Philips is one of the world's largest electronics companies, and its Avent division is a well-regarded brand in the sector of baby products. Subsequently, we were hardly surprised to find the Philips Avent Digital Video Baby Monitor is a high-caliber video baby monitor that new parents will relish – that is, if they can surmount the inescapable sticker shock.

From audio-only mode to VOX mode, Phillips Avent baby video monitor has all the standard features you would expect from a top-rated video monitor. It boasts automatic channel selection to ensure a strong signal, sound-activated lights for constant monitoring and automatic screen activation when a noise is detected in the baby's room. And though it isn't an important or must-have feature, we like that the monitor can play lullabies through the camera unit (much like our top-ranked Levana monitor does).

The fact that the baby video monitor does not have any pan or zoom features is a major let down. We would be reluctant to pay considerably more for a baby monitor that doesn't offer the flexible options that many other comparable and less-expensive baby monitors do.

The Phillips Avent baby video monitor offers a range of typical design elements, like a low-power indicator, a nightlight and controls for brightness and volume. In addition, it comes with a belt clip and a built-in kickstand for the receiver unit, but we would also liked to have seen wall-mount capability for the camera unit. Without that, users have to either place the camera on a tabletop surface or jury-rig a wall mount.

We don't love the design of this baby video monitor, most notably how much black is used; we feel a different color, or even using all white, would have been more appropriate for a baby's room. Additionally, the camera is not fixed to its stand but rather held by a magnet, which makes for convenient 360-degree positioning, but there's more potential for the camera to be damaged.

One last thing we didn't like was the visible-spectrum light emitted by the camera's night-vision LEDs. While they aren't bright enough to become a disturbance, this was not an issue on other monitors we reviewed and we were puzzled that such a design flaw (though minor) would be apparent on a Philips baby video monitor.

Given the fact that the Phillips Avent baby video monitor is a product of an electronics giant, we figured it would have superb sound and picture quality; not surprisingly, our assumptions were correct. The monitor has excellent sound quality and the camera's microphone is exceptionally sensitive. In fact, the automatic screen activation will trigger when the faintest of sounds (like a soft whimper) is detected.

That being said, this Philips baby video monitor isn't completely immune to static or feedback issues. We noticed some static when the monitor is close to a wireless device such as a phone, so be sure to position both units away from other wireless devices.

It may not boast the clarity or detail many Philips televisions do, but the monitor's 2.4-inch LCD screen does offer a crisp, clear picture and we were amazed to find the picture quality easily surpasses most of our top-ranked monitors.

A 12-month warranty on a baby video monitor is pretty good, especially since they often endure heavy use, but we were incredibly impressed with Philips' unmatched two-year warranty. The warranty not only covers any manufacturing defects, but it covers the receiver unit's included lithium-ion battery if it fails as well.

Like most monitor manufacturers, Philips also offers help and support through a toll-free number or via email. Given their size and global presence, we were a bit surprised the company has set customer service hours for their toll-free customer service line as 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST.