Sorry for the long lack of news regarding my new 64PP9751. It arrived late yesterday afternoon and by the time I got things set up it was pretty late. And since I had to steal the VGA cable from my home office monitor (more on that later) I was without PC for the rest of the TV viewing evening.
My euphoria was a bit short lived. Overnight the Nor’easter the local (Boston) weather guys have been predicting finally hit. By the time the 6:30 am news came on we’d already seen 2 – 2.5 inches of rain which lasted from midnight last night until approx 4:00 this afternoon. Soooooooooo, rather than write this review first thing this morning like I had originally planned, I’ve been pumping water out my basement (and my parents basement, and the warehouse at work…).
Enough of my sob story--on with the review!
The unit arrived in good shape save for the protective screen, which had been chafed pretty badly by the clip-on display frame. This also happened with my 9905 and I suspect happens to every one of the units. Philips really should consider shipping these sets with the display frame unattached—it clips onto the set in less than 30 seconds and would prevent what I expect is a pricey service visit to replace the damaged parts. After wheeling the unit in place I began connecting cables and ran into snafu number one. The 5 BNC connectors from the 9905 have been replaced with RCA plugs. Determined to use my VGA to 5 BNC cable, I took a ride to Rat Shack and picked up 5 BNC-to-Phono adapters.
With everything now cabled properly I powered the unit up, switched to Aux 4 (HD Y Pb Pr) and am immediately greeted with a VERY magenta image of my HTPC desktop. No problem—I’ve seen this before on my 9905. I just need to select the “Input Type†from the set’s menu. Unfortunately, this menu category, which on the 9905 included an option for “RGB Directâ€, has been eliminated from the 9751. It appears that this input now only accepts Y Pb Pr / H V. The good news is that the set also includes a VGA input (Aux 5 RGB VGA). The bad news? I don’t have 15’ VGA Cable. Determined to make this work, I pack the kids in the car and head out to the local CompUSA. What are the odds they’ll have a 15’ VGA cable? Slim AND none. A ten foot cable? Nope. A six foot cable? Wrong. A VGA extension cable? Bingo. I’m pretty sure I have a 6’ VGA cable at home somewhere so I buy the extension and head home to finish up.
Now, where’s that VGA cable? Oh yeah—I remember, it’s on my monitor in the home office. After RE-cabling, powering the set up, and switching to Aux 5 the color now looks OK but the convergence and geometry look the pits. The very top of the image dips down approx one inch at the mid point—no amount to user convergence it going to correct this. What’s weird is that the geometry error is approximately the same for all three guns. I’m pretty sure Philips wouldn’t let the set pass final QC with the geometry this whacked out so I’m not sure what happened. A quick look at the service convergence confirms the bad geometry—looks like I’ll need to use the convergence template to try to touch this up. After attaching the convergence template it becomes quickly apparent that Philips has changed the position of the grid lines—at least I hope they have, otherwise my geometry is VERRRRRY goofed up. I decided to correct the dip at the top of the image using the template as a straight line reference only and to converge Red-to-Green and Blue-to-Green. There’s a bit of twist to some of the grid lines, but I'll have to correct this later, once I have the new template in hand.
The very good new is that the horizontal line bowing I was seeing on my 9905 very much improved on this set.
As a side note, if anyone knows what the new convergence template and service manual part numbers are, I’d appreciate the info.
With the geometry and convergence quickly(???) adjusted, it’s time to take this baby for a ride! Immediately noticeable is the fact that my Windows desktop looks much sharper than it did on my 9905. Icon text, which had been pretty soft at 1064 X 600 now looks much crisper, particularly near the edges of the display. At this point it’s too late to pop in a DVD, so I decided to watch the news using dTV, which looks good despite Dish Network’s extremely over compressed local network feeds.
I don’t have an HD STB yet so I can’t report on how well the set does in that respect. I suspect, however, that it will be outstanding as was the case with the 9905. I ordered a Dish 6000, 8VSB Module, Dish 300 dish with dual LNB, SW64, from Dish Depot this morning (between basement drainings). While typing this post I received a confirmation email--everything was on its way and should be here on 3/28. Mark at Dish Depot was great in all respects; response, pricing, turn around time etc.
General Observations—Good stuff
Fan noise: Much improved over the original 9905 fans. The fans in the 9751 are very quiet and appear to spin at a lower RPM.
