LCD TV manufacturers like Philips who are using third party manufacturers to make their TV’s are now shifting their marketing emphasis to flog styling and their image engines in an effort to differentiate their TV offerings.
Philips who are trying to sell their consumer technology division and have recently bailed out of their LG TV manufacturing joint venture have made several attempts to differentiate themselves from other manufacturers with little success.
Among the TV technology introduced by Philips is the Aurea TV which incorporates ambilight technology which lights up the surround and the back of the TV flicking images of a movie or sporting event around a room. Expensive Ambilight is distracting with several retailers refusing to sell it because of the cost and limited appeal.
In their latest offerings Philips has unveiled a new designer series of LCD TVs however it is not known which models will be rolled out in Australia. The new Design Collection which Philips Australia will choose from include the Philips Aurea, 9703, 9603, 7003 and 5003 series of flat TVs, all of which (from the 5603 series onwards) feature 1080p, Full HD LCD panels.
The models come with Philips’ new second generation TV engine. Called “Perfect Pixel” the HD engine manages image processing technology for motion, sharpness, contrast and colour.
Philips like almost every other TV vendor claims that the engine uses motion-compensation interpolation techniques to double the number of images from 50Hz to 100Hz, thus displaying images for only half the original time resulting in what Philips claims, in a virtually blur-free picture.
The response rate of the LCD panel is apparently reduced to just 2ms. In an effort to confuse consumers even further that what they are already, Philips go on to claim that the 9000 Flat TV series also incorporates a 17-bit colour booster that theoretically pumps out 2,250 trillion colours, while the proprietary contrast element combines deep dimming and histogram enhancement to reduce the effect of light leakage for dark scenes, enabling deep black levels with increased detail and better perceived contrast. They also claim that their TV’s are designed to make motion look far more fluid than is usually the case with LCD.
And as for Philips unique Ambilight coloured light pools which Philips claim emerge from all sides of the Philips TV which correspond to the colour content of the image you’re watching at multiple points along each edge of the screen. This also has been improved.
