Philips 46PFL9707 Pro Reviews

The 46PFL9707 is an impressive LED LCD TV. On paper, it’s fantastic to see Philips give UK and European buyers another choice in the hardly crowded Local Dimming LED market, although in practice, we found that their implementation of it had some issues. On top of that, the picture accuracy in the most accurate out-of-the-box mode (on our review sample) wasn’t as neutral as many other competing models, displaying with a red tint relative to the D65 white point used for HD and SD video. The Philips 9707 is a screen which definitely benefits from professional calibration. Fortunately, the 46in PFL9707 has more claims to fame which kept us satisfied. We find Ambilight to be a great feature that takes the design of the TV beyond the panel itself, and if you find that it floats your boat also, then you’re probably reading this site not to find out which brand of TV to buy, but which Philips television to buy, since this feature is exclusive to them. What’s more, the Moth Eye filter – which in our opinion steals the show – does an outstanding job of keeping images rich even in extremely bright viewing environments. There is also the 46PFL9707T’s sound quality, which is exceptional by in-TV standards (Philips’ decision to build the speakers into the stand itself is so smart and so effective that we wonder why it hasn’t been copied yet).

Quite simply, the Philips 46PFL9707 delivers the best 2D picture we have seen from a LED LCD TV to date. We'll explain why we think that in greater detail later but if you're looking for a one sentence summary, there you go. However, before we cover the picture quality in more depth, let's quickly go through the 46PFL9707's other attributes. The design is refreshingly different, if a little Apple-esque and the build quality is excellent, as befits a flagship model. There are plenty of well positioned connections, including 5 HDMI inputs, 3 of which are at the rear facing downwards.