Philips TV news for 2020 is the evolution in the right direction

Philips presented new LCD and OLED TV models for the current year at a press conference in Amsterdam. They are undoubtedly slightly better than their predecessors, but some important news are still missing. At least last year's models will be cheaper.

The Philips brand belonging to TP Vision should definitely be treated as one of the technical leaders in the electronics market. The biggest advantage seems to be the patented Ambilight lighting system, but fortunately the manufacturer does not rely solely on it.

TVs from this manufacturer are receiving well-deserved awards from industry experts related to image quality or openness to new technologies. I definitely think that Philips can confidently compete with Korean giants for a long time.

That is why I was very enthusiastic about the TP Vision invitation to a product conference in Amsterdam, expecting many cool news. I came back very happy with it, though probably not entirely for the reasons that Philips would have dreamed of. I saw great, attractive products - especially those from the mass product category. However, when it comes to the premium shelf, which is particularly interesting to me, I have good news of a different kind: thanks to the new generation of Philips OLEDs, the older ones will be cheaper. But maybe let's start from the beginning.

Philips 8505 The One from the Performance series - promises to be a great choice for those who save money.

Philips will continue to develop the Performance series, which is very popular among consumers. The high demand for these TVs is easy to explain: they actually fulfill the promise of offering decent sound and picture parameters for very reasonable money. In addition, they contain - like all new Phillips - Ambilight lighting, undoubtedly increasing the attractiveness of these devices.

The latest representative of the Performance line - model 8505 - will be available in 43-, 50-, 58- and 70-inch versions. You can also find it in the 8545 (with chrome stand), 8535 (with remote control with QWERTY keyboard) and 8555 (with both additions above) variants. The equipment will work under the control of Android TV Pie. The novelty compared to last year's proposal (model 7304) are better operating parameters: the brightness has been increased from 350 to 400 rivets and the coverage of the DCI-P3 palette from 75 percent. up to 90%

The TV will be equipped with a 4K DLED matrix with WCG, Dolby Vision, HDR10 + and HLG support, and Dolby Atmos decoder has not been forgotten either. The presence of the Philips P5 processor also ensures the availability of Philips image enhancers , such as the Natural Motion liquefier and the Ultra-resolution scaler. If the Performance line maintains its price level, it seems doomed to success - although of course it's a bit wishful thinking. I watched part of the movie Dark Spectrum on this equipment, which is hardly an exhaustive test - but it looked very decent.

The Philips 9 Series sounds great for the price. You won't need to buy a soundbar for the 9235 and 9435 models.

The 43-inch 9235 and 55- or 65-inch 9435 can be - to a slightly unfair simplification - described as the Performance line with a much better sound module, in the form of an external speaker in the form of a soundbar designed by Bowers & Wilkins. The cheaper and smaller model is equipped with a 40-watt 2.1 module, the more expensive with a Dolby Atmos compatible module 2.1.2.

And I must admit that in both cases this sound system, writing colloquially, does the job. We had the opportunity to listen to both fragments of films and music played on Spotify. This is obviously not a system that can be measured with a powerful home theater. However, as always, I recommend buying even the cheapest soundbar or loudspeakers for the TV, so it doesn't make any sense in both models. The sound is strong and clear on both high and low registers. Atmospheric space simulation is also implemented at least correctly. Certainly not worse than an external audio system for several hundred zlotys.

I am very curious about the prices of both models, as well as more accurate parameters of their matrices (I assume they are as good or better as in the Performance series). If the price is right and there are many indications when looking at Philips market activities, a potential market hit is being prepared. For now, we only know that the 9435 uses the ELED matrix instead of DLED, which should provide a tad better results.

Time for a premium line. The Philips OLED805 makes an amazing impression and arouses the desire of enthusiasts. The problem is that it could have been done even better.

At the outset, I would like to note that the slightly negative tone of my impressions from the presentation of the new Philips OLEDs is not due to the potential usability of these products. OLED805 (and OLED855 stand different from it) promise to be one of the best premium TVs on the market - especially for people who have invested in an external sound system. The changes compared to the 804/854 model, however, are so small that the most from the presentation of the new models I enjoy the price drops of last year. Let me explain.

