Owners of PUS7304, 7334, 7354, 7394 issues list?

AVtest

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Hi,
Happy New Year to everyone,
So really there is probably a fair amount of owners of such called philips performance tv's.
I like philips and ambilight but just can't believe that they are selling half finished product...
Philip's as many other manufacturers overrates theirs product.
Actually that throws some disappointment to owners as we spend £££ expecting so called performance and get peanuts.
It's well known fact that these models are not finished in terms of software. Android TV has some bugs too.
Whilst some of you might returned sets and went for something better, but there are still owners here who decided to keep this set.
Could I ask everyone to list their issues and report it to philips asking for solution on link below:
https://tpv.secure.force.com/Web2Case/WebformPhilips?lang=en_GB
If other owners could check faults listed if they have same issue, then report back to philips too on link above.
More similar reports philips will get more then more chance that they will try to sort it out faster for all of us.
Otherwise I think we will have to live with this product as it is with all it's flaws?

I have seen some other threads here relating some other models, some were just pure firmware updates, but some still are outstanding.
If you guys could post in following template:
Full tv model you have
Full tv firmware number is currently running.
Issue experiencing with as much possible detailed description and pics if possible.

So some of issues I have noticed which completely ruins aim to have android tv and overall movie experience with this set:
43PUS7394
TMP191E_R.001.002.173.007

1. These models are listed in philips with 16gb internal storage? Sadly there is only 5gb only?! This actually false advertising really.
Using external storage as internal system memory is not working, tv freezes after formatting usb disk and reboots without recognizing drive any more.
Basically so called expandable memory function does not work. Means that after installing few apps you will run out free space soon.

2. 5Ghz wifi - very poor performance, wont keep stable connection. Also chipset won't recognize wifi channels past 48?! So if you have lots of neighbours on 5gh z common channel you will struggle to move it away. On average get 160Mbps on 5Ghz (router screams up to 2100Mbps). 2.4ghz hardly keeps 130Mbps (N450 router signal)

3. Android TV something wrong with processes as apps sometimes close with no reason, possibly limitation of 2GB ram or some internal memory leak.

4. Media players as example VLC, Mplayer poor performance, high res, hdr files play as slideshow rather than a video.... USB3 port with usb 3 dongle. Original player plays but got issues with sound judder...

5. HDR - ? Suppose 350nits it will never happen, but I personally think colours are washed out and there is something wrong with processing and showing image. Really poor blacks. Surely each size has different panels so overall some owners might be happy with their sets.

6. Sound - Speakers are gag for sure and to be honest I never expect tv to have spectacular sound. But there are serious issues with sound processing especially on high res videos with dolby etc, sound either crackles, misses, judders etc... Very annoying as not possible to watch movies.

7. Android TV google store: is it me only or there is way less apps available there compared to other tv manufacturers?

8. No reboot android option?

9. Can't test bluetooth sound due to issue above.
08/01/2020 - sad news tested bluetooth sound system, Philips as always dissapointed, they can't even make their own stuff to work together properly!!! Connected HTL3320 soundbar which is 300w. Straight away noticed is no where near that and sound is flatish, but as usual issue was tv itself!!! So it looks like when you use hdmi or bluetooth all sound settings go grey and as example equaliser is no longer available?!!!
HDMI even worse as can't see volume setting when adjusting on remote.



I haven't tried any external sources apart from usb files. My main aim is to have this tv as "the one" and I don't want any other cables, boxes dangling down form it. This is what philips claims so they must deliver it.

Do you guys experience same issues on your models? If do please raise tickets with philips and post any your issues you found as I will try on mine and raise tickets too.

If anything all this info will be handy for future buyers too:)
 
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In all honestly most of those issues would stretch to every single other TV. I don't think Philips are any better or worse.

What I will say is generally android TV isn't considered a good operating system, be it with Philips, Sony or TCL TVs. So from purely the aspect of usability any other non-android TV, possibly even the Philips 6 series would be better.

Media playback on TVs is very poor, you should consider a box for this purpose alone, one-box solution does not exist yet with TVs, even with limitless money to spend.

HDR, well you can't get a good HDR TV this cheap, its to be expected.

WiFi, that is typical of TVs, I have a designated WiFi 5hz card on my computer and it only does up to channel 48. Often its so they can sell the same card in multiple countries without worrying about local law.

Sound, again typical on all TVs.

Memory, 16gb will be the total storage, not how much is left.

USB, again typical to have problems on all TVs. Problems with drives being recognised, freezing or locking up. Poor file format support.

There's no doubt about it its false marketing, especially the whole "HDR" thing, on every TV, not just Philips. But I really think you are overall no better or worse with Philips than any other.
 
In all honestly most of those issues would stretch to every single other TV. I don't think Philips are any better or worse.

What I will say is generally android TV isn't considered a good operating system, be it with Philips, Sony or TCL TVs. So from purely the aspect of usability any other non-android TV, possibly even the Philips 6 series would be better.

Media playback on TVs is very poor, you should consider a box for this purpose alone, one-box solution does not exist yet with TVs, even with limitless money to spend.

