Philips recently introduced new additions to its 9000 series HDTVs via two new models for the 9600 series and the new 9700 series announced for release in summer 2009. ??The TVs boast full HD displays, Philips’ Ambilight technology on three sides, and aluminum frames which will be black in the 9604 and 9664, and silver in the 9700 series. ?? The consumer draw to the Philips 9664 is its waif-like thickness (20mm thick) at its thinnest point. The HDTV also boasts 200Hz “Clear LCD” and a one millisecond response time. This will make for less motion blur, particularly during fast moving scenes which is all the rage in LCD HDTVs right now.

What’s amazing about the 46PFL9704H/12 is the high dynamic contrast ratio of 5000000:1. This is made possible by the LED backlighting found on the TV. The LED backlight achieves this through a unique local dimming of the LEDs. It generates light where it is needed in the image and keeps dark areas supremely black. With this feature, images are rendered with extreme deep blacks alongside vibrantly coloured bright sections. As with the other Philips LCD included in this Group Test, the 46PFL9704H/12 also supports Net TV for streaming video content from the internet in directly to your TV – might we add as well that the LCD has a built-in Wi-Fi 802.11n support for connecting to the internet. Yes, it has Wi-Fi. Lastly, the Philips 200 Hz Clear LCD brings the response time of LCD TV to an incredible 1 ms, so even with the fastest action scene you will be enthralled by the action, and not following the stretched car across the screen.

Browsing the Internet via your TV remote isn’t ideal. It’s harder to navigate around pages and access links without a mouse, and inputting hyperlink text without a proper keyboard is always going to be a chore. But, thanks to a neat on-screen virtual keyboard and the possibility of inputting often-used Internet phrases like ‘www’ and ‘.co.uk’ with the press of just one button, surfing the Web on the 32PFL9604H isn’t nearly as frustrating an experience as expected.

This, together with the freedom of having the whole Internet at your disposal, means that the 32PFL9604H’s online access is something you’ll probably use regularly, rather than being a mere sideshow, as it is with most TVs.