Video Input Selection: Improved but not ideal. From what I’ve been able to determine in the short amount play time I’ve had with this model, issuing a channel change when in any mode EXCEPT Aux 4 (HD Y Pb Pr) and Aux 5 (HD RGB-VGA) will cause the set to switch to the Ant A input. From there it should be pretty easy to create a Pronto macro the simulates a press of the Source button along with the appropriate number of up or down directional key presses to select the desired video input. Unfortunately, issuing a channel change while in the Aux 4 or Aux 5 modes does nothing. I think a workaround to switch to Aux 5 for example, might be to create a macro that consists of simulating the following button presses:
1. Source Button
2. Delay
3. Up Directional Arrow
4. Delay
5. Up Directional Arrow
6. Delay
7. OK Button
8. Delay
9. Channel Up (or Down)
10 Delay
11. Source Button
12. Delay
13. Up Directional Arrow (Menu selection is now on Aux 5)
14. Delay
15. OK Button
Switching to Aux 4 would require steps 1 – 14 plus the addition of the following steps:
14. Up Directional Arrow (Menu selection is now on Aux 5)
15. Delay
16. OK Button
PIP and Guide Plus: Great additions if you use the NTSC tuners (Ant A & Ant B) and the analog video inputs (Aux 1 – 3). Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, neither of these options is available on Aux 4 and Aux 5.
Multiple Video Mode Switching for Aux1 and Aux 2. Separate menu selections for Aux1 Y Pb Pr and S-video inputs. Ditto for Aux 2. Conceivably, (wild ass guess warning!) you should be able to double up two sources on one input assuming you’re using an AV receiver to switch audio sources.
PRICE!: At this price point, the 9751 is awesome considering it’s video performance and 9†CRTs.
General Observations—Nit Pickin’
My “Owners Manual†and “Setup and Quick Use Guide†consisted of photo copied and stapled documents—not quite appropriate for a set with an MSRP of nearly 8K. And given the fact that the serial number placard sports a manufacturing date of November 2000, you’d think they would have had time to include REAL manuals.
The bundled Pronto is the OEM version of the old 1MB model TS1000 NOT the current 2MB TS2000 Model.
Reduced Wide Band Component Video Input Flexibility: I much prefer the 9905’s additional “Input Type†menu selections (RGB Direct. RGB, Y Pb Pr).
The aforementioned chafed screen protector and clip-on frame.
Overall, based on the very limited amount of time I’ve spent in front of it, I’m quite happy with this set. I’ll post some more observations as soon as I can.
Regards -- Steve
------------------
STOP DFAST, BOYCOTT JVC, LONG LIVE HDTV
[This message has been edited by SteveV (edited 03-22-2001).]
My euphoria was a bit short lived. Overnight the Nor’easter the local (Boston) weather guys have been predicting finally hit. By the time the 6:30 am news came on we’d already seen 2 – 2.5 inches of rain which lasted from midnight last night until approx 4:00 this afternoon. Soooooooooo, rather than write this review first thing this morning like I had originally planned, I’ve been pumping water out my basement (and my parents basement, and the warehouse at work…).
Enough of my sob story--on with the review!
The unit arrived in good shape save for the protective screen, which had been chafed pretty badly by the clip-on display frame. This also happened with my 9905 and I suspect happens to every one of the units. Philips really should consider shipping these sets with the display frame unattached—it clips onto the set in less than 30 seconds and would prevent what I expect is a pricey service visit to replace the damaged parts. After wheeling the unit in place I began connecting cables and ran into snafu number one. The 5 BNC connectors from the 9905 have been replaced with RCA plugs. Determined to use my VGA to 5 BNC cable, I took a ride to Rat Shack and picked up 5 BNC-to-Phono adapters.
With everything now cabled properly I powered the unit up, switched to Aux 4 (HD Y Pb Pr) and am immediately greeted with a VERY magenta image of my HTPC desktop. No problem—I’ve seen this before on my 9905. I just need to select the “Input Type†from the set’s menu. Unfortunately, this menu category, which on the 9905 included an option for “RGB Directâ€, has been eliminated from the 9751. It appears that this input now only accepts Y Pb Pr / H V. The good news is that the set also includes a VGA input (Aux 5 RGB VGA). The bad news? I don’t have 15’ VGA Cable. Determined to make this work, I pack the kids in the car and head out to the local CompUSA. What are the odds they’ll have a 15’ VGA cable? Slim AND none. A ten foot cable? Nope. A six foot cable? Wrong. A VGA extension cable? Bingo. I’m pretty sure I have a 6’ VGA cable at home somewhere so I buy the extension and head home to finish up.
