Striking news, and perhaps a disappointment for enthusiasts: Philips’ 2023 TVs no longer support Philips Hue.
Where Ambilight increased the atmosphere using projected light from the TV itself onto the wall behind, you could go one step further. Namely, by connecting an Ambilight-capable television to your Philips Hue system as well. With that, you could, if you wished, immerse the entire living room in mood colors to match the ones shown on screen. We are speaking emphatically in the past tense, as this symbiosis has come to an end with the Philips Ambilight televisions of 2023. This is reported, among other things, on this page. According to TP Vision – the current owner of the Philips TV branch – because there is too little interest in it. At the same time, Ambilight TVs and Hue (now owned by Signify) are made by two completely different companies.
Same, yet different
According to an agreement, both companies may continue to use the Philips brand name for a while, but it ís no longer the traditional “real” Philips. Neither of them and so they have significantly less to do with each other. Eventually both companies will also continue under their own brand names. Those own names are also becoming more familiar, so the general public will soon have little trouble making the switch. This worked for example fine at Lenovo (once IBM, for anyone who still remembers). But: integration of all former Philips parts will then become a lot less obvious.
Do-it-yourself with any HDMI source
By the way, if you definitely cannot do without Hue’s “adjacent” light show, there is a simple alternative. The Signify Hue Play HDMI Sync Box (pictures above) takes care of that in no time at all. Costs €269 and has the great advantage that this trick works with any HDMI source. Using the LED strips also supplied by Signify you can also give any TV, regardless of brand and type, a fitting light show on the wall.