Philips 42PF9631D HD Plasma - Page 5

Swap is not the right term. I just do what you do. Highlight the small box and then hit OK. It really doesn't swap, it's just a faster way of changing inputs.

The reason I don't use a splitter is because I have 2 cable outlets behind my TV. Both on a direct line from the main entry to the house. This gives me a much better picture.

So, can you get 2 (VCR) and 3 (DVD) at the same time? That's basically what I want to be able to do.....

OK, I thought there was a way to switch the little and big boxes when PIP is activated. Don't know why there isn't -- have it on my 1995 ProScan 27" CRT.


OK, that's even better -- bottom line then is that you have 1 of those lines going directly into the plasma, right? That's the TV SOURCE input.


No....I can get 1 (STB) or 2 (VCR) or 3 (DVD) with the big box set to TV....you have to have a digital/HD signal in the main box. You can't do PIP with DVD AND VCR each.

Using HDMI -- 100% digital, as opposed to component which switches digital and analog -- is allowing you to do some PIP. What you need to do is utilize the input TV (the top of the list of SOURCE inputs) and then try to get Xbox or Replay TV into the little PIP box. I think that will work.

See if that works...remember, you need to utilize that 2nd line coming into the house (same with me, only I have to use a splitter).

A couple of questions for you 42PF9631 owners:
1) How is the sound quality on the built-in speakers (I don't plan to add an external audio system)?
2) How are the stretch modes compared to other brands?
3) Can the TV be setup to always stretch 4:3 content to full screen by default so the user does not have to worry about it?
4) Why did you choose this model over the Panny 60U everyone seems to love?

Thanks

You're welcome.

After some fumbling around in the back of my TV, I found out that you can use AV3 via component for your PIP. So, I can have HDMI 1 and AV2 in PIP -or- I can have AV2 and AV3 in PIP. But, I can not have HDMI 1 and AV3 at the same time. Only one HD input at a time.

So, I will hook my 360 up to AV3 (with a optical to coax converter for the sound) so I can enjoy PIP with my 360 and TV at the same time.

They're 12 watts each (down from 15w on the 9630) and just like a regular CRT TV speakers. They're loud enough but you won't have that home theater/5.1 sound.


I love it -- seems to be as good or better than others. AUTOMATIC is probably used most of the time and it's really good. Other modes eliminate bars when I tape an HDTV program on my VCR (hope to get a DVR soon).


Yup, AUTOMATIC does that and the picture looks very good.


I think either set you can't go wrong with, I thought this TV had more consumer-friendly features and I was more familiar with Philips from tracking developments (and price) on it since the late 1990's. Panasonic's deeper blacks (?) are of marginal benefit on all the SD viewing I watch.

Again, either set is a great choice. I just went with the Philips and I'm very happy with my purchase to date.

Pilot makes some good points -- Ambilight is REALLY GOOD and you'll love it right off the bat, even if you buy the set and don't really care for it at the time of your purchase. It really makes watching TV in a dark room a new experience.

PixelPlus is good to have, although as I've noted before, like HT Mag, I can't detect any difference in any programs with or without the PP. Maybe the picture is just that good that PP can't improve it !!

I too like having PIP though I use it alot less on this TV than I did on my Sony or ProScan TV's.

BTW, Pilot, did you figure out your PIP problem yet ???

Yes ^^

Good...we finally fixed it !!

Let us know how it works out....not familiar with the optical-to-coax converter, report back on how you use that and connect it.

Will do. I ordered it on eBay so....... LOL!

I use external sound and haven't heard them yet, sorry can't help you there.
In my opinion, nobody beats it. I have only "real" experience with an LG LCD RP and SONY 32" LCD panel, and both PALE in comparison.
What makes the Philips great at it, I think, is it looks like they keep the middle of the picture closer to the original aspect, and as you move to the outter edges, the picture distorts a little more. Because most of the main viewing is in the middle area of the screen, I hardly even notice that it's stretched, it's THAT GOOD. (that's just my opinion on how it's done - not technical, or correct in any way, just how I perceive it)
The AUTOMATIC function is great and I leave it on that most of the time, but I do have a few gripes about it. Sometimes, in my STB channel guide, or in other settings, it stretches too much as to lose some text above and below, or other times, it stretches up, and then back down as commercials change. It's a slight annoyance. It seems to act on colours detected, and not the video feed. I've seen while watching SDTV, it super-stretches durring a dark scene because the TV can't differentiate where the actual screen starts and ends. When it brightens up again, we're looking at the pores of some actors face. But that has only happened a few times. Also, the automatic results in less picture distortion than forcing it to fill using the 16:9 setting when viewing SDTV.
Honestly, the salesman where we purchased it. He had great praise about Philips as a company and the technology and research that they have access to, which filters into their TV sets. Also, it was on a big sale from Philips that put it into our budget (my budget, not the wife's!). But I think the deciding factor was just how fantastic the TV handles Standard Definition. Much better than anything we looked at.

no problem!

