Philips Ambilight TVs Get Speedy Game Mode And Deep Hue Control

Philips has boosted its Ambilight LED backing light system for more immersive TVs, with the 2014 upgrade improving color-changing response speed as well as offering contextual information through lighting. The tech, which will be loaded on the 2014 Philips Ambilight TVs, includes a gaming mode that allows the colors to keep pace with faster gameplay, where before it had been tuned for a more leisurely response.

The new mode is also useful for action movies and music videos, TP Vision suggests, where the on-screen picture may be changing more rapidly.

Meanwhile, a new Ambilight TV app turns the back-mounted LEDs into a point of national pride. Available for iOS and Android, it switches the lighting into the national color of team flags for soccer games, and is compatible with all European Ambilight sets from 2011 onward, or Latin America sets from 2013 onward.

Philips Ambilight+hue integration continues, and will be present on all of the 2014 sets. However, there's now direct control over individual hue lamps from the TV's own menus.