Grab an LG and a Hue Strip.  That's what I've got.

bfginger: Philips is out of the TV business, the name is licenced. All OLED TV panels are being manufactured by LG so the difference is in the software and support hardware. I don't think there's any chance of it being as good as a Panasonic or Sony OLED.

gehenna:

 

Grab an LG and a Hue Strip.  That's what I've got.

 

The whole point with Amiblight is to have it mirror the colours from the screen. From what I know you can´t do that with a Hue strip.

I'm skeptical about how well the ambilight can do it too.

What's that scepticism based on? Videos seem to show it's pretty effective, eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PccI_pUTZXs

And, as jarledb says, it's a very different concept to putting an LED strip around the back of the TV - while those lights may be set to specific colours, that's not the same as dynamically adjusting the colour to the picture. and different colours at the same time.

That said, while it looks cool, I'd want to try it out for a while (and in a fairly dark room) to confirm it's not a distraction.

A bit OT but I've been keen to give this s try...

https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Ambilight-With-Raspberry-Pi-and-NO-Arduino-Wor/

Personally, I think I'd look closer at these TVs when I have the dosh to buy an OLED (looking at run-out time April-sh next year). The reviews I've read of this model seem to be fairly positive, though I note the lack of the higher-spec HDR formats. At $4.5k it's certainly a decent amount cheaper than the competition; it'll be interesting to see how different actual image quality is. That it's an Android TV may be enough to put me off in the end, though; webOS is more stable and I understand now supports Google Assistant.

I've been doing some research on the Philips OLED TV's. It seems that the 2018 models (available at PB Tech) are very good, but its the 2019 models, the Philips OLED 804 and 854 that have really grabbed my attention. As mentioned before, the Philips name is now licenced to TP Vision who develop, manufacture and market the Philips brand to Europe, Russia, Middle East, South America and Asia Pacific excluding China.

Reviews of the 2018 OLED's are excellent. Some reviewers saying that they are right up there with the very best that Sony, LG and Panasonic have to offer. And at a reasonable price point.

I am drawn to the Philips brand because of their Ambilight technology, and the excellent previews of their OLED sets, which will have Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos on board. Their 2019 LED sets are now available in Europe, with the OLED sets following shortly. Their OLED sets will include their new P5 Pro processor. The 804 and 854 are identical except for their stands.

I see that Harvey Norman have some Philips LED models available, so hopefully they will be able to source the 2019 OLED's when available.

Boxing Day sales here I come 😀 

I always thought that ambilight existed to hide the shoddy blacks that philips TVs had back then, so really has no place on a oled.

It would bother me in the same way that people who inisist on pillarboxing vertical video or 4:3 content with blurry crap bothers me.

jonathan18: What's that scepticism based on?

Many of the reviews I read of the TV recommend setting the Ambilight LEDs to a relatively dim (compared to default) and static white, as opposed to using the dynamic settings; they mentioned a specific standard used by movie studios which I can't recall.

This, I assume, could be easily replicated by using a Hue LED strip.

Speaking of WiFi-controllable LED strips to do this job (backlighting behind a TV - are there any alternatives to the Hue range that could do this same job, and are of decent quality but don't require a hub? I'd look at doing this when we buy a new TV, but given it doesn't look like we're going down the Hue route...

gehenna:

jonathan18: What's that scepticism based on?

Based on seeing previous generation devices with the same functionality not reliably do it.

Your comments seem to be based on old technology.

I already have a n LED strip on the back of both of my TV's, so Ambilight will be something that I can adjust to my own satisfaction. If it isn't what I hope it will be, then I still have a fantastic OLED TV to watch my movie collection on.

Should I buy a Philips Ambilight TV?

 

Philips’s TVs may not earn quite as much attention as the latest Samsung or LG OLEDs, but Ambilight is a pretty compelling reason to choose a Philips model over everything else.

 

Not every Ambilight TV is made the same, though. Low-end models have “2-sided” Ambilight, meaning colour emanates from the left and right of the TV. The rest have a “3-sided” array, with LEDs pointing upwards too. For the full Ambilight experience, you want this feature.

 

Philips has even made a couple of 4-sided Ambilight TVs, including the Philips 9800 series. These project colour below as well. However, right now Philips’s top models max out with three sides of LEDs. 

 

Source: Techradar