TP Vision, the company behind Philips, says it’s extending its partnership with the British audio firm Bowers & Wilkins to bring more unique TV offerings to the market later this year.
Philips and B&W first announced their partnership in 2018, and the alliance has resulted in several high-end OLED TVs that pair Philip’s TV wizardry with the British speaker company’s audio technology. Some of those products include the excellent Philips OLED 984 and Philips OLED 934 TVs, which came with premium features such as multi-HDR support for HDR10+, Dolby Vision and other formats and of course, the Dutch firm’s signature Ambilight integrated bias lighting system.
The extension of the deal means we can expect more OLED TVs with B&W’s high-end speaker systems, and also some new LCD models featuring the same technology.
We got the first hint of Philips’ plans to incorporate B&W’s sound technology in its LCD TVs at CES 2020, when it showed off its 9435 LCD series TVs that incorporate a speaker system built by its partner that comes with up-firing units to deliver more immersive sound. The 9435 series also supports multiple HDR formats, so it’s likely that its upcoming TVs will offer the same capability too.
Philips is due to launch a couple of new OLED TVs in the second half of this year, most likely around IFA 2020. It’s also expected to announced more LCD TVs at the same time. We imagine the exact nature of the audio systems on Philips’ new models will differ from model to model. For example, last years’ Philips OLED 984 featured a “Tweeter-on-Top” soundbar, whereas the Philips OLED 934 came with a more traditional pedestal-type sound solution.
“I genuinely believe we changed the premium TV market when we revealed the first products from our partnership with Bowers & Wilkins," said TP Vision Europe Chief Executive Kostas Vouzas. "We have been able to set new performance standards for what should be possible and we have continued to do so as each new TV has been revealed. This is a ground-breaking partnership of two outright leaders in their field and I am confident we will continue to delight our consumers with outstanding products."
In both cases, HDTVTest was very impressed by the sound quality emanating from Philips first OLED TVs featuring B&W's speakers, and so we’re looking forward to seeing if they can do any better with this year’s forthcoming models.
