Want a 55" 4K HDR TV - Ambilight?
Discussion
As per thread title, I need (actually, want) a new TV. Can't stretch to an OLED, budget is C.£600-£700 MAX (but by far my biggest preference is to spend under £600.
I have Hue lights all around my living room, so for obvious reasons the Ambilight is getting a lot of my attention.
Inputs will be a PS4, Apple TV, TiVo, and the built in Smart apps. Sound is provided by an external amp/speaker system so sound quality is of no concern whatsoever.
I'm seriously considering the Philips 55PUS6272 ambilight (£549 at the moment) The 50" version gets a decent review on What HiFi (https://www.whathifi.com/philips/50pus6272/review) but it does mention that the viewing angle is really rather poor.
I've done some very, very rough measurements and my main seats are up to about 30 degrees off centre, with one chair almost bang on. The review says that once you move far off centre, it washes out quickly, but I'm wondering if 30 degrees is far out enough that it would be a big issue. Anyone seen it in the flesh? Unfortunately Currys don't seem to have it in stock.
Are there any alternatives that I should consider? I'm thinking usual suspects like Samsung are always good, but lack the Ambilight function which of course I can link with my Hue lights for extra gadget points.
Worth noting that I can get 6-8% discounts off gift cards at Argos and Currys. I'd want to use this (as it reduces the cost of the Ambilight to a healthy £505), but of course it means that if I don't like the TV, I'll be refunded onto a gift card, so will be stuck buying the alternative at the same shop!
I have Hue lights all around my living room, so for obvious reasons the Ambilight is getting a lot of my attention.
Inputs will be a PS4, Apple TV, TiVo, and the built in Smart apps. Sound is provided by an external amp/speaker system so sound quality is of no concern whatsoever.
I'm seriously considering the Philips 55PUS6272 ambilight (£549 at the moment) The 50" version gets a decent review on What HiFi (https://www.whathifi.com/philips/50pus6272/review) but it does mention that the viewing angle is really rather poor.
I've done some very, very rough measurements and my main seats are up to about 30 degrees off centre, with one chair almost bang on. The review says that once you move far off centre, it washes out quickly, but I'm wondering if 30 degrees is far out enough that it would be a big issue. Anyone seen it in the flesh? Unfortunately Currys don't seem to have it in stock.
Are there any alternatives that I should consider? I'm thinking usual suspects like Samsung are always good, but lack the Ambilight function which of course I can link with my Hue lights for extra gadget points.
Worth noting that I can get 6-8% discounts off gift cards at Argos and Currys. I'd want to use this (as it reduces the cost of the Ambilight to a healthy £505), but of course it means that if I don't like the TV, I'll be refunded onto a gift card, so will be stuck buying the alternative at the same shop!
Plenty of back lighting kits on Amazon & Ebay.
Rather than overpaying for the built in gimmick, buy the TV with the best picture for your budget then fit your own back lighting.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pangton-Villa-Backlight-4...
Rather than overpaying for the built in gimmick, buy the TV with the best picture for your budget then fit your own back lighting.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pangton-Villa-Backlight-4...
Ambilight isn't just backlighting or bias lighting. Alright, I'm sure it can be and just be fixed to one colour - but the reason that some people rave about it is that it's displaying different colours on different sides, and it matches what is shown on screen. So if your top right view is of blue sky, with bright green trees to the left - it fades from blue to green etc. You can't replicate with a basic backlighting kit. I don't even think you can replicate it with the pricier Hue ones (if I'm wrong, I'll be very happy to be - because I want Ambilight, but with a decent TV as well.) Ambilight is probably the only reason Philips are selling any TV's because in the PQ stakes you get more for your money with other brands.
Now at your price point for a 55" TV you're not going to get meaningful HDR. Yes, the TV's will support the technology (HDR10 and HLG for most) but in terms of actual TV's you're looking at (Hisense N6800, Panasonic 700B, Samsung MU7000) you won't get any meaningful HDR. So if that's a priority for you, double your budget (and maybe a bit more) for something like the Sony XE93 or go OLED and look at the LG B7.
But HDR isn't everything, and the three TV's I've named perform very well in other regards. If you watch a lot of football I'd pick the one that does the best motion handling (I think the MU7000 is pretty well regarded in that sense) or pick what's most important to you. All those options are pretty respectable and do a good image.
