Philips DesignLine television review

Paul Davies examines a television that looks like no other, even before you've turned it on. 

 

 

Televisions have gone all handsome over the past five years, but if you’ve seen one giant superslim screen, you’ve seen them all – until you’ve seen the radical new Philips DesignLine.

There’s no frame, no curvy chrome stand, just a single (46 or 55in) slab of almost-square 'gradient’ glass – black at the top, fading into transparency at the bottom – that rests nonchalantly against the wall like that framed picture you haven’t got around to hanging.

Philips conceived it as 'an object of desire’ and, handily for a TV, you’ll want to look at it for hours; you may even want to switch it on.

When you do, the top half bursts into full HD LED life, powered by a Perfect Pixel engine for incredibly sharp moving images, even with your nose pressed against the glass, and Active 3D, which is startling given how defiantly two-dimensional the hardware is.

The clear glass at the base, coupled with three-sided Ambilight, adds to the impression that the DesignLine is floating in front of your very eyes.
And it’s as Smart on the inside as outside: WiFi-enabled, with all the usual catch-up and on-demand goodies, and a SimplyShare function to stream content from your phone or tablet.
Even the brushed aluminium remote, with its handy pointer for navigating the various Smart options, and a full QWERTY keyboard on the underside, is a cut above.
If you’re worried about it tipping over and crushing the cat, there’s a wall-mounting option, but it makes much more of a statement as a lovely looking lean-to.