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Philips launches the most stunning OLED 4K TV we’ve ever seen, but there’s a catch

Meet the Philips Ambilight OLED+934 and Ambilight OLED+984, the latest OLED 4K TVs to roll off Philips’ production line. Developed in partnership with Bowers & Wilkins and showcased on September 5 ahead of IFA 2019, both models feature a sound system like no other television we’ve seen to date, eliminating the need to fork out for a surround-sound setup.

Both the Philips Ambilight OLED+934 and Ambilight OLED+984 come equipped with the third-generation of Philips’ P5 Processing Engine, which is said to offer several advantages, including improved noise reduction, superior sharpness, and better contrast and color accuracy, resulting in a clearer HDR viewing experience for Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+.

Philips Ambilight OLED+984

Philips says that its P5 Processing Engine has been tweaked to operate at a higher bit resolution to improve dark detail, adding that several  of its software features — such as Detail Enhancer and Perfect Natural Reality — have also been rebuilt to produce a sharper, more accurate, high-contrast image. Just how well the changes work, however, remains to be seen.

Where the Ambilight OLED+934 and Ambilight OLED+984 differ is in the audio department. Recognized as the first 2.1.2-specification Dolby Atmos-enabled TV, the Ambilight OLED+934 fuses two upward-firing speakers with four mid-range drivers, two decoupled titanium tweeters, and a center-mounted subwoofer. That’s more than enough punch to fill an entire room.

Philips Ambilight OLED+934

On the other hand, the Ambilight OLED+984 has the bragging rights of bundling the “most advanced sound system ever offered on a TV” — at least, according to Philips. Its setup comprises of a mid-bass right, left, and center speaker, as well as a subwoofer — all packed into a soundbar-like box that is to be positioned beneath the TV, either mounted on a stand or not.

You’d think that all the added bulk would make for stunning screen wrapped in a cumbersome, unattractive frame, but in reality, it’s the complete opposite; the Ambilight OLED+934 and Ambilight OLED+984 are two of slimmest, most elegant TVs we’ve ever seen. Sadly, they aren’t headed to the United States but are launching exclusively in Europe later this month.

Josh Levenson
Having spent half a decade writing about the latest AV, mobile and social news for some of the world’s largest…
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