Review Philips 7700 4319K Smart TV 4K

Price: Rs. 41,340
Sourced from: Flipkart
Seller: Onmi Tech
Delivery Time: 2 days (Ordered 17 Nov 2016 - 7PM - Delivered 19 Nov 2016 - 10AM)
Screen Size: 43 inches
Smart: Yes

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge

I have been planning on investing on a large screen 4K TV for quite sometime. After having experienced utterly mediocre screen quality on a Micromax 50 inch and a Vu 50 inch fullHD models (these were bought for use as presentation screens - we wanted a large screen at the lowest possible price), I was even more keen on going in for big name brands.

I wanted a screen not only to look at designs but also to watch downloaded films and TV shows. Since I haven't watched cable/satellite/DTH TV in almost 18 years now, this working as a TV with a set-top box or whatchamacallit was not a top priority.

So, let me get the easier stuff out of the way first:

TV performance

Score: 4/5 (I am going out on a limb here)

We have a regular (read Non HD) hathway connection at home and I did try connecting the TV to it and flipped through a few channels and it was I guess okay. There was no HD content, so, I could not really judge if it was good or not.

I did not see any difference between the quality in terms of Samsung and LG TVs as far as non HD content was concerned.

The audio was pretty loud, although, there was no way to test how good the bass was. Even at full bass, the non HD content sounded pretty flat. After all, Saas and Bahu fights are mostly treble anyway.

Smart TV performance

Score: 3/5 (You ought to read this - your mileage on the score will vary)

I was not really interested in the smart TV part, but then, it is there, so it warrants a review however superficial.



The Bad:

1. At first I was pretty unimpressed with the entire smart TV shebang. It runs a very restriction version of Android and if you have a hidden wifi connection, good luck trying to connect to it. I could absolutely not find any way in which I could connect to the hidden networks.
2. There is very little space (1.3gb, I think) so if you want to really load-up on apps, tough luck.
3. The YouTube app was absolutely sh*t*y and there was no way I could search for content or choose the display resolution. There is an option to flag it, but that is about it.

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge (I have uploaded full sized pics to postimg)










The Good: (And they are really good)

1. Format support is excellent. It played 4k HEVC video without so much as a single frame loss. (it does not support A_DTS audio all the time) It played MKVs, AVIs and all the other formats that I could throw at it and in all of them, the audio quality was pretty decent. (And I am spoiled by an Altec Lansing MX 5021 and a Swans M50w)
2. Upscaling - I do not really know if there is upscaling at all. I seem to have read there is upscaling, and the picture quality leads me to believe there is upscaling, and it seems to work pretty darned well! (I am attaching pictures of 1080p content being played from a 2TB HDD)

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge (I have uploaded full sized pics to postimg)

Spoiler: Opinion Alert

Personally, I feel the goods are gooder than the bads are bad. But again, that is an opinion.

.... To be continued

In the next post....

• Use with another Android Box
• Use as a computer monitor
• Remote photos
• Remote stupidity
• No 3.5mm jack
• Cables that come in the box
• Any other questions that you may have and I might be able to answer with my limited knowledge.

(all this if I do not go back to my lazy ass self)

 

[soulweaver]

Use with a third party Android Box

While the TV is a smart tv, it is not as smart as I would generally like it to be. But then, I have a fairly capable android box (Minix X8-H) which is 4K capable.

When I hook up the TV to the android box via HDMI, i found the colours to be crisper and the audio to be more thumping than when the same media is playing natively from the TV's android system.

I can only assume that Minix being a proper media box has better audio drivers written for it.

Use as a Monitor
Like mentioned earlier, one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to get this was to use it as a monitor. I use my desktop as my entertainment system and wherever I go, there is a fairly capable desktop for my use (with two monitors).

As of now, I have tested this only with my 6 year old AMD 955, and it is doing fairly well. Since this desktop (which still seems to have some juice left and since runs photoshop and coreldraw and illustrator without any problems, I did not feel the need to upgrade it) has a rather pimply Radeon R7 240, I really cannot push the limits of the monitor, but whatever it does, it does well.

I am using it at 4k, and, neither the monitor, not the desktop has so far skipped a beat.

For designing, colours need a adjustment, but unless you are particular about having a colour calibrated monitor which shows a perfect pantone, this will do just swimmingly for regular design stuff. Just do not use it for colour proofing. (who in the right mind would use a TV for colour proof? )

However, the refresh rate is capped at 30hertz



At 1080p and 60hz, the display looks very oversharpened.

I do not know if this is because of the card, the cpu, the monitor or a bit of everything. But my guess is, while the monitors claims a refresh rate of 240hz, I am certain it can d0 240hz at FullHD and not at 4K.

Brightness and How far should you be seated?
The monitor is very, very, bright. Like all LEDs, the whites are searingly bright, and even with the backlight turned down to abosolute zero, the whites are eye-hurtingly bright at 2 feet away.

