New Philips set 30pw9110d - Page 3

I knew a guy named Sammy once, heavy drinker but he didn't make any TV's. As far as the 30 inch TV goes, I think the only thing important is the quality of the TV set and how it's built. Most of you folks on this forum know what to look for ( aside from obvious issues like geometry that is easily spotted ). To the average person, they could not tell the difference between a Sony HDTV or a Samsung and Philips. You guys here are experienced enough to know what to look for.

Just picked up the 30pw9110d and here is my initial reaction. Decent TV. I think Its better than the Sanyo I had and returned. With this tv the dvd quality on the component imputs looks great, but the built in tuner seems out of focus or diditized. This is the opposite of the sanyo 30" i had and returned to WallyWorld. SD still looks bad to me, I guess I will just have to live with this until I can afford Dish Or Direct (sucks being poor). For the money (668 bucks) I guess I am Happy. I will give you all a update in a few days.

Scott

I am also going to pick up this tv within a week. Budget wise, I can't go above $700.00 for a widescreen HDTV. So this seems like my best choice. As for the tuner, we do not plan on using the built in tuner, but rather a HD box from Comcast. Do you have the option of trying the HD cable box out instead of using the built in tuner? Also, does the tv in the box come with any sort of cables such as component cables?

As Oryan has said no cables. Thanks agian Oryan for your wealth of knowledge.

Scott

My Panasonic DT-M3050w handles both 720p/1080i native and I can indeed see a difference.

I prefer 720p native over 1080i.

Around here, Comcast has been known to furnish component video and stereo audio cable s when they come out and install an HD box. I guess they cannot confirm the box is working unless they furnish cables if you don't have them already.

These won't be top-of-the-line cables, but worth a try until you get better if you want them.

I have NOT heard of them offering DVI, HDMI or optical (audio) cables, just component video and stereo audio.

Well we're going to get a DVI to HDMI cable to connect the Comcast HD box to our new HDTV. This will take care of the sound and picture coming out of the HD box. Then I'll get some component cables to hook up the DVD player to the TV.

I'm going to pre-order some cables before we get the Philips 30pw9110d. I've found a retailer called http://www.bluejeanscable.com

I need to get a DVI to HDMI cable, ( 3 feet ).
Also need a component cable. ( 3 feet ).

This seems to be the cheapest place to order DVI to HDMI cables. $31.25 for a 3 foot DVI to HDMI connection and offer a 30 day money back guarantee. Should I get this for my Philips 30pw9110d? I will need the component connection to hook up my DVD player to the TV.

Buy your DVI to HDMI cable from mashy76 on ebay. Digital signal is digital signal... as long as the signal goes from A to B, you won't notice a difference in cables. I bought my 10 footer for less than 10 bucks shipped.

Wow, that's an amazing price! $10.00?? Why is it that some store brands want over $100.00 for the same type of cable and this guy can do it for a total of $10.00 shipped?

I take it ,as you posted that you have one of these cables? I guess you're right, a cable is a cable!

That isn't the case with component cables, as they are analog.. so make sure you get some decent ones. The DVI to HDMI cables you see for $100 in the store are typically made by Monster. Basically you're paying for the name, nothing more. I'm sure there's extra insulation and maybe a little higher quality wiring, but they aren't worth $100 IMO.

I have one that I'm using between my computer and my Time Warner STB. I've been using it for over a month now and it still works great.

As for the Philips 30pw9110d and using a Comcast HD box I want to use a DVI - HDMI for my picture. Since that connection will not transmit sound, I was thinking of getting an optical cable to connect from the back of the HD box to the TV. I looked at this link, posted in this thread:
http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/3/3...0d_37_cow_.jpg

Is the spdif in the upper left corner the connection to hook up the optical cable from the Comcast HD box to the tv for sound?

The optical out on the TV is only there to send audio to a surround sound receiver from the TV's built in HD tuner. It is not an audio input. I'm not sure how the Philips works with DVI as far as audio, but you will have to use one of the analog audio inputs on the TV. On my Sanyo, the HDMI port uses the audio jacks in the component input 3 set of jacks when using the HDMI to DVI cable.