Now, where’s that VGA cable? Oh yeah—I remember, it’s on my monitor in the home office. After RE-cabling, powering the set up, and switching to Aux 5 the color now looks OK but the convergence and geometry look the pits. The very top of the image dips down approx one inch at the mid point—no amount to user convergence it going to correct this. What’s weird is that the geometry error is approximately the same for all three guns. I’m pretty sure Philips wouldn’t let the set pass final QC with the geometry this whacked out so I’m not sure what happened. A quick look at the service convergence confirms the bad geometry—looks like I’ll need to use the convergence template to try to touch this up. After attaching the convergence template it becomes quickly apparent that Philips has changed the position of the grid lines—at least I hope they have, otherwise my geometry is VERRRRRY goofed up. I decided to correct the dip at the top of the image using the template as a straight line reference only and to converge Red-to-Green and Blue-to-Green. There’s a bit of twist to some of the grid lines, but I'll have to correct this later, once I have the new template in hand.
The very good new is that the horizontal line bowing I was seeing on my 9905 very much improved on this set.
As a side note, if anyone knows what the new convergence template and service manual part numbers are, I’d appreciate the info.
With the geometry and convergence quickly(???) adjusted, it’s time to take this baby for a ride! Immediately noticeable is the fact that my Windows desktop looks much sharper than it did on my 9905. Icon text, which had been pretty soft at 1064 X 600 now looks much crisper, particularly near the edges of the display. At this point it’s too late to pop in a DVD, so I decided to watch the news using dTV, which looks good despite Dish Network’s extremely over compressed local network feeds.
I don’t have an HD STB yet so I can’t report on how well the set does in that respect. I suspect, however, that it will be outstanding as was the case with the 9905. I ordered a Dish 6000, 8VSB Module, Dish 300 dish with dual LNB, SW64, from Dish Depot this morning (between basement drainings). While typing this post I received a confirmation email--everything was on its way and should be here on 3/28. Mark at Dish Depot was great in all respects; response, pricing, turn around time etc.
General Observations—Good stuff
Fan noise: Much improved over the original 9905 fans. The fans in the 9751 are very quiet and appear to spin at a lower RPM.
Video Input Selection: Improved but not ideal. From what I’ve been able to determine in the short amount play time I’ve had with this model, issuing a channel change when in any mode EXCEPT Aux 4 (HD Y Pb Pr) and Aux 5 (HD RGB-VGA) will cause the set to switch to the Ant A input. From there it should be pretty easy to create a Pronto macro the simulates a press of the Source button along with the appropriate number of up or down directional key presses to select the desired video input. Unfortunately, issuing a channel change while in the Aux 4 or Aux 5 modes does nothing. I think a workaround to switch to Aux 5 for example, might be to create a macro that consists of simulating the following button presses:
1. Source Button
2. Delay
3. Up Directional Arrow
4. Delay
5. Up Directional Arrow
6. Delay
7. OK Button
8. Delay
9. Channel Up (or Down)
10 Delay
11. Source Button
12. Delay
13. Up Directional Arrow (Menu selection is now on Aux 5)
14. Delay
15. OK Button
Switching to Aux 4 would require steps 1 – 14 plus the addition of the following steps:
14. Up Directional Arrow (Menu selection is now on Aux 5)
15. Delay
16. OK Button
PIP and Guide Plus: Great additions if you use the NTSC tuners (Ant A & Ant B) and the analog video inputs (Aux 1 – 3). Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, neither of these options is available on Aux 4 and Aux 5.
Multiple Video Mode Switching for Aux1 and Aux 2. Separate menu selections for Aux1 Y Pb Pr and S-video inputs. Ditto for Aux 2. Conceivably, (wild ass guess warning!) you should be able to double up two sources on one input assuming you’re using an AV receiver to switch audio sources.
PRICE!: At this price point, the 9751 is awesome considering it’s video performance and 9†CRTs.
General Observations—Nit Pickin’
My “Owners Manual†and “Setup and Quick Use Guide†consisted of photo copied and stapled documents—not quite appropriate for a set with an MSRP of nearly 8K. And given the fact that the serial number placard sports a manufacturing date of November 2000, you’d think they would have had time to include REAL manuals.
The bundled Pronto is the OEM version of the old 1MB model TS1000 NOT the current 2MB TS2000 Model.
Reduced Wide Band Component Video Input Flexibility: I much prefer the 9905’s additional “Input Type†menu selections (RGB Direct. RGB, Y Pb Pr).
The aforementioned chafed screen protector and clip-on frame.
Overall, based on the very limited amount of time I’ve spent in front of it, I’m quite happy with this set. I’ll post some more observations as soon as I can.
Regards -- Steve
------------------
STOP DFAST, BOYCOTT JVC, LONG LIVE HDTV
[This message has been edited by SteveV (edited 03-22-2001).]