I am attaching a photo of the screen with the backlight at zero as I was typing this in a room with two regular tubelights turned on in the background.



Looking at the full resolution picture will give you a clear picture of how bright the monitor is.

...Coming up

I will update stuff as and when I have time, and I will only be too happy to answer any questions in the interim.

 

[mutant]

Waiting for more review, specially using it as monitor. Also, can you give me the link to it on Flipkart? Can't find it.

 

[soulweaver]

Waiting for more review, specially using it as monitor. Also, can you give me the link to it on Flipkart? Can't find it.

Hey! sorry for the delay in replying!

Here is the flipkart link:

https://www.flipkart.com/philips-109cm-43-ultra-hd-4k-smart-led-tv/p/itmengjugczjsuhf?pid=TVSENGJUAD6FDWZV

I am putting it in code because I am not sure if I would be violating any rules by posting a live link.

Also, I am currently typing this reply on the TV hooked-up to my computer. Do you have any specific questions? I will definitely try answering them. The rest of the review might take time since my publisher is on my ass to finish a long pending book

 

[Arv90]

we wanted a large screen at the lowest possible price

With 3k difference in price, I went for the 50 Inch VU 4k.
Why Philips and not VU?

I too got delivery within 24 hours

 

[soulweaver]

With 3k difference in price, I went for the 50 Inch VU 4k.
Why Philips and not VU?

I too got delivery within 24 hours

Like I already said in the review, I have a VU TV in the office and the screen quality is mediocre at best. There is a lot of ghosting and artefacting. I do not know if the latest crop of VU TVs are any good, but the old ones arent a patch on the Samsung / LG / Sony brethren. So I decided to play safe.

 

[mutant]

Hey! sorry for the delay in replying!

Here is the flipkart link:

https://www.flipkart.com/philips-109cm-43-ultra-hd-4k-smart-led-tv/p/itmengjugczjsuhf?pid=TVSENGJUAD6FDWZV

I am putting it in code because I am not sure if I would be violating any rules by posting a live link.

Also, I am currently typing this reply on the TV hooked-up to my computer. Do you have any specific questions? I will definitely try answering them. The rest of the review might take time since my publisher is on my ass to finish a long pending book

Thanks for the link, how's it generally with Laptop? Does it play well with text on 1:1 scaling at 4k resolution? How far do you sit from your desk?[DOUBLEPOST=1479834287][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, can it do Chroma 4:4:4 4k 60hz?

 

[Jasku]

Can you please answer this question - 'Also, can it do Chroma 4:4:4 4k 60hz?'

@mutant - If i am not mistaken dont you have the 1440p Korean monitor?

 

[mutant]

Can you please answer this question - 'Also, can it do Chroma 4:4:4 4k 60hz?'

@mutant - If i am not mistaken dont you have the 1440p Korean monitor?

I currently have a Samsung 28 4k monitor and a BenQ 120hz gaming monitor

 

[6pack]

I have installed the same version of YouTube on my android box. The way to set resolution in it is to open a video first. Then when the video is playing press the pauss button on remote. Below the Play button, you will see lots of icons. Select the HQ icon. You will get all the resolutions that are available. By default, I've seen that the YouTube app plays at highest resolution that the video was encoded at if its supported by the device. Mine plays at 1080p60 by default.

For searching: Just click on the huge magnifying glass icon on top left. It will bring up the search bar which allows voice input too (if your remote has a mic).
The browse channels at bottom left of screen allows to browse all trending channels.

Nice review btw.

 

[soulweaver]

Thanks for the link, how's it generally with Laptop? Does it play well with text on 1:1 scaling at 4k resolution? How far do you sit from your desk?[DOUBLEPOST=1479834287][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, can it do Chroma 4:4:4 4k 60hz?

It is doing swimmingly working as a monitor. I use it with a desktop and primarily for design. How far I sit from my desk depends on what I am doing. With this huge screen I am at least 4 feet away, however, when I am designing stuff, I do come pretty close.

I also have the backlight turned down to minimum.

As for the chroma thing, is there any way I can test it? This is the first time I am hearing of it!

 

[soulweaver]

I have installed the same version of YouTube on my android box. The way to set resolution in it is to open a video first. Then when the video is playing press the pauss button on remote. Below the Play button, you will see lots of icons. Select the HQ icon. You will get all the resolutions that are available. By default, I've seen that the YouTube app plays at highest resolution that the video was encoded at if its supported by the device. Mine plays at 1080p60 by default.

For searching: Just click on the huge magnifying glass icon on top left. It will bring up the search bar which allows voice input too (if your remote has a mic).
The browse channels at bottom left of screen allows to browse all trending channels.

Nice review btw.

Hey!! Thanks for the tip, when I feel the need to go back to the smarttv mode, I will surely try this thing out. As for the remote, it does not have a mic. I will have to make some time to complete the review. Between writing books, work, and setting up a new pad, and a bunch of rag-tag personal issues, I do not seem to be having enough time for TE!