I just noticed that a new firmware has been released. It looks like it's been there since about Nov. 21. I'll be loading it tonight! This is the second firmware release since I bought the TV (in less than 2 months), so I'm very impressed that they are supporting the product so well and trying to improve the product as much as possible. It came from the factory with Firmware 1.6.0.0 and I immediately (2nd day having it) flashed it with 1.8.0.0.

BJ24U-1.9.0.0_03161
Following improvements has been made
Availability cablecard channel map.
Improved info in the service menu.
Improved picture quality and stability on HDMI.
Installation of channels.

Has anyone loaded this firmware yet, and what have your results been?

Yes, it happens sometimes when the picture can't differentiate where black pictures end and black 'nothing' begins. Also, check out channels like The Science Channel where the logo sometimes goes LOWER than the bottom of the picture screen.

Still, I agree with your points, it's a great function and works really well. I've even used the "16:9 w/subtitles" when I recorded HDTV programs on my VCR and it shows gray bars on the top and bottom. This fills the screen as much as possible with actual picture.


Great points and nice to see someone agrees with me: this TV does a great job on SD. I think Panasonic does too, but I look at all these threads asking "What HDTV can show SD pretty good" and I'm wondering where these guys are looking.

In fairness, while I love the TV, I have to wrap Philips The Company a bit. Their customer service as noted by others here is SORELY LACKING. With Sony absent from plasmas and pricey on LCD's, and with Philips already #3 overall in flat-panels, they have a chance to really secure themselves as the #1 or #2 maker right alongside Panasonic and/or Samsung, but they need to improve their quality control a bit and really up the customer service a ton.

If they do it, they will find that the benefits flow back to them multiple-fold, just like Sony's reputation in TV's carried them for decades, with people who didn't know didley about TV's nonetheless insisting that they wanted "a Sony."

That's interesting. I have heard about the customer service problems, but have not experienced them. In fact, after I got off the phone with Philips customer service, I was actually impressed. They sent me, at no charge, a 64 MB USB flash drive so I could upgrade my software. So, at this point, I like them!

I don't see this update on the Philips website that I look at: http://www.support.philips.com/support.

The latest upgrade shown is: Posted Date: 08/30/2006 Size = 10,320 KB

Where did you see the information about the 11/21 upgrade?

I haven't, and since I'm computer illiterate, I needed help to zip/unzip/whatever the files onto that USB thing the last time. Once I got it on that USB, it was easy to load it onto the Philips.

From your description above, it looks like they may have solved that annoying glitch with dropped channels that people were PO'd about here and on the 9630 thread (is the upgrade for them, too?).

Whoever upgrades it, please let us know about the improvements (if they work and if they matter) and if there are any negative SIDE EFFECTS !!!

Kudos to you and Philips!!

You know, they gave us Philips batteries for the remote, the should give everyone a Philips 64 mbyte USB stick for the upgrades -- what's that cost, like $10 ???

But again, a few people on the Philips threads have waited (supposedly) 2+ months to get their sets repaired. If Philips or an authorized dealer can't fix the problem or get parts within 2 weeks, then a new set should be given in return, either for keeps or a loaner set.

2 months is RIDICULOUS.

Important Philips News:

(1) I am NOT seeing the Philips firmware upgrade listed above. The August update is still the last one showing.

(2) If you goto the Philips site and keep clicking through the Flat-Panel TV's, onto the 9631/9630 models, you will be asked to participate in a questionaire. You must start from the main Philips consumer website and click through the site rather than jumping ahead right to the correct model # links. You know: TV's....Flat Panels.....42" or 50".....9630 or 9631....etc.

This is a great chance to let Philips know your concerns. Be honest, don't be nasty or snide in any typed responses, and be honest on the grading of the website, customer service, etc.

Here's what I wrote toward the end of the questions, when they asked for how I could give them an "Excellent" rating (the entire questionaire takes 5 minutes or less).

(1) I want firmware upgrades that are released on a TIMELY manner.

(2) If it will be a while for another firmware upgrade, please have an announcement stating "We expect to have another upgrade sometime in XXXXX. Please check back then." If it is delayed, then change the announcement forecast.

(3) Philips customer support (live talk or chat) must be improved. Philips customer service is HORRIBLE and that comes from people who own the TV's and want to work with Philips, recommend the products to friends, and already own a Philips TV.

(4) When you release a firmware upgrade, please do not have it 'degrade' previous fixes or technical features. A recent upgrade interferred with the ability to store preferred channels on the 9630/9631 models.

(5) MOST IMPORTANT: We want an ombudsman or pipeline to the chief Philips flat-TV technical people -- NOT CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS or PHONE OPERATORS -- who we can relay our concerns to. We want our experiences and suggestions for the TV to be acted upon by Philips -- it's in our best interests AND YOURS. We also have many useful suggestions that can greatly improve the consumer friendliness of the TV's -- but only if you act upon our feedback.

Philips has a very good product at a very good price. You can make a quantum leap up in consumer awareness -- similar to what Sony did during the 1970's -- with a bit more attention to quality control, customer support, and client feedback.

Do this right, and you can be a leading name in flat-panel TV's for the next 20-30 years.

Do it wrong, and you'll follow the U.S. auto industry to oblivion.