Then you're back to your original option, which is to say that things like colour accuracy, motion handling etc aren't that important. If it's for general day-to-day, SD and HD content where you're not watching much 4K content - or you're too far away to really appreciate it - then going with something pretty, with flashy colours to snazz up the living room leads you back to a Philips Ambilight. And whilst they aren't the best VFM picture quality wise, the reviews I've read suggest they aren't poor either - they're just behind others in their class.
Personally, I'm in the process of setting up a home cinema room. I've got my heart set on a 65" Sony XE9305 (although stocks are limited) but if I can't get one at a price I'm happy with, I'm probably going to settle for a 55" Philips whilst I save some pennies - knowing it'll make the front room look good when it gets replaced in the home cinema room next year with something more cinematic (like an LG B7, or Sony ZD9.)
My tuppence worth anyway.
Now at your price point for a 55" TV you're not going to get meaningful HDR. Yes, the TV's will support the technology (HDR10 and HLG for most) but in terms of actual TV's you're looking at (Hisense N6800, Panasonic 700B, Samsung MU7000) you won't get any meaningful HDR. So if that's a priority for you, double your budget (and maybe a bit more) for something like the Sony XE93 or go OLED and look at the LG B7.
But HDR isn't everything, and the three TV's I've named perform very well in other regards. If you watch a lot of football I'd pick the one that does the best motion handling (I think the MU7000 is pretty well regarded in that sense) or pick what's most important to you. All those options are pretty respectable and do a good image.
Then you're back to your original option, which is to say that things like colour accuracy, motion handling etc aren't that important. If it's for general day-to-day, SD and HD content where you're not watching much 4K content - or you're too far away to really appreciate it - then going with something pretty, with flashy colours to snazz up the living room leads you back to a Philips Ambilight. And whilst they aren't the best VFM picture quality wise, the reviews I've read suggest they aren't poor either - they're just behind others in their class.
Personally, I'm in the process of setting up a home cinema room. I've got my heart set on a 65" Sony XE9305 (although stocks are limited) but if I can't get one at a price I'm happy with, I'm probably going to settle for a 55" Philips whilst I save some pennies - knowing it'll make the front room look good when it gets replaced in the home cinema room next year with something more cinematic (like an LG B7, or Sony ZD9.)
My tuppence worth anyway.
Thanks for the replies guys, to try and address them all and add some detail that I may have missed...
Tenohfive is spot on about ambilight, it can't be replicated with a basic light strip kit, it responds dynamically to what's on screen. A mate used to have an ambilight set and I really liked it. I found it helped immerse you just that little bit further in what you were viewing.
To add to this, I have Hue setup all around my living room, in each corner and behind me, it's possible to integrate the lights with the set via the app, and this will support whole room ambilighting. At some point I understand they even intend to have full "surround lighting" so that things which aren't even on screen yet can be represented by the lights changing around the room. I gather gaming will be the first port of call for this feature. Needless to say this appeals to my inner gadget freak.
The Panasonic set does look awesome tdm34, my only concern is that 58" may be just a touch too big. I currently have a 47" screen, and even moving to a 55" is going to be quite a big uplift. If I've done my maths correctly (big IF), then the image below should be roughly what the screen diameters would be, not including bezels. I've held a tape measure physically up to the screen and the 58" is almost touching the window, so I'm concerned that the living room would end up being completely about the TV.
I'll try and get out to a decent size electrical store today to do some image comparisons, of course naturally, the Phillips isn't in any local stores that I can find for me to get a side by side comparison. Aware that Samsung/Panasonic will probably be marginally better but it would be good to see what that looks like in real life, because the trade off for the uplift is obviously going to be the ambilight...
In terms of budget, it's locked in at around £600 tops now, because the Volvo has decided that she'd really quite like at least one new injector and maybe some valve lifters. Technically it IS the TV budget going on the Volvo, so now I'm lifting money from my holiday budget to spend on the TV and so on...
Argh, it's all so bloody complicated, this is meant to be fun!
Actually, I am quite enjoying it
ETA- Preferred suppliers for the TV are still Argos or Currys, as I get my work discount of 8 or 7% respectively, which knocks things like the Philips down to £505, or the Panasonic down to £553. Although I note that those stores do shorter warranties than say, Richer Sounds, so that's something to consider...
Tenohfive is spot on about ambilight, it can't be replicated with a basic light strip kit, it responds dynamically to what's on screen. A mate used to have an ambilight set and I really liked it. I found it helped immerse you just that little bit further in what you were viewing.
