Philips 42PF9966 42-Inch HD-Ready Flat Panel Plasma TV
Great picture, thrilled with Ambilight
I bought this TV in Dec 2004, so this is the experience after 6 months of living with the unit. <br /> <br />To my surprise, the most prominent feature of the TV is Ambilight. It is able to project a soft light from the back of the TV. You can  turn it on/off, adjust the brightness, have it dynamically adjust to the color on the screen etc. I thought it was a gimmick, but have come to the conclusion that I cannot live without it. I used to have to find the appropriate light to leave on while watching TV, now it is perfectly installed into the television. <br /> <br />I have my unit connected to a surround sound system recently. However, before purchasing the audio, I have been very satisfied with the speakers and sound system already in place. The main reason being that you can connect a sub-woofer to the TV, and there by greatly enhance the sound output. It is able to simulate  surround sound using the Virtual Dolby Surround feature. <br /> <br />Another pleasant surprise I got was the ease of mounting the TV to the wall. The unit comes with a nice glass stand, but I finally decided to hang it on the wall. It comes with a wall bracket with holes spaced at 16\\" for standard drywall studs.  <br />You can see the picture of my TV under the \\"custom image\\" link! <br /> <br />People supposedly spent around $100-$200 to buy plasma mounts. Similarly, the TV comes with the DVI-HDMI connector cable. This is the higher end video connection if your DVD or set-top box supports it. Again, the cable cost around $100 if purchased separately. <br /> <br />Many of the other cool sounding features are harder to distinguish. Is it sharper? Is it brighter? I don't think many of us can see the difference. All I can say is that the picture quality of the 42PF996 for High-Definition is simply amazing!! Mine is connected to Cable and I can no longer watch non-HD programming. <br /> <br />On the negative side, which has nothing to do with this particular model, do be aware of the following.Normal analog programming (non-HD) looks worse than on our old televisions. High Definition TVs magnify the imperfections. It is very painful to watch analog programming. Note that this unit does not have a built-in HD tuner. Which is not a big deal, because most of us get our HD programming from cable or satellite, which provides the tuner. It is useful to have a built-in tuner for 2 reasons. One is that you want to get HD signal over the air with antenna. Secondly, some cable companies can give you a 'card' in place of a cable box if your TV supports it.  <br /> <br />Lastly, Philips customer service has been disappointing. This is not based on 1 phone call, but rather months of calls to resolve some questions. <br /> <br />I am the type that research the TV I buy quite thouroughly before buying, and found it useful to browse through the product manual online before purchasing. As in many other manufacturers, Philips has the manuals online for download: [...] <br />So there should be no surprises regarding how many connections you need, what type of A/V available etc. <br /> <br />Good luck!