Are we clear ????

Umm....the upgraded firmware has been there for a couple of weeks now. They just didn't change the date on the website. Since I've had a Philips tv since March, I'll say that they forget to change the date on the website from time to time. It's no big deal really.

Just click on the readme and it will show the BJ24U-1.9.0.0_03161 update...

There's supposed to be a new one coming out soon, this does look like the August update.

Maybe they put a new one up and yanked it down and that's what advil saw? He says he saw a date of November 21st somewhere.

Whatever, we should have it sometime this month. As I indicated in my Philips questionaire item, they should let us know on the website approximately WHEN new ones will be coming out so we don't have to check and recheck every day.

Thanks a ton, are the 'improvements' cited in the above post what this November upgrade does?


Right, so either re-name the one on my "C" drive and the USB or re-name the new one when I "SAVE AS", right?

The Cablecard thing is not gonna help 9631 owners...we don't have Cablecard !!! I think the 9630 guys will benefit, though.

Looks like they addressed that dropped-channel thing that folks complained about. Don't remember too many people with the HDMI problem or what 'improved info in the SM' will do for us since we rarely go into the SM.

Just bought a 42pf9431d today ($1,199 @ Costco) and am loving it so far! Although, I've taken advantage of black friday HDTV deals the last two years (ViewSonic & Haier), and both turned out to be duds (which I returned), so really anything that actually works is great with me. I haven't sat down and watched any DVDs yet, but I have been watching football all day, and those games look AMAZING!

No dead pixels and haven't noticed the unbalanced backlight that some people have mentioned, so all seems well up to this point. Since everything is working great, I don't plan on flashing the firmware, but I am curious how out of date I might be, so how do I check my firmware version #?

My only complaint so far is that if I'm watching HD from my cable box (connected via HDMI), I can't do PIP with my DVD player (connected via component), but I can do PIP with my PS2 (connected via composite). I'd assume it has something to do with the decoding and only one HD signal can be decoded at once? Do others experience this problem too?

I'll report back with any further good/bad experiences. Thanks for the discussion so far everyone, I read up and down this thread prior to purchasing and the good experiences made me feel like this was a pretty good purchase, especially with my horrible track record with HDTVs.

Just a reminder to newcomers: don't mention price AND the store, we don't want to lose this thread.

Glad you are enjoying the set...welcome aboard !


On similar models, use the remote to enter the MENU and you should see INSTALLATION and SOFTWARE as options....should be easy to navigate to LATEST SOFTWARE and write down the version.

You can get updates at the Philips.com website and you probably should/will want to update it. Glitches do occur and if you get something serious like BSOD, you'll definitely want it updated.


Not sure it's a 'problem' but yeah, what you can watch in the 2nd box depends on what you see in the 1st (larger) box and how you get that signal (component, HDMI, etc). It's just the way PIP operates -- maybe they'll allow other items to pop in with a firmware upgrade, but for right now, it's trial and error. What I get right now with component into AV1 and AV3 and coax into TV and AV2 might change in the future when I use my HDMI's.

Remember not to use Side-By-Side and if you have bright yellow borders on the small PIP box when the controller is changing it's parameters, turn it back to gray when you are done -- don't leave that bright yellow on for any length of time in either side-by-side or the small PIP box.


Should be OK and the Costco return policy kinda guranatees it. Enjoy the TV and report back with any experiences, good or bad, and any questions or suggestions for the rest of us. We're all learning together !

Did you ever load/upgrade this software onto the set ??

And how did you know it was there since Nov. 21st ??

It's still listed as an AUGUST upgrade !!!

They could label it as their grandma's potato salad recipe; that doesn't make it true. Seriously though, if you download the file you can look at the time and date of the actual zip and the files within.

A week equals a month in Philipsland (when you're lucky).
You don't expect them to update the firmware and the website, do you?
picky, picky, picky

Mike

Good point....

I did grab the update onto my PC and I think it overwrote the August one on my PC which I didn't want to happen. I wanted to keep all the upgrades there.

So I am waiting for a friend to help me decipher how the PC saves these 'zip' file things. I still have the August one on my USB stick and want to get that one back on to my PC and then download and save this November /December upgrade under a different name (if possible) rather than have it overwrite the August one.

I guess the zip files are the same but the contents are different or something. Regardless, I had the August data on both my PC and USB and now I just have it on the USB so I want to be careful. I'm not too good with PC's but I did want to keep all the upgrades in case I ever had to roll back.

In short a zip file is two things:
It's a compressed file format; most things take up less disk space when put in a zip.
It's a cabinet. If I wanted to post or send you sixty files, I can just put them in one zip.
Then you extract them at your end. This is much better than me uploading and you downloading sixty files. They can do more, but that's the short version.

To avoid your overwriting problem, you could just change the name of the zip file you already have, or if they are each in their own folders they can have the same name. I have all my firmware zips named with the version in the name (1.1, 1.0.13, etc.).

The zips should already come with their own names (BX24...). I'm guessing you extracted the files, where each still needs to be named autorun.upg. Don't change that name or the tv won't find the file.

Mike