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(More customer reviews)First of all, I'm NOT an Electronics Fan, I'm a Broadcast Professional with over 25 years in Network Engineering and Broadcasting. Here's the deal on the E-box:
After $8000 for an FD9955 and a FTR-9964 E-Box, we have come to find that if you want to purchase or integrate this e-box into your system, AND have one button access to your input sources, YOU CAN'T.
Let's say you want to watch your HD DBS (Direct TV-HD), and then switch to a DVD. A High-End aftermarket remote with Macro features would allow you to press ONE button and have the Receiver change sources, and modes, then switch the E-Box to the right source. Not here! There is NO direct button to do this. You have to toggle through the various VIDEO inputs until you get to the right one. How do you train a remote control to figure out what Video source your're on, and which one you want to go to next? There is no Lexicon, Crestron, or RTI remote that can accomplish this. Oh, and every time you turn off the E-Box and TV, the Default Video Input is Video 1, not where you left it. So you have to toggle through 3 Sources before you get to the HD input. (Think about it. It's like a wristwatch that you have to wind through 24 hours & 18 days to get the date you want, rather than a function to take you right there. It's a loose correlation but I hope you get the idea) One Button -One Source - and One IR code will solve the issue for each input.
We are in discussions with Philips about this, and I believe that they will do NOTHING, and don't care. I am the consulting installer, and the client is livid. He has had roughly the same response that I have been given. The company line, "That's the way it is". Quite arrogant in my opinion. I hope to be proven wrong, AND if I am, I WILL RE-POST a conclusion to this VERY POOR DESIGN FLAW with the outcome. I am rooting for Philips but so far, I'm NOT impressed to the tune of $8000.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Philips E-Box NTSC Receiver/Router for Philips Plasma TVs (FTR9964)
Simplify your setup, ease your operation, and enhance the picture quality of your Philips plasma TV with the handy E-Box NTSC receiver and router (model FTR9964). Made for plug-and-play use with Philips 50FD9955, 42FD9934, 42FD9954, and 32FD9954 plasma TVs, the E-Box offers a host of audio/video inputs and outputs (far more than your plasma display can fit in its slender chassis) and a wealth of picture-enhancing technologies to boot. A plasma display panel is essentially just a giant computer monitor, which needs sources connected to it in order to display a picture. The E-Box providesa convenient way to manage your many home-entertainment audio and video sources. Among the features it extends to your display is two-tuner, split-window PIP (picture-in-picture) so you can watch two programs simultaneously, or watch one while recording the other to a PVR, DVD, or videocassette. Line doubling with Digital Natural Motion (480p/1080i) brings interlaced sources like VCRs and non-progressive-scanning DVD players into the digital realm. Active Control Plus+ is a unique, intelligent, and proactive control system that continuously measures and analyzes the incoming signal 60 times per second to automatically and continually adjust picture settings for optimal quality. Just as importantly, Active Control Plus+ also uses a sensor to adjust for ambient room light, so as the room gets brighter, so will your picture. When black bars are present on screen (either on the sides or the top and bottom), a feature called APAC (Automatic Phosphor Aging Compensation) imperceptibly moves the picture up and down or back and forth to help prevent the dreaded screen burn-in. Think of APAC as a screen saver for your plasma monitor. The E-Box also gives you seven viewing modes to provide broad choices in how you watch your programming. The format modes are: 4:3, Movie Expand 14:9, Movie Expand 16:9, Movie Expand 16:9 with subtitling, Super Wide, Widescreen, and Auto Format. The unit's many inputs include everything from standard and high-definition component-video (for use with an external HDTV receiver) to an RF antenna input for NTSC reception or even a feed from an older VCR or cable box. A center-channel audio input can be matrixed into the stereo signal feeding your plasma monitor, and a front-panel headphone output affords private listening. You can install the E-Box up to 33 feet away from your plasma display. A specially designed VGA-type cable (15-pin, shielded and included) connects the E-Box to the plasma unit. The picture, sound, and infrared control of the E-Box is achieved through the IR port on the plasma panel using the remote control(s) that came with your plasma monitor, freeing you at once and always from line-of-sight concerns over the E-Box placement.
What's in the Box E-Box receiver, two VGA cables (two- and five-meter, including a gold cinch), antenna cable, and a user's manual.
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