It was hot last year, now it’s dead in the water, after Philips TV manufacturer TP Vision dropped support for the Hue lights Ambilight feature.
No explanation has been given for the move however ChannelNews was told that the feature was “A dud” and failed to appeal to consumers.
The news was first reported by the Philips-focused blog Toengel and confirmed by Philips to Hueblog.com.
While it continues to be supported in older TV models, the Ambilight mood lighting effect feature which was designed to deliver coloured lighting to a living room or den through Hue lamps and lights now appears to be on the back burner.
Back in January it was announced via CES 2023 that Samsung TVs will soon be able to sync with Philips Hue lighting without extra hardware or a HDMI sync box, and that the two companies would partner to create an integrated software alternative that could be downloaded directly on a TV.
Both products are known as Philips, but Hue is actually produced under license by a company called Signify while the TVs are produced by TP Vision.
Signify is still selling the external Hue HDMI Sync box while TP Vision has started selling speakers that can connect wirelessly (via DTS Play-Fi) to a Philips TV to expand both the audio and Ambilight experience.
2023 Philips TVs will continue to support other Ambilight integrations with Spotify, gaming, and more.
In Australia Philips Hue products are distributed by Powermove, the Company is not returning calls.
The way that the Philips Hue Sync TV app and system was supposed to work depended on what was on your TV screen.
The aim is to create an immersive experience that extends past the frame of the TV, and up to this point it was only available either through Philips’ own Ambilight TVs or by using a costly HDMI sync box that also meant sacrificing an HDMI port.
This new app for Samsung TVs was designed to allows you to watch, an NRL or AFL game with added Ambilight effects, with support for various picture formats supported including 4K, 8K and HDR10+ according to Philips.
