other models have the upper hand (the 40PFL5507H has 5,000:1). Like most Edge LED TVs, this one has noticeable clouding. You can easily see the LED light beams and patches of light.
3D images turn out well-defined. This is the real deal as Full HD 3D goes. And there's practically no crosstalk, the only minor exception being in images with especially high contrast.
The sound, however, is disappointing. The quality stays good at low volume, but once you crank it up a bit the lows and highs go all over the place. An all-in-one home cinema speaker kit could be a worthwhile investment.
As with many Edge LED TVs, the 46PFL8007T doesn't consume much energy, although there are competitors that consume less.
For a more in-depth view of this TV, please see our review of the 55" version: Philips 55PFL8007K.
In every other way, the 46PFL8007T's specs are identical to the 55" model we tested, and one should expect similar results. However, certain brands use different panels for different-size TVs, in which case the results we've published do not apply to the respective panels, as the contrast, black levels, colours and ghosting may vary greatly. For those brands that do use the same panel for each diagonal size, they will give exactly the same results (except for the brightness, which can vary only slightly from one size to another, thereby affecting the contrast). We noticed this phenomenon through our own measurements, and the statements that various brands have made to us confirm our suspicions.
Pros
- Accurate colours in expert ISF mode: average Delta E of 1.6
- Good contrast: 2,300:1
- Good 3D rendering with little crosstalk
- Effective motion interpolation
- Remote control has a pointer and a keyboard on the back
Cons
- Glossy screen reflections
- Narrow viewing angles
- Clouding on our model
- Disappointing audio
Conclusion
After having reviewed the 40PFL5507H, we had great expectations for Philips' new line of high-end TVs—and it met most of them. But with narrow viewing angles, just-adequate contrast, traces of clouding and disappointing sound quality, it falls just short of a five-star rating. In the same price range, we feel the Sony HX850 is a better choice.
OUR SCORE
DigitalVersus on...