While flat TVs were always designed with wall-hanging in mind, actually fixing one to your wall can be nightmarishly difficult. And so precious few flat TV owners bother.
Philips (quite rightly) thinks this is silly. So its got its R&D boys to focus on making wall hanging as foolproof as possible. And the result is the Essence 42PES0001.
The first sign that it loves your wall is its design. Its remarkably trim for a 42in LCD TV, with a bezel barely an inch across, a rear end that sticks out just 38mm, and a weight of just 17kg.
Can of tunerAlso key is its use of an external tuner/connections box. Having all the connections (including USB and Ethernet PC streaming jacks) and tuner on a separate box means theres only one cable that runs into the screen much tidier than the usual cable spaghetti nightmare.
Audio, meanwhile, comes courtesy of a brilliantly designed, detachable and superslim speaker bar.
The most inspired aspect, though, is its included wall bracket. This uses a curved mounting strip, so that if you dont drill your mounting holes exactly level, you can simply slide the TV around the curve until it's level. Genius.
Of course, theres no point wall-hanging any TV if its crap. So its a relief that it isn't.
Black, white and everything in betweenColours are stunningly intense, for starters, and dark scenes benefit from one of the best contrast/black level efforts weve seen from standard (non-LED) LCD technology.
Philips Perfect Pixel HD processing also leaves HD images looking blisteringly crisp and sharp; motion looks fluid and clean; and even standard definition sources look something akin to HD. With some startlingly punchy audio joining in, is there anything not to like?
The fading of the AmbilightActually, yes. First, the ultra-slim design has meant Philips has had to deny the 42PES0001 any form of the brands engaging and colourful Amblight technology.
Second, the TVs heavy-duty processing means you have to revisit the complex onscreen menus pretty regularly to avoid different types of source from suffering with processing glitches.
But provided you show it the attention it deserves, the Essence 42PES0001 is our current favourite from the whole of Philips' current range. And thats saying something.
Author:John Archer
Copyright 2009 Dennis Publishing All Rights Reserved.
Philips Essence 42PES0001