To add to this, I have Hue setup all around my living room, in each corner and behind me, it's possible to integrate the lights with the set via the app, and this will support whole room ambilighting. At some point I understand they even intend to have full "surround lighting" so that things which aren't even on screen yet can be represented by the lights changing around the room. I gather gaming will be the first port of call for this feature. Needless to say this appeals to my inner gadget freak.
The Panasonic set does look awesome tdm34, my only concern is that 58" may be just a touch too big. I currently have a 47" screen, and even moving to a 55" is going to be quite a big uplift. If I've done my maths correctly (big IF), then the image below should be roughly what the screen diameters would be, not including bezels. I've held a tape measure physically up to the screen and the 58" is almost touching the window, so I'm concerned that the living room would end up being completely about the TV.
I'll try and get out to a decent size electrical store today to do some image comparisons, of course naturally, the Phillips isn't in any local stores that I can find for me to get a side by side comparison. Aware that Samsung/Panasonic will probably be marginally better but it would be good to see what that looks like in real life, because the trade off for the uplift is obviously going to be the ambilight...
In terms of budget, it's locked in at around £600 tops now, because the Volvo has decided that she'd really quite like at least one new injector and maybe some valve lifters.
Technically it IS the TV budget going on the Volvo, so now I'm lifting money from my holiday budget to spend on the TV and so on...Argh, it's all so bloody complicated, this is meant to be fun!
Actually, I am quite enjoying it
ETA- Preferred suppliers for the TV are still Argos or Currys, as I get my work discount of 8 or 7% respectively, which knocks things like the Philips down to £505, or the Panasonic down to £553. Although I note that those stores do shorter warranties than say, Richer Sounds, so that's something to consider...
Edited by Blue Oval84 on Friday 23 March 10:53
Oakey said:
Hue Entertainment Sync will bring this feature to any TV eventually. The question is, are you compromising on image quality by choosing a Philips set over something much superior?
I think there may be a small amount of compromise, but having looked in the shop (at everything bar the Philips!) and read the fairly glowing review on What HiFi I think it'll be a pretty small difference. The bloke in Richer Sounds showed me a Panasonic which he reckoned would be on a par with the Philips, and to my untrained eye it looked rather good.I've narrowed it down to being between 55" sets now, I'm definitely not going 58", it's just too big an uplift on what I've got now and is going to look even more over-bearing than the 55" will. Looking at the available options there is a Samsung for another £70, but I think I'm going to chance the Philips and see what it looks like, if I'm unhappy it can be swapped out for the Samsung.
Just got to wait on my magic discount card arriving now, that will reduce the Philips to £505. At that money, I'll be happy to swap it out again in a few years when the technology has moved further on, which will leave me with an excellent bedroom set...
Ended up getting the Ambilight 55PUS6272 for £477 and connected it up last night.
Quite pleased with it, the picture is well and truly good enough for the price I paid.
The only problem seems to be that there is a picture lag when feeding it stuff via the AV receiver. I spent hours working on trying to sync it properly, to no effect. With my old tv, I had the PS4 and TiVo connected to a Sony STR-DH510 via HDMI, then the Sony connected to a single HDMI port on the TV. This seemed to work fine.
The same connection into the Philips and I'm getting lag, it's less noticeable on game mode, but still present. To test it properly I'd setup the audio to come from the TV and the Sony at the same time, there was a clear echo.
This morning, I've connected the TiVo and PS4 straight into the TV and then used the ARC HDMI connection to the receiver to do audio. There was a fraction of echo, which was completely eliminated by using the "sync" option on the receiver (all it does is add a 60ms delay)
Anyone else come across a situation like this with any other makes/models? I'm guessing there is no particular fix and the options are either like it or lump it?
Quite pleased with it, the picture is well and truly good enough for the price I paid.
The only problem seems to be that there is a picture lag when feeding it stuff via the AV receiver. I spent hours working on trying to sync it properly, to no effect. With my old tv, I had the PS4 and TiVo connected to a Sony STR-DH510 via HDMI, then the Sony connected to a single HDMI port on the TV. This seemed to work fine.
The same connection into the Philips and I'm getting lag, it's less noticeable on game mode, but still present. To test it properly I'd setup the audio to come from the TV and the Sony at the same time, there was a clear echo.
This morning, I've connected the TiVo and PS4 straight into the TV and then used the ARC HDMI connection to the receiver to do audio. There was a fraction of echo, which was completely eliminated by using the "sync" option on the receiver (all it does is add a 60ms delay)
Anyone else come across a situation like this with any other makes/models? I'm guessing there is no particular fix and the options are either like it or lump it?
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