Philips 37PF7320A - Page 4

Just got off the phone with Philips. Was told it is an IR Blaster for future use.....whatever the heck that is?

Those two cables are necessary to IR control some external devices like VCRs or cableboxes in case you are using TV Guide on Screen feature, that can be enabled from the service menu.

OK....I'll bite. How does one activate the TV Guide feature? That would be excellent info and well recieved.

If I remember correctly, enter 062596 and [INFO] on the remote, go to Options,
set TVGuide to Enable, go to Store and save the setting, then turn off the TV.

Bought the 37PF7320A/37 from Costco about 1 month ago. So far, so good - PQ is great, DVD's and HDTV sources look great, even SDTV through Tivo look good.

Phiips support has been great with the two minor issues I encountered.

There is one issue that remains and I wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing it.

Every so often, when Closed Captioning is on, the captions will "freeze" and the TV will fail to respond to any commands. After a moment or so, the picture will "flicker", and the TV will essentially reboot itself. This became more pronounced once the CableCard was installed; each time the CableCard is reinitialized, a diagnostic message is displayed on screen.

I thought it may have something to do with the CableCard at first, but the same thing sometimes occurs when watching the Tivo, when the CableCard is not involved.

Anyone else having this?

-m

I just picked up this set yesterday from Costco in exchange for my 37" Sceptre. It's been less than a day, but thus far I'm completely amazed by the night and day difference in useability, features, packaging, instruction manual, remote control, quality etc., compared to the Sceptre.

It wouldn't be fair for me to make a comparrison in terms of picture quality since I beleive my Sceptre had problems. The Sceptre's HD picture (while a bit dark) was excellent. The Philips is brighter from corner to corner and the picture is amazing! I honestly cannot tell the difference between the 1080i Scepter and this set in terms of sharpness!

I haven't found a baseline for all of the picture adjustments yet so I expect that SD and DVD content can look even better than it does.

One thing is certain, selecting OTA HD channels is a breeze with this set compared to the Sceptre. I can simply press in the channel number for the OTA HD channel I want. Or I can scroll through the Favorites list to find the channel and it doesn't take 8 seconds for the picture to appear. Changing OTA HD channels on the Sceptre was a real pain. I also believe that the ATSC tuner on the Philips is better. My antenna is in the same position yet I'm receiving more channnels.

No buyers remorse... at least not yet!

The answer seem to contracdict two posts from other members:

Happy I found this thread. I went to Costco last night to buy the Maxent 42" plasma. Looked great next to the Pioneer. Oops. My Costco and the other I visit from time to time were sold out. Went to a third and found this set for the first time. After pacing around the store, deceided to get this set. I'm taking a break from stting the thing up.

Turned it on last night with a ota ant and the hd looked great. I had a fairly bad signal, but it still looked good. Faces appeared a little green out of the box, but I will play with it tongiht. Anybody have any settings they would like to share to get me going.

Quick and stupid question. I had just assumed that my D* DVR would have compnent inputs. My bad. Only composite and S-Video. Would I be correct to assume the S-Video is the way to go until the new H20 dvr comes out. I plan to make due with D* SD and ota until that comes out.

Thanks for the help and I plan to share the results with all of you.

just came back from Costco, only the floor model is available but they are getting restocking soon. However, the PQ on the demo model is absolutely not good. The Sharp 32" LC-G5C... is the only one that stands on as far as PQ goes.

S-Video. I don't have a D* DVR connected to this TV yet (Free Offer expires on 11/05, and I'm still awaiting the R15 DVR), so I'm still using the standard RCA DTv receiver.

Some channels look Ok, others are very bad. I wonder if the the various DTv receivers output different signal qualities. SD content on our Samsung LCD looks much better through our Philips DTv DVR than the it does through the standard DTv receiver.

All OTA HD through the built in tuner looks great on this set.

Anyone know if there is a way to manually label channels on this TV, as in put FOX next to channel 5 in NY if the autscan does not pick it up.

ThaNKS,

Sshnun

I have to agree that the ota pic quaility is great. I will have to spend some time getting the pic dialed in correctly. Right now skin tones have a gray/green tint to them. Anyone else experience this. As I have only had it for a day, I have not yet begun to play with it.

..........and the PQ on a demo in Costco tells you what?

As simple as adjusting your tint control. You may also want to adjust the color temperature to normal or cool in the picture menu.

Haven't found a channel label feature. What I'd like to do is be able to delete inactive or unwanted channels from my channel scan (channel up/down) on the remote.

Thanks for the tint control tip. I had already adjusted the temp. I will play with the tint.

Dave

Well a few poster here kept saying that everytime they went to costco and the philips looked great. I was having high hopes to be impressed, but it was a let down.

