Philips 30PW850H 30" Widescreen HDTV-Ready TV

by Philips

Product Details

Product Manual [2.24mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 123 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B0000AAAZ5
• Item model number: 30PW850H
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,491 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The 30PW850H's 30-inch Real Flat, high-definition widescreen picture tube affords today's best home cinema viewing when used with a progressive-scan DVD player or an outboard digital set-top box for DTV reception. Picture enhancements include a sophisticated 3D Y/C digital comb filter, which improves quality of incoming interlaced video signals by removing blurred edges between colors and reducing dot crawl (tiny, moving dots of color along a sharp color separation in a vertical line, as in a depiction of a character's striped t-shirt).

Eye Fidelity provides the choice between different line doubling and scanning techniques--progressive or interlaced--so you can reduce motion artifacts like jagged edges and stair stepping, viewing material in progressive scan (480p) or a line doubled (1050i) picture.

Velocity-scan modulation improves the definition at picture edges, creating sharper images by slowing the CRT (cathode-ray tube) beam's horizontal scanning during demanding work--say, when rendering transitions from light to dark parts of an image--and speeding it up when scanning easily rendered sections, like broad dark areas.

A shadow mask is a thin sheet of perforated metal behind the screen that restricts electron flow, each hole in the sheet corresponding to a single pixel. An Invar mask uses an alloy that's especially resistant to the high temperatures generated by the electron beam, allowing in a brighter, clearer picture. Further, a feature called Active Control continuously analyzes incoming signals and optimizes picture color, sharpness, contrast, and digital noise reduction 60 times per second.

The set offers stereo reception with 10 watts power per stereo speaker, and onboard Incredible Surround processing simulates surround sound from any two speakers.

Two sets of high-definition component-video inputs (1080i/480p) accommodate a set-top box/HD satellite receiver and a progressive-scan DVD player, while side and rear composite- and S-video inputs accommodate other hardware. Rear-panel audio/video outputs make it a cinch to hook the set up with your home theater surround receiver for a truly immersive AV experience. A 0.125-inch headphone jack lets you listen in private. The set includes an NTSC tuner for standard TV reception and comes with a universal remote control.

What's in the Box
TV, a universal remote control, remote batteries, operating instructions, and warranty information.

From the Manufacturer

The director had a vision, and this Philips 30-inch widescreen HD-ready TV lets you share it. The TV's Real Flat picture tube delivers today's best home cinema viewing experience while being prepared for tomorrow's TV developments. The HDTV option delivers exceptional picture quality and a real movie-viewing experience that makes television more dynamic than anything you've seen before. And the TV's Eye Fidelity feature allows users the choice of progressive or interlaced line doubling options. Both techniques are designed to enhance the quality of the picture by doubling the number of lines: interlaced for fast-moving images and progressive for slower-moving images.

The TV's 3D digital comb filter is considered the best type of comb filter available, as it separates colors and eliminates distortion to give you a razor sharp picture with breathtaking clarity. And whether you're watching a DVD or cable, the TV's Active Control feature will work to maintain the specifications that you have set, optimizing your television viewing experience. The TV's video is complemented by its Incredible Surround audio, which dramatically expands the sound field to create greater depth and provide the listener with an invigorating musical experience. The TV also includes Auto Picture, a convenient way to access the preset picture settings--multimedia, rich, natural, soft, and personal--to enhance the picture elements of different sources.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for the money, August 6, 2003

By 

E - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philips 30PW850H 30" Widescreen HDTV-Ready TV (Electronics)

Just got this television and for under 1K, it does a bang up job. It has an input for you progressive scan DVD player and an input for your 108i HD reviever, plus two more inputs for you VCR and whatever else you might have. The picutre on this thing is awesome!! Even old tapes look good with the line doubling, which lets you pick progressive or interlaced, I find interlaced helps with analog stuff, it takes the jaggies off. Again, for under 1K, an awesome tv.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good product - Horrible customer service from Philips, May 26, 2004

By 

"chasiind" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philips 30PW850H 30" Widescreen HDTV-Ready TV (Electronics)

I purchased this TV in the beginning of March. The picture was great, and watching DVD's in widescreen is fantastic. The HDTV quality is truly stunning. All of this for under $800.

But, if something goes wrong with your Philips unit, good luck.

My TV stopped taking any signal but the digital cable 39 days after I bought it. I could watch cable, but no DVD's or videos. I called Philips with my problem, and after speaking to somebody in another country for an hour, they had no idea what was wrong and I had to have it serviced.

The servicer came to my house under warranty and couldn't find the problem, so two weeks later they picked it up. Three weeks have gone by, and its still not fixed. I tried to call Philips to complain, but was again serviced by their customer service in Jamaica. They cannot do anything except say that the warranty is in effect, and that I can get it serviced. Good luck talking to them through their accents and the delay.

I asked to speak to somebody in the US, and they just gave me an address to write a letter to. It took them over two weeks to respond to my letter.

So after almost two months of being without a properly working television, two afternoons off work to meet service people and a third for when the tv is derlivered back, hours on the phone with their offshore customer "service" people, and a letter to PhilipsUSA headquarters, their total solution was to expedite the repair.

When I finally got someone in the USA to talk to me in response to the letter, they really didn't seem to care much about all of the steps that I had to take to get a problem resolved. I did everything they asked of me, yet Philips was unable to get me a working TV.

What did I do to deserve an malfuctioning TV and all the inconveniences? I bought a Philips TV.

So, while the TV is a good product, their poor service would make me really go out of my way to avoid purchasing another Philips product.

I realize that any product may not be perfect when purchased and may require service, but the lack of concern for the hoops I had to jump through just to obtain a working TV was pathetic.

A company should be judged on how they solve problems when things go wrong, Philips failed me, and they may fail you too.

As an update (June 5th), Philips did end up refunding my money, however, the two month process to do what I asked for originally has really soured me on Philips products and customer service.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Becoming a TV addict..., January 13, 2004

By 

Jay Kay "SouthPole" (Rock Hill, South Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philips 30PW850H 30" Widescreen HDTV-Ready TV (Electronics)

I have had this set for about a week. I gave a Samsung similar model back in exchange for this one. It is a stunning set with lots of features and an absolutely high-value performance.

The picture is rock-solid and has an assortment of modes to view it in...i.e. - movie, custom, etc. It doesn't bloom when the picture suddenly gets brighter and the set offers several ways to view the picture, 16:9, 4:3 and various modes in between.

I have always been a fan of Philips' sound. That goes right back to their Philetta table radio from 1954 that I still listen to once in a while. Their speakers are always very clear and pleasant to listen to at any volume. The set offers several sound selections to go with the type of program that's being watched. This is true particularly when one activates the "Incredible Surround Sound" feature that the set has.

The TV holds the aspect ratio setting that the user selects. That means if I watch a standard broadcast show with a 4:3 setting and I turn off the set, when I turn it on again, the setting remains at 4:3 until I choose to change it. The settings I find very thoughtfully placed in the menu. The most common or frequently used ones are right at the top level.

All-in-all, I find this set a great buy. I only question why they put the volume and channel select control (yes, it is combined) on the top of the TV. However, the remote is convenient and I just thought I'd question that item.

From the past, I assume that should I need Philips technical support for this HDTV, I know I can get it.