HDR, well you can't get a good HDR TV this cheap, its to be expected.

WiFi, that is typical of TVs, I have a designated WiFi 5hz card on my computer and it only does up to channel 48. Often its so they can sell the same card in multiple countries without worrying about local law.

Sound, again typical on all TVs.

Memory, 16gb will be the total storage, not how much is left.

USB, again typical to have problems on all TVs. Problems with drives being recognised, freezing or locking up. Poor file format support.

There's no doubt about it its false marketing, especially the whole "HDR" thing, on every TV, not just Philips. But I really think you are overall no better or worse with Philips than any other.

I will accept that other manufacturers are no better, but your TYPICAL is something we should go against them or at least show them that we care.
So basically you count as normal to have product which is half working?
Lets look at this other way - according to you its fine to buy as example ford focus st and be happy that 6th gear is not switching on, or cruise control not operating, or seat heating glitches as ecu software just a bit buggy? Or that mp3 player can't play music files (even so it claims it can)so we need to replace it with aftermarket as solution? Car still driving isn't it?
This is main issue these days in industry people just get on with half finished products, manufacturers not interested to fix and customers are being offered workarounds for extra£££ where this should be fully functional anyway? Or basically get on with it and then upgrade again next year hoping that all issues fixed in new model....

Philips has chosen hardware, so philips compiled firmware, philips advertised what tv can do, so really it should do what we paid for. I purchased android tv to avoid any extra boxes, so I already paid for it as price is lot higher compared to others. So really philips should ensure box is running to spec. Considering there is page in manual showing hardware fitted which is not much different to tv boxes I would expect this to perform quite well. But firmware just needs polishing up.

As for wifi, not sure what card you have there ,but mine can work up to 140 channel. Oh and my phones too, some of them not even flagship :) In overall its a bit odd as wifi cards are pennies, but for some reason my phones have better link rate than my tv in same location? And if you are into engineering then you should know that on phone there is no space even to layout aerial properly. Were on TV you have million ways design is so gives best performance to consumer...

Anyway everyone to their own taste on this subject :)
 
I will accept that other manufacturers are no better, but your TYPICAL is something we should go against them or at least show them that we care.
So basically you count as normal to have product which is half working?
Lets look at this other way - according to you its fine to buy as example ford focus st and be happy that 6th gear is not switching on, or cruise control not operating, or seat heating glitches as ecu software just a bit buggy? Or that mp3 player can't play music files (even so it claims it can)so we need to replace it with aftermarket as solution? Car still driving isn't it?
This is main issue these days in industry people just get on with half finished products, manufacturers not interested to fix and customers are being offered workarounds for extra£££ where this should be fully functional anyway? Or basically get on with it and then upgrade again next year hoping that all issues fixed in new model....

Philips has chosen hardware, so philips compiled firmware, philips advertised what tv can do, so really it should do what we paid for. I purchased android tv to avoid any extra boxes, so I already paid for it as price is lot higher compared to others. So really philips should ensure box is running to spec. Considering there is page in manual showing hardware fitted which is not much different to tv boxes I would expect this to perform quite well. But firmware just needs polishing up.

As for wifi, not sure what card you have there ,but mine can work up to 140 channel. Oh and my phones too, some of them not even flagship :) In overall its a bit odd as wifi cards are pennies, but for some reason my phones have better link rate than my tv in same location? And if you are into engineering then you should know that on phone there is no space even to layout aerial properly. Were on TV you have million ways design is so gives best performance to consumer...

Anyway everyone to their own taste on this subject :)
I'm not saying its right, or acceptable and I've had my fair share of battles with TV manufacturers over various bugs, some of which are just plain stupid. Its the way it is and the way it will probably always be. The best thing you can do is stick to a manufacturer who has the least bugs like LG or Samsung. At the end of the day its a TV first, and smart second.

The manufacturers have no desire to fix anything, they don't care. If there are already issues with TVs firmware when it comes to displaying video without trouble, EPGs, smart apps like Netflix/Amazon...what chance do we have with smart TV being bug free in the respect of advance features?

It just won't happen, so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. As I said I've been in your position before and you are best just sticking to an android/windows box for any playback or rips and a Roku or similar to replace built in smart.
 
I've got a 70PUS7304 and I find that Kodi works best for playing MKVs from USB storage. Make sure you enable hardware acceleration for video decoding and there won't be any performance issues. There are sometimes issues with the aspect ratio but that can easily be corrected from Kodi's video settings when playing the video (change the pixel ratio).

My main issues with the TV are the HDR picture quality and flickering. There's definitely something wrong with HDR as the colours are very washed out. SDR looks much better and I'm sure HDR looked better as well before a recent software update.
 
Hi,

1) sure, 16GB total, but Android TV does use some GB... but 5 is really low

2) since 2014 only 4 channels are supported on 5 GHz spectrum

3) TV should have 3 GB RAM... Android TV will handle memory by itself... so you don't have any possibility to keep apps open

4) try Kodi

5) HDR seems to have problem (at least via HDMI input)

6) did you try factory reset after the latest firmware update?

