Philips has just announced its latest generation of OLED TVs, featuring two new models: the Philips OLED808, which has been upgraded to become a powerful gaming tool and comes in a new 42-inch size; and the high-end Philips OLED+908 (pictured above), which promises breakthrough brightness on par with the best OLED TVs coming later this year.
These TVs share a common image processor upgrade, and the 7th generation Philips P5 is included in all three TVs. The new processor places great emphasis on real-time image adjustment based on ambient lighting conditions, including adjusting the color temperature of the screen based on the color of the lighting in the room. This is the same principle as Apple’s True Tone technology used in products such as the iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2022) and MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) – and I’m a big fan of it. The idea is to make the white on the TV screen look like the white in the room around you, which reduces eye strain. There are also improvements to detail processing in the new chip.
In addition to the new processor, these TVs also have big upgrades in gaming features over previous Philips OLED models, adding a very extensive checklist of gamer-friendly technologies, including becoming only the second set of TVs to offer Dolby Vision 4K 120Hz gaming beyond LG’s reach. It used to be a feather in LG’s cap, especially when it comes to Xbox Series X games, but now Philips has really crashed the party (LAN).
In addition to the Dolby Vision update, you get support for every key variant of variable refresh rate technology (including default HDMI 2.1, AMD FreeSync Premium, and Nvidia G-Sync), as well as an auto low latency mode.
It’s all pretty much in line with what you get from LG TVs and has more features than Samsung or Sony, so we can look at some new options for anyone looking for the best gaming TVs. The big question is whether Philips will include more than two HDMI 2.1 ports – this has yet to be confirmed.
The thing that might put Philips’ sets above LG’s if they have mostly the same features is Philips’ extremely unsecret weapon: the Ambilight. The LEDs around the bezels of these TVs project colored light that matches what’s on screen onto the walls around the TV, giving the picture an even bigger and more epic feel.
I’ve used Ambilight and while it sounds artificial, it’s really fantastic and not something you want to give up once you’ve tried it. It works with both games and movies, and is what can push these TVs over the edge for gamers who love anything with RGB lights (according to the manufacturers of all PC gaming accessories).
Next-generation brightness
While the OLED808 gets the most impactful upgrades with its gaming features, the OLED+908 gets a major screen technology upgrade that will be of great interest to home theater geeks. It uses a new OLED panel that features Micro Lens Array technology that focuses the light from the pixels more directly towards you, wasting less of it and providing a higher level of brightness.
Philips says the potential peak brightness of HDR is 2,100 nits, which would be a huge improvement on any OLED TV released so far – and it would even be better than the claimed brightness of the next-generation QD-OLED screen we get on the Samsung S95C that blew us away at the show CES.
This new panel is basically the same one you’ll find on the LG G3 (although LG refers to “Light Control Architecture” instead of “Micro Lens Array”) and the Panasonic MZ2000.
It’s going to be an interesting battle between Philips and the two TVs mentioned above in 2023 – they all use the same panel made by LG Display, but Philips has proven that it can get really impressive brightness from the same OLED panels as everyone else using its processing, while Panasonic was able to push the brightness up to class-leading levels with heat dissipation technology.
Now, I don’t expect 2100 nits to be typical of this TV – perhaps in the brightest mode in a small window. But if you can get even around 1,500 nits in accurate, movie-friendly mode, that would be groundbreaking.
As with the Panasonic MZ2000, Philips also puts emphasis on sound, ensuring that the OLED+807 will be one of the best TVs in terms of sound and picture: the TV is equipped with a 3.1ch sound system from Bowers & Wilkins on the bottom in a thin strip .
We expect OLED808 to be available in the next few months and OLED+908 later this year. There’s no word yet on official pricing, but it’s expected to be in line with last year’s equivalent Philips models, which can be found below.
Finally, unfortunately, these Philips OLED TVs will still not be available in the US – they will certainly be launched in Europe and Australia. Based on previous Philips models, this will almost certainly be one of the best TVs available this year, and it’s a real shame that the US missed it.
| Philips OLED807 | Philips OLED+907 | |
|---|---|---|
| 48 inch | £1199 | £1799 |
| 55-inch | £1299 | 1999 pounds |
| 65 inch | £1899 | £2999 |
| 77-inch | £3,499 | Not applicable |