A Really Great Unit Falls Short

The Philips DCD778 under kitchen cabinet Radio/TV/DVD player with iPod dock is one of those products that entices you with a beautiful design, easy installation, large screen and iPod capabilities ... and then zaps you with a significant, promised feature that does not work!

Specifically, page 30 of the (English) manual indicates the capability to set the widescreen display to properly show 4:3 videos (ie: those not formatted for widescreen viewing). Instead the unit automatically stretches the picture to fill the width turning circles into eggs and people into short, squat creatures. I went through two units and neither I nor any of my video-savvy friends could get this TV display-setting feature to work. I also contacted Philips technical support but they were offshore and clueless. By the way, the unit treats 4:3 broadcast television the same way - something that could could be accepted since no claim is made for a manual adjustment.

If you do not care if the picture is distorted, you should love the DCD778. Otherwise, stay clear and save the extra set of holes in your kitchen cabinet.