F*&@! comcast. How hard is it to get a HD box tuner that has HDMI outputs? So if I want to use a DVI - HDMI cable, I also have to use component cables for sound? What happens if I hook up the component cables to the tv set from the HD box along with the DVI - HDMI? Sound is one thing, but won't having both cables ( dvi - hdmi and component )hooked interfere with video picture? Or can I just get some plain ol left-right audio cables for the sound?

component cables dont carry sound. Optimally you would want to run the sound to your reciever by an optical cable, but if you dont have one then u have to use the plain rca red and whites...for sound out of tv speakers, it doesnt really matter

Thanks.

Picture Quality?

Anyone have comments about picture quality out of the box? I have the Sanyo equivalent (from walmart too) and it had some noticable "barrel roll" on the edges.
Thanks, Sly

This is my third day with this philips 30" HDTV. I can't see any barel roll, there is a slight pincusion, maybe a little keystone. My main complaint is the grainy look mostly with SD. It looks kinda like watching a windows media file thats doubled in size. Anyone have the service manual for this set? It does look better than the sanyo equivalent I returned.

Scott

What is SD?

Standard Definition... anything that isn't HD. There is enhanced definition which is what progressive scan DVD players use (480p), but SD is 480i.

If Comcast offers the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, that has an HDMI port on it. It is a DVR though, so you'd have to pay the extra monthly fee for that service. Other than that Pace is the only other company that I know of that makes a box with HDMI.

Resist the habit, quit SD!

Comcast offers only Motorola boxes right now, at least in the Philadelphia area.


Has anyone had any luck with tuning QAM digital cable from Comcast on this set? I bought one for my dad's new basement setup. While he doesn't really give a crap it's a set I was considering for the bedroom because of the QAM tuner combined with having read that Comcast doesn't scramble the locals, etc on their HD channels.

any new buyers for this TV? planning to get it this week. feedback really welcome

I just bought this set last weekend. I'm just using a cheap antenna right now and HD reception still seems very good. The picture quality of PBS-HD looks great.

Geometry isn't perfect (keystone is off a little as well as pincusion near the right side), but it isn't noticible when watching viewing material. I'm using a radeon 9500 in my htpc and have it hooked to the tv thru the component input using the ati dongle. Quality on dvd looks very good, although I am getting some slight ringing on the edges of objects. I can see the ringing thru both the component input and when viewing the HD, SD material.

Overall I'm happy with the tv for the price. I'm going to try to swap out cables to see if I can get rid of the ringing.

I just ordered a DVI - HDMI cable from Pacific Cables for the Philips 9110d. We should have the cable by tomorrow, and the TV by this Sat. I just wished Comcast had HDMI out on their HD boxes. It would save me a lot of trouble with the extra audio cords and I'd be able to get digital audio from my HD box. I will use the DVI-HDMI cable to connect the HD box to the HDTV and component cables for the DVD player. Does the Philips 9110D have a digital audio input?

**EDIT**

I just read this on the Philips 9110D spec sheet.

The HDMI input is fully backward compatible with DVI sources but
includes digital audio. HDMI uses HDCP copy protection.

2 questions about the above text.

a. What does that mean when it says the HDMI input is fully backward compatible with DVI sources but includes digital audio. From what I understand, if I use a DVI _ HDMI cable to connect the 9110d to the cable box, I though that cable only transmits sound because of the DVI connection?

b. My wife likes to tape her shows via the VCR, which is part of the DVD-VCR combo, ( zenith xbv243 model ). Will she be able to do this if we are using a DVI-HDMI cable connected from the Comcast box?

A. They should have changed around some words in that statement. It should read: The HDMI input includes digital audio, but is fully backward compatible with DVI sources. DVI doesn't and never will carry audio. Technically, though, HDMI is DVI and audio combined into one cable.

B. The composite (yellow, red, white) jacks should still be active when using the DVI port, so you should just be able to hook those up to the VCR and record anything non HD.


Anyone try a PS2 through components on this set yet? If it's any better than the Sanyo 30 inch (wavyness when using 480i and 480p signals), I might have take that back and get this one.

anymore thoughts on this set? also i went to walmart and the said if its not on the site they dont have it, but the phillips site says they do?