Philips 32PW9525

This TV is one of the most expensive things I've ever bought - £1400! I thought long and hard about spending this amount of money on a TV but I needn't have worried: It's a wonderful toy.

The Philips 32PW9525 or MatchLine WideScreen with Real Flat BlackLine-S picture tube, 100Hz Digital Scan, Digital CrystalClear and Dolby 3D Surround - to give it it's full title is a masterpiece. It can cope with NTSC or PAL input in 4:3 or 16:9 format and adjusts itself automatically, it has a crystal clear picture irrespective of the input signal.

It doesn't have a built-in Dolby Surround decoder but at this level prospective buyers probably have a dedicated amp/speaker setup anyway. What it does have is Dolby 3D Surround which is an attempt to give a surround effect without additional speakers. It does what it's supposed to but it's no substitute for a proper external amp.

What makes this TV so special is it's sheer quality. The tube is a 32" very flat design and refreshes at 100Hz which means that pictures are always clear and stable with a minimum of unwanted reflections. I looked at other TVs without the 100Hz scan rate or the flat screen but they had noticeably fuzzier pictures.

You can buy this set with or without the cabinet so if you're comparing prices bear this in mind. The version with the cabinet usually carries a 'c' suffix ie 32PW9525C.

Teletext is standard on this TV but with a couple of welcome additions, the most interesting of which is split-screen mode. Being able to view a tv picture and a teletext screen side by side is a useful option. The teletext is also buffered so when you visit a particular page the decoder also tries to grab every page linked to it too - this speeds up page retreival greatly.

Unusually, there is a pause button on the remote control - this turns the currently displayed picture into a still - I have no idea what use this will ever be but it's a great thing for showing off.
:-)

If you are thinking of spending this kind of money on a TV then there are only 2 sensible choices; the Philips 32PW9525 or the Sony Wega. I looked at both carefully and ended up buying he Philips despite the fact that the Sony had a free Playstation with it.

I'm glad I did
:-)