Plus, NoviDave's posts about the picture even after his tweaking it still sounded like what I've seen at costco. This certainly doesn't boost one's confidence in this unit.

talez: If there's a BB near you, try stopping by their TV department since they sell the very same 37" Philips LCD TV. Hopefully, the signal/setup will be better.

Like me, NoviDave just bought his set a couple of days ago. I've explored the menus on this set and there are a lot of adjustments that can be made. I don't have a setup disk yet so finding the optimal picture settings may take a few days.

I think that if you find on on the shelf that is getting a decent signal you too will be impressed.

Thanks Mr. Lawrence. I don't really understand the store's practice. That is, do they from time to time decide which brand they want to push? or were they given incentives to push certain brand so they set up their feeds differently? or do they even do any setup at all -- do they just hook up every demo out of the box without tweaking?

At best buy, the Sony LCDs always looks stunning; and the pictures of the Sharps always looks darker. However, at circuit city, the sharp aquos looks amazing. Basically, these two brands always take my attention away at different stores. So I haven't paid any attention to Philips and other brands.

Talez,

You misunderstood my post. I just picked up the set and have not made any adjustments to it. Just playing with it for a few minutes today, I can already tell that it will look great. I have not had any time to play with the disk (S&V's), but when I do I will let you know. Sorry for the confusion.

NoviDave: Where did you purchase the S&V (Sound & Vision) setup disk?

On a related note, I tried using the THX Optimizer included on the Incredibles DVD, but ran into some problems because the on screen controls (Contrast, Brightness, Color etc.) occupies a portion of the screen that needs to be seen in order to perform the test.

One last point, should the THX Optimizer that's included on some DVD's be used strictly for the specific DVD Movie or is it meant for overall adjustments. I'm also not sure if I should change the picture controls on the DVD player, TV or both???

So many variables!

I bought it some time ago at BB. I have no idea if they still carry it.

I would love to see some settings guys.

Wow...wish I had seen this reply BEFORE I ordered the bracket and just tried to install it only to realize it doesn't friggin' fit. Your earlier post claimed you put up your Philips in less than an hour without special brackets. So that was just B.S.?

The Sanus VMPL3 works using the outer mounting points on the 37" Philips LCD. It has adjustable vertical mounts as well as an adjustable wall mount.

I just bought this set from Costco on Saturday. In the store, compared to the Sharp next to it the picture was a tad greenish, but since it has the needed tuner built in, i decided to go with it, since i've never been 'wow'ed by Sharp nor Sony's picture quality. I am very happy with picture in both HD and SD and i am only using fifteen dollar antennas to get the signal. Even through my TiVo the picture is great. I have not done a thing to adjust the picture at all.

The only issue i am having and wonder if anyone else is.. the sound will sometimes go out, but i wonder if this is because i am using only antennas and do not have a cable connection. If i change the channel, and then go back, the sound comes back. I am totally amazed with this LCD TV and very happy i decided to go with it. Good price and good picture and an HD tuner to boot.

~ wendy

I have not experienced a problem with loss of audio signal. Does this occur when viewing OTA signals only?

Sorry, but I am actually holding onto the mount as I write this. The wall bracket is approx. 28 3/4 inches long. The mounting holes on the back of the Philips are slightly MORE than 31" apart. How can this possibly work?

capecodguy: Are you referring to the Sanus VMPL3 (B/S, black or silver)??? If so, there's something wrong. Is it possible that the wrong item was included in the box??? Check again, because my 37" Philips (model # 37PF7320) is hanging on the wall with the Sanus VMPL3 supporting it!

The wall plate of the VMPL3 is a 3 piece assembly. The sectional wall plate is actually 3 plates that join and are adjustable in length (26" to 40").

The vertical bars that mount on the back of the LCD, are also adjustable ( 17" to 27") by attaching extentions to the top and bottom of each bar. These extentions are not necessary on this LCD panel.

If the wall mount that you are holding in your hands does not fit the above description, you do not have the VMPL3.

Do a search for Sanus on the BB website and there's a detailed close-up photo of the black version of the Sanus VMPL3.

Good luck!

MY BAD! On page 2 of this thread MKellvich recommends an OmniMount (made by Sanus) that is available at WalMart. I bought this sight unseen and indeed, it doesn't fit.

Mike writes:
(The box and instruction sheet are labeled Vuepoint FPM50b. Here is the Walmart.com link:

walmart.com

A quick look at the SANUS website shows it to be identical to the VPML50b.

Cheers,

Mike )

He said he was able to mount the Philips in about an hour. Unfortunatley, it is not true.

The VMPL3 looks to fit the bill. Thanks very much.

In the CD-Rom version of the owners manual it shows "Preferred Channels" as a menu option, under TV/Settings. This would be VERY useful to delete channels that either you don't recieve or ones you don't like, from the channel up/down feature.

This option doesn't apper on my menu. Anyone have this?