Philips Cineos 32PFL9603D review

One setting we do think you need is the MPEG noise reduction -- though this isn't necessary on HD sources, it really helps with Freeview compression artefacts.

Hooking up a PlayStation 3 also resulted in a magnificent, bright image. If you're buying this TV to play games on, you'll almost certainly be thrilled -- and the Ambilight will also add another level to your game playing. LCDs usually make great gaming screens, and the Philips is no exception.

Burnout Paradise looked terrific, with wonderful sharpness -- do note that we needed to set the sharpness setting to 50 per cent when using the PS3 for games. Any more than that and it looked too rough around the edges; any less and it looked too soft.

Blu-ray films were, as you would hope, also brilliant. We stuck on the re-make of the classic film Rollerball, and while this version might not have any of the grit or appeal of the original, it does look stunning in HD. The 'natural motion' setting does a good job of smoothing out film judder, if you want to do that. We preferred to watch it in its more authentic, slightly juddery style.

In dark scenes we did notice that the panel's backlight was overly bright. You can turn it down quite a bit, but that almost always means either the picture is too dim or the blacks are washed out. Still, it's far from the worst we've seen, and the picture quality overall more than makes up for it.

Conclusion
On the face of it, the Philips Cineos 32PFL9603D is expensive. But since it features high-end performance and some welcome extras, such as the Ambilight, it's not your average TV -- and the styling alone almost makes it worth that little bit more.

In terms of competition, you won't find anything else as packed with features for this kind of cash. Even so, we'd suggest you look at the 32-inch version of the Loewe Connect 37 Media Full-HD+ DR+. If you want pretty styling, you'll probably like the 40-inch Toshiba picture frame TVs as well, but they're much bigger, so they won't suit everyone.

Edited by Marian Smith