Digital Trends

Philips 17PF9945

April 23rd, 2004 | by Douglas MacLean

Video Testing

Right out of the box the video quality was amazing. The Philips 17PF9945 provided a crisp, clear picture and allowed us to notice the smallest detail.

When we ran the Philips 17PF9945 through the video calibration DVDs Video Essentials and Ultimate DVD Platinum and only slight adjustments were required. The brightness and contrast had to be lowered to get the optimal picture; however not much else was needed. There was almost no over-scan when watching an anamorphic 1.85:1 DVD. We found there to be just the right hint of black bars at the top and bottom, typical of a properly adjusted scan.

In order to make sure the adjustments persist when changing video sources the, Auto Picture feature had to be employed. This feature automatically adjusts the picture no matter what video source you are using. Since the calibration discs do not require that adjustment modes are active, we had to run through the calibrations, note the required changes, go into Auto Picture set up and reapply the changes.

The result was a consistent picture whether we were watching cable, a DVD or using the 17PF9945 as a computer monitor. This was done in the Personal mode of Auto Picture. There are some pre-configured modes also available such as movies, sports, weak signal and multimedia. There were no details in the literature provided to describe the exact changes each mode enforces. The Philips 17PF9945 has a light sensor to provide feedback to the unit allowing it to adjust for changes in the room's lighting.

There are several modes available for viewing:

• 4:3 full screen
• Super wide (stretches the picture to fill the screen)
• Zoom 14:9
• Wide screen
• Zoom 16:9
• Subtitle zoom (like Zoom 16:9 but shifts the picture down to make the sub titles visible)

As with most sets the use of the various zoom modes noticeably degraded the quality of the picture. For best possible results, we recommend you stick with the bars and leave the zoom modes off. 

One thing that we really enjoyed about this model is the ability to use it as a television set or as a computer monitor. Since it is a bit too small for the whole family to enjoy, placing it on the desktop makes it perfect for the home office. You can easily switch between a high resolution monitor and high definition home theater source. For the audio you can either go with one of the many six-channel computer audio systems or use a small, home theater in a box audio set up. Either way with the Philips 17PF9945 providing the video you may never leave your den or office again.

When using this model as a monitor it provided very responsive video. There was no ghosting as items were moved around the desktop. With a decent broadband Internet connection the viewing of MPEG files and streaming video was equally as good.

For RF and composite video sources the unit includes a three-comb filter to enhance the picture. We tested the television in composite, component and s-video modes. Naturally, the component high definition mode worked the best but even with the composite connection the picture was more than adequate. In high def mode the picture was far better than we imagined we'd see from a set of this size.

Auto Picture or Active Control permits the Philips 17PF9945 to maintain the same video characteristics regardless of the source. While it did work fairly well it, did limit the options than can be set and the ability to properly calibrate the unit.