The OLED805 TV is almost identical to the OLED804. Therefore, it inherits all its advantages, such as the OLED matrix providing excellent contrast, or the sensational P5 integrated circuit that ensures effective image processing - both for fans of the image faithful to the director's intentions, and lovers of all quality enhancers, such as fluidizing the image, boosting the colors more saturated or simulation HDR effect on SDR materials. The TV invariably supports both HDR10 + and Dolby Vision, so the infamous war of standards does not apply to it. This is fantastic equipment. But has anything changed besides the number in the name?

Philips has modernized its P5 integrated circuit for OLED lines, thanks to which it can already use the same tricks as the new LG or Samsung TVs - we are talking about intelligent image reconstruction from lower resolution to higher using artificial intelligence algorithms. The mechanism analyzes and recognizes the content on the screen, respectively using additional sharpening, color boost, noise removal and so on. However, Philips approached the subject slightly differently than the competition.

The AI ​​mechanism in Samsung or LG TVs works regardless of the selected mode of operation (cinema, live, play, natural, etc.). Meanwhile, in the new Philips OLEDs it is a separate mode of operation, next to the others. So we can choose Cinema mode for image fidelity or SI mode if we want it (in theory) to be better than the original. How does this mechanism work? For now, it is difficult for me to assess: I only saw demonstrations on the manufacturer's materials, so of course it looked great. However, only tests on normal material will show its actual usability. I'm intuitively optimistic: Philips enhancers have worked exceptionally well so far, so I expect good results here.

The problem is that this is the only significant novelty. In addition, low value for people like me - who prefer faithful signal reproduction instead of digital plastic. OLED805 was, however, a great opportunity to introduce HDMI 2.1 (in particular eARC) and Filmmaker Mode support . Unfortunately, none of this. I even asked if we can expect software updates, because in theory it is possible to introduce some functions only in software. Unfortunately, we have nothing to count on.

Philips is very supportive of the Filmmaker Mode initiative and will introduce its support in future models of their TVs - as I was able to determine in conversation with a representative movies. In turn, eARC is unnecessary, because all VOD service providers use Dolby Digital + to compress the Atmos signal, which is supported by ordinary ARC . To clarify: ARC and eARC are a special type of HDMI connector designed for external sound system.

Universal ARC does not have enough bandwidth to output Atmos audio to home theater. The representative of Philips did not say untruth: Netflix or Prime Video actually use DD + to send Atmos in lossy compression. However, this means that when connecting a Blu-ray player or gaming console with Atmos audio support, we must either give up the full dynamics of uncompressed Dolby Atmos TrueHD audio, or connect an external device to the sound system instead of the TV, introducing unnecessary tangled cables and complicated handling of the whole. Let's not forget that the TV is not a telephone - we do not change it every three years. And who knows if by that time and in VOD we will not begin to experience uncompressed sound. What's more, a significant part of the competition has already introduced eARC this year.

Well, at least the entry of OLED805 on the market means a decrease in the price of the extremely attractive OLED804 - the first discounts can already be seen at Polish distributors.

There is also an 8K TV and YouTube image enhancement technology. For now in the form of prototypes.

The 88-inch Philips OLED 8K with Ambilight backlight is basically ready. However, Philips sees no sense in introducing it to the market due to its very high price and lack of content in this format. He even thinks that it is inappropriate to get so much money from customers in exchange for basically nothing - at least for today. The equipment was shown to us, but this year it almost certainly will not appear in stores.

A much more interesting of the mechanisms is the prototype algorithm designed to remove the so-called banding (see above), and therefore the color jumps in the compressed video material. The result is impressive (see below), although it is not clear when and in what form will go to devices on sale.

Potential killers in the low and medium price range and high - though unsatisfying - level of the premium offer.

Philips is preparing for a strong offensive on the mass customer market. The Performance series and the 9 series promise to be very high - of course, in the context of their price - class. The manufacturer's presentations have left a big impression on me, both in terms of image and sound. We still have to verify them under the conditions controlled by us, not by the manufacturer, but I do not expect unpleasant surprises. And all this, of course, with the unique Ambilight.

I would also be happy to recommend buying Philips OLEDs, despite the allegations they made in the text - but they relate to quite a strenuous enthusiast. The combination of the OLED matrix from LG Display, the most responsive on the Android TV market, great layout and programming solutions from the Philips P5 family, and Ambilight backlight gives one of the best products of this class on the market. It's just that I have some doubts about the attractiveness of the SI add-on described above - and due to the lack of other novelties, exactly the same features last year's model. Cheaper and cheaper until stocks run out - then OLED805 will probably stop.

Philips TV news for 2020 is an evolution in the right direction