Philips' desire to push things forward in the world of televisions is admirable, and this set continues the trend. The 42PFL9803 showcases Philips' LED Lux backlight technology, as well as incorporating two-channel Ambilight and a striking new silver finish.
This is an LCD screen, but with an LED Lux backlight that boasts a grand total of 1152 LEDs. These are divided in to 128 segments, and these segments are then divided again in Russian-doll style so that they can be individually controlled to give more accurate control of the light released.
Philips claims deeper black levels, more dynamic contrast levels – a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, in fact – and reduced power consumption as the key benefits.
Elsewhere there's Ambilight 2 Spectra – down both sides of the set – plus 1080p/24fps support via four HDMI inputs, 100Hz Clear LCD, the Perfect Pixel HD engine and of course a digital Freeview tuner.
DLNA network capability
Adding to this set's caché as a futureproofed product you'll find an Ethernet connection and DLNA networking capability.
As ever, all this technology is all as useful as a turkey in February if the set doesn't have the picture quality to back it up.
Watching the off-air picture, images are clean, sharp and detailed, while motion is handled super-smoothly.
Switch to DVD and watching Batman Begins it's clear the claims about black levels have substance, with deep, dark blacks that boast detail, too.
Texture to skin tones is excellent, with impressive subtlety and an expansive colour palette.
High price counts against it
Change to a Blu-ray and we're only further enamoured with this set's performance, although that extra sense of three-dimensionality that you get with the best HDTVs is missing.
So, what's the catch? Well, the price. Much as we'd like to hand this TV a five-star rating, there just isn't a big enough jump in quality compared to current class-leaders that are up to £800 cheaper.
If you like the style and features then you won't be disappointed, but on our strict performance-per-pound criteria this £2000 set has to lose a star.
