Philips 30PW8402/37 30" HD-Ready TV with RealFlat Screen
Excellent Bargain for HD Broadcasts
I am new to the world of HDTV.  I am using this Philips TV accessing content by way of my cable provider in the NYC area.  I mention this because I was a little disappointed when I started viewing shows on this Philips set.  Adjusting the controls provided with the TV went some ways toward producing a fair picture with standard definition broadcasts.  The first HD channels I saw were noticably better but nothing that stood out.  I surmised that this was the result of a low priced unit.  You get what you pay for.  <br /> <br />That is, until I turned on the Discovery HD channel.  As a recent famous philosopher might say...\\"Whoa!\\"  The picture was crisp with vibrant colors. It displayed an almost life-like picture.  This is what I was expecting.  A big, noticeiable difference between digital cable and HDTV.  I now use the Discovery HD channel to baseline my HD picture settings on the set. <br /> <br />I have since come across other true HD programming. They all looked excellent when viewed on this Philips TV. Progressive scanned DVD players take advantage of the Philips ability to display content at 480p as well as 1080i.  The result is an excellent picture when viewing DVD's and using component cables. <br /> <br />The sound is only average when using the set's built-in speakers, though that was not unexpected.  I expect a home theater setup to be much better.   <br /> <br />To finish my point:  The Philips 30PW8402 television is an excellent bargain when viewing true HD programming.  The quality of standard definition broadcasts has been average at best.  Keep in mind that all of this is also determined by the quality of the source material (is it true HD?) and signal from your content provider, which seems to vary greatly. <br /> <br />