Philips Cineos 32PFL9603: Bonnet de douche, Rodney
Philips brought a little culture to the office today with a TV in a box with some French on it, and inside, a rather fetching 32-inch 1080p TV with Ambilight
One of the questions we're asked an awful lot is, "Can I get a 32-inch 1080p TV?" Until recently the answer was no, because the economics of squeezing more pixels into such a small space just didn't work. It seems, however, that technological advances and whatnot are making such a thing possible. The Philips Cineos 32PFL9603 proves it too.
The box for the TV is, as you'd expect from a European company, bi-lingual. One side is boring old English, the other is exciting French. 'Plonger' it declares with some gusto, inviting us to dive into something. We're going to assume the company is referring to the immersive two-strip Ambilight that adorns the TV -- a safe assumption, given that's what the English side is talking about. Bonnet de douche, as Del Boy would say.
The 32PFL9603 also features the same speaker system as its bigger brother, the 42PFL9703, which sends the high-frequency sound out via a lip at the front of the TV with low-frequency rumblings coming from two woofers at the back. This is a really good idea that impressed us before with a very likeable sound.
The TV also seems to have forgotten that 32-inch screens rarely have a generous helping of HDMI sockets, because they've only gone and stuck four of them on this TV. Yes, that's right, three on the back and a fourth on the side. Mange tout!
Philips claims a contrast ratio of around 55,000:1 and -- get this -- a potential 2,250 trillion colours. 2,250 trillion! What on Earth is anyone going to do with that many colours? Make a massive hi-def rainbow?
If you're itching to buy one of these, you can do so now at a cost of some £800 or so. -Ian Morris