The 2024 line-up presented by Philips in Barcelona.
Philips didn’t show up at CES in Las Vegas, but it only took two weeks for the manufacturer to talk about its future televisions. All the new products for 2024 were announced during a presentation in Barcelona, including an OLED 809, a 909 and a new, even more high-end 959.
More brightness, new processor and still Ambilight
The Philips OLED908, the manufacturer’s top-of-the-range model, particularly won us over in 2023 with a bright and well-calibrated Oled Meta panel, friendly Ambilight lighting for better immersion and an integrated soundbar. The 909 which will logically follow in 2024 does not fundamentally change the formula, with identical sizes of 55, 65 and 77 inches.
The OLED909 now offers Ambilight on all sides.
In terms of design, the height of the integrated soundbar (still from Bower and Wilkins) has been reduced at the bottom of the television, good news for integration, especially when you want to place the TV on the wall. We will of course find the Ambilight again with four lighting zones which encompass all sides, compared to only three on the 908.
The soundbar is much thinner than in 2023.
The Oled Meta 2 panel presented by LG Display at CES will of course be present and it promises to be even brighter, which will further improve the HDR rendering. A new 8th generation P5 AI Dual Engine processor is also included and it promises to improve image sharpness in addition to better handling HDR content depending on ambient light.
Finally, for video game enthusiasts, the refresh rate goes from 120 to 144 Hz, as with many competitors, but remember that only PC players will be able to benefit from it, consoles being limited to 120 Hz. The gamebar has also been improved and Freesync Premium is still present to avoid image tearing.
The renewal of the core range
In addition to the OLED 909, Philips will obviously renew its mid-range 809 which will benefit from the new processor and 144 Hz. Like last year, it does not benefit from the latest Oled Meta panel, and will make do with the Oled Ex from a slightly older generation (the one found on 2022 televisions). The OLED809 will be available in sizes 42 to 77 inches.
The 809 should offer good value for money.
Finally, a small addition, an OLED959 was presented, and it integrates all of the manufacturer’s high-end technologies. Placed on a stand (unfortunately fixed at the moment, but perhaps it will be adjustable by the time of release), the television can also be mounted directly to the wall. It obviously benefits from the Oled Meta 2.0 panel, a more complete sound system with three front speakers, two on the sides and two others on the top for Atmos effects, in addition to the woofer at the rear. Finally, it benefits from Ambilight Plus, the manufacturer’s latest in-house lighting innovation.
The back of the TV is flat and uniform.
Ambilight Plus, for more colors
2024 marks Ambilight’s 20th anniversary and for the occasion, Philips has unveiled Ambilight Plus, an improved version of its ambient lighting system. The brand announces four times more LEDs at the back and therefore better precision in the colors reproduced around its TVs. Also, the color of the content projected on the walls is no longer only relative to the few cm of pixels at the edge of the panel, since it includes colors coming from much further towards the center of the screen.
The new Ambilight Plus LEDs
The effect is rather successful in certain cases, when a landscape is displayed in particular, but the cluster of colors displayed can prove confusing when very varied content appears (football match audience, video game, etc.). We can always way to adjust the Ambilight in a more traditional way if necessary, or even turn it off as desired. Unfortunately, Ambilight Plus will only be available on the brand’s flagship model, the 959.
Lighting integrates much more information than before.
A new OS to replace Google TV?
On the interface side, we also expect change since Philips abandoned Android TV this year, in favor of an operating system called Titan OS. Finally, for the moment only on certain Mini LED models and Google TV remains on the brand’s flagship Oled models. The transition will therefore perhaps be smooth in the next ranges to come.
For the moment no release date or price have been announced, but we should see the 809 and 909 OLED arrive at the beginning of summer for prices similar to those of 2023. We will probably have to wait until the next school year to see the 959 OLED, crossing your fingers that the price is not too steep.