TP Vision says that Philips’ new 800 Series OLED TVs will go on sale in the U.K. in July, with prices starting at £1,500.
The Philips OLED 805, OLED855 (pictured) and OLED865 were first announced during the company’s European TV event in Amsterdam in January, and will be available in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes. With the TVs, the company is hoping to build upon the success of its earlier OLED804 and OLED984 TVs, which were introduced last year.
HDTVTest had an early look at the new Philips OLED TVs during the launch event and was fairly impressed with what it saw. All three feature the company’s new 4th Gen P5 processor chip, run the Android TV operating system and support the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ High Dynamic Range formats. Moreover, they sport Philips’ unique Ambilight technology, which is a mood lighting system that throws up colourful lighting effects around the screen and looks especially cool in darker rooms.
The only real difference between the TVs is the design of their stands, with the OLED805 featuring a dark chrome chamfered stand, and the OLED855 and OLED865 sporting a more angled stand in dark chrome and Muirhead leather, respectively.
Philips says the new P5 processor provides a big performance improvement over last year’s OLED TVs as it uses machine learning technology, which is a form of artificial intelligence, to analyse the content on display using a massive database. The AI processor is able to analyze the picture based on factors including its source, colour, contrast, motion and sharpness, and apply adjustments to optimise it according to the content type.
The new TVs also support Dolby Atmos decoding for superior audio, as well as Dolby Atmos Virtualizer and Dolby bass and dialogue enhancement, the company said. The company also reckons it’s the first “premium” TV brand to support the DTS Play-Fi multi-room streaming platform that makes it possible to connect third-party speakers for enhanced surround sound.
The OLED855 picked up an iF Design Award in February for its bold and minimalist design. The TV is made of premium materials and finishing that exudes quality and a sense of exclusivity, while the Ambilight mood lighting system further enhances its look.
Philips is being quite aggressive with its pricing, with the OLED805 model set to go on sale priced at £1,500 for the 55-inch model and £2,200 for the 65-inch variant. That compares well with rival brand such as LG Electronics and Sony, whose equivalent OLED TV models are priced at around £1,500 to £1,800.
Philips hasn’t said anything about pricing for the OLED855 and OLED865, but we expect those models may cost just a tad more.
Philips is also said to be planning to launch its first 8K resolution OLED TV later this year. That's expected to be a whopping 88-inch model, but nothing has been confirmed yet, with the company expected to say more during the second half of this year.
