KreativeGeek

Got That LCD

I was looking to buy a good LCD and It was Sony’s bravia series that lit up my senses and i had previously decided to settle for nothing less than a 40" screen, however I realized if were to buy a Sony and that too the model I had eyed which was KLV40S200A which is costing around 94,000 bucks and for that I knew I would have to keep myself waiting for too long.

I then had a look at the Philips 32TA2800 wide screen LCD at Central mall in Pune, while shopping, there were other televisions from Samsung & LG placed there which were running same channel on cable broadcast.

I observed that this model of Philips was performing on par with the colour reproduction of Samsung, though losing out on the Bordeaux series external looks, which did not matter to me much. LG LCD television quality in terms of contrast and colour reproduction was way too poor compared to Samsung & Philips.

I was then waiting for a good offer to buy this model from Philips and this ganesh chaturthi I saw an ad of Philips Arena pricing this television for around 38000 bucks on exchange of any old 21" above colour TV working set. I checked with them on this offer and it was kind of a best deal for me as I also checked out specs of this television, I also checked specs of other LCD TV’s in the same category and finally decided to buy this one since other brands also were offering similar specs with a difference of few features.

One important piece of advice that I would like to give to all those who want to buy a LCD TV, check the performance of the television with a cable connection or a DTH connection, because normally LCD TV’s put on display in most of the shops run a Demo video created by the company which is normally in HD format, which is sure to make you feel that the television would be having outstanding picture quality, however things may not turn out to be the same when you bring it home and get ordinary picture on your regular cable connection or DTH connection.

Ask the dealer in the showroom to change channels, and look out for factor’s like the Motion response time of LCD, which is normally 8ms for most of the brands, for some it is 5ms, this response time will be better the lower, preventing “ghosting” of images on screen, also check if the television is able to reproduce colour combinations flawlessly, check different picture settings of the television for yourself, important one’s being the contrast and colour settings, do not settle for any LCD missing on HD compatibility since technologies like blu-ray and HD discs , HDTV broadcast would start flooding Indian markets, also confirm if the LCD TV has a PC input, in case you want to play your favourite game title on your LCD screen. Also do not give to much of importance to specs because what you can see with your eyes will help you judge what’s better for you.

This television has widescreen HD resolution of 1366 x 768p pixels with a digital crystal clear feature, different screen refresh ratio’s for different video outputs. Following are the screen resolutions available in the television: 4:3, Subtitle Zoom, Superwide, Widescreen, Zoom 14:9, Zoom 16:9, with host of other features. I got this television delivered as promised by the dealer, no hassles, installation was done professionally and I viewed the connection on my Tata Sky connection, clarity was awesome, never encountered any pixelisation issue while viewing, played few movies from my collection, DVD and VCD viewing was more clear and crisp.

I must say there are many superior brands in market offering more high quality products, but I am impressed by after sales service of Philips from the time I had bought one of their DVD music systems 3 years back which developed a snag and I did not expect some one to follow up with me on my complaint and come to my home twice for just getting a music system repaired, and I had denied in the end to repair the music system as I got a new Home Theatre with DVD player, the service person did not even charge for the visit, it was Akshay Service in Pune who is one of their dealers.

I experienced a similar service with Philips again this time, as I write this review I got a call from Akshay service asking me about my availability to give a demo of the LCD with warranty features to be explained and get a feedback about the product and installation experience.

This television may not give you the “SONY” experience, though would not disappoint you as well, because this LCD would actually give you that wide screen experience on a 32” screen, though not as artistic looks of a Samsung Bordeaux, if you are on a budget and seeking a good 32” LCD below 50,000 bucks, this is the television you can bet upon, price of this model is around 49000 – 48000 bucks.