This Philips Cineos 42-inch LCD is part of a new range with an all-new design and boasting of 'Made in Europe' credentials. But that alone does not make a good TV. Given, that it looks really good with the black glossy finish, rounded edges and highlighted by a layer of clear acrylic.

But the price tag is a bit scary. Let's look at the specs on paper and see if it matches up to one of the best LCDs we've seen, the Samsung Series 6. First things first, it is a full HD panel, so we're off to a good start. It has a 2 ms response time, 30,000:1 contrast, 4 HDMI inputs and 100 Hz technology. So the specs do match up, at least on paper.

We first tested it out with the BigTV and Tatasky+ DTH connections. It should be kept in mind that these are standard definition television signals playing on a higher resolution screen, so it's less than ideal. But having said that, I found no fault with the colors and brightness levels. The Cineos claims to display 2250 trillion colors which seems like an impossibly large number. The main issue was with the black levels, which when compared to the Samsung Series 6 is a let down.

You also get 'Perfect Natural Motion' technology which is meant to reduce the juddering effect of fast moving images. But while watching a cricket match, every time a batsman hit a ball in the air, we saw a trailing effect. However, strangely enough this was not visible in other fast motion scenes from upscaled movies or HD games. Cricket lovers might have something to be worried about, since this was seen on both the DTH connections.

The user menus in the television are easy to use and offer a lot of options without much fuss. It also includes an extremely important, but most neglected tool for LCD and Plasma televisions, the image calibrator. The calibrator basically guides you through several layers of adjustment to get the right picture quality for your needs, ambient lighting and preferences. You also get 'Active Light Control', which adjusts the brightness automatically and '24p True Cinema' mode which makes movies seem more cinema-like.

The speakers are on the rear panel, and are clearly visible. The quality is clear with good bass levels even at low volume levels.

Philips Cineos 42PFL9703/98 Rs 1,29,990	Performance Coolness
Pros Made in Europe? Cons Overpriced for the size and features Sold by Philips India http://india.philips.com	Specs 42-inch, full HD 1080p panel (1920 x 1080 pixels), 30,000:1 contrast, 100Hz technology, 2ms response time, 4 x HDMI, 1 x USB, upgradeable software Verdict

Apart from the ghosting issue while watching the cricket match and the less-than-ideal contrast, there is nothing else wrong with the TV, except for the price. You can get a slightly smaller
40-inch Samsung Series 6 (LA40A650) for about Rs 1lakh which offers far superior performance. Buy this only if you really prefer the design and are willing to spend the extra cash.