7) Google Play is different on TV compared to mobile phones. Also some apps can be restricted to special TV manufactures

8) was removed in Oreo on Philips TVs... but maybe you can add an option via an 3rd party Launcher

9) ...

Toengel@Alex
 
HDR, well you can't get a good HDR TV this cheap, its to be expected

that’s actually quite useful, I generally subscribe to you get what you pay.

70” 7304 is current £999 (Costco), which I agree feels cheap, what sort of price would equate to a good HDR TV
 
Hi,

1) sure, 16GB total, but Android TV does use some GB... but 5 is really low

2) since 2014 only 4 channels are supported on 5 GHz spectrum

3) TV should have 3 GB RAM... Android TV will handle memory by itself... so you don't have any possibility to keep apps open

4) try Kodi

5) HDR seems to have problem (at least via HDMI input)

6) did you try factory reset after the latest firmware update?

7) Google Play is different on TV compared to mobile phones. Also some apps can be restricted to special TV manufactures

8) was removed in Oreo on Philips TVs... but maybe you can add an option via an 3rd party Launcher

9) ...

Toengel@Alex

Thanks for reply, just to confirm on few items:

1. Usually under android you would have tab saying total memory and then how much space system uses. On this tv it just shows 5gb and no mention of 16gb. I am not being funny, but most android systems do show what hardware is and at least you know its there. Where on this one just 5gb, rest is hidden. And to be honest philips does not clarify 16gb usage.
Would not been much of a problem if I could expand it by fitting usb drive, but damn thing freezes and crashes rebooting tv and making drive unusable. So really we are stuck with 5gb which do run out quickly once you installed favourite apps :( With android that's first thing people do with their devices is expand usable system memory, especially if there are networking issues or you have some space eating apps.
I wonder if others are having same issue.

2. why only 4? I am missing something here?

3. spec software aida64 shows only 2gb ram which others have reported too. But I am actually experiencing issue where app will close itself whilst its open/in use. Had it few times on random occasions

4. That's next on my list to try. Wonder how plex would perform too.

5. Need to try too, but have no intention yet to have any boxes under this telly yet,

6. TV was new when I upgraded to latest firmware, but no I haven't factory reset it yet. So might be an option to try. Might actually do it once finished testing all possible solutions.

7. Obviously, I guess amount of apps compatible on this tv will depend on how much favourable it will be by consumers and how quickly philips will phase out this model? Does anyone know how lon philips usually supports their software on certain models?

8. Yeah thanks for update, will have to look into 3rd party then.

I like picture quality, I also BT dongle keyboard/gamepad connected which works great. Had few drops in connection but possible gamepad itself had a glitch.
Little one played low end games on it no problem so far. If anything takes a while to load or hangs a bit during game exit which is fine for such spec anyway.
Wonder would it run any emulators as seen some in gpstore?

Also need to try to assign some buttons on remote to do certain apps. I can't believe that this option yet not offered as standard on tv's android os. First one to get rid of is philips collection button :) These manufacturer locked pre assigned buttons are waste of space on remote.
 
My main issues with the TV are the HDR picture quality and flickering. There's definitely something wrong with HDR as the colours are very washed out. SDR looks much better and I'm sure HDR looked better as well before a recent software update.

For your information and for everyone else - if i have correct information on PUS73x4 there is a major difference between sizes. 43", 55", 65" and 75" are IPS and that gives them superior colors vs 50" and 70" basic washed out non-nanoled VAs.

Software is joke compared to my 2 year old LG. Issues launching apps and issues in audiosync. I have 75PUS7304, and it does not have the greatest contrast in black, but a well executed dolby vision seems to give a nice picture quality. Seems the otherwise non-dimming direct-led backlight is active with dolby vision. 🤔 also motion handling is not great, as P5 perfect struggles a short while at the beginning of every new camera angle to smooth the judder of that 60hz panel.

Ps. Forget about steamlink app. Cant activate game mode outside hdmi, and lag is laughable without game mode.
 
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sad news tested bluetooth sound system, Philips as always dissapointed, they can't even make their own stuff to work together properly!!! Connected HTL3320 soundbar which is 300w. Straight away noticed is no where near that and sound is flatish, but as usual issue was tv itself!!! So it looks like when you use hdmi or bluetooth all sound settings go grey and as example equaliser is no longer available?!!!
HDMI even worse as can't see volume setting when adjusting on remote.
 
About soundbar, there are experience on it ? How these models works with soundbar?
 
About soundbar, there are experience on it ? How these models works with soundbar?
What exactly you want to know? My tv connected to soundbar (HTL3320 ) now over hdmi. Arc works, but like I said annoying bit is that I cant adjust anything sound wise, all settings become greyed out, can se equaliser for my liking either which is absolute pain. Otherwise sound is there, switches on/off with tv, volume controlled too, but no visual message when changing volume so you dont know at what level you are? :/ Not atmos soundbar so not sure if that side works well.
 

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