This is a *very* quick and initial update/review
I unboxed it yesterday. The new TV stand I bought was way too small (I thought certified for 65" and 40KG would be fine as this was 'only' 10 inches bigger and 33kg but it was too big and 'flopped' around on the VESA pedestal stand). That made us panic. We decided to install the feet and stand it on a wide TV stand. I had to leave it resting on a sofa while I raced off to IKEA on a Sunday afternoon to buy an emergency TV stand before they closed.
We then came back with the IKEA BYAS. We constructed that, put the TV feet on and started the TV installation process.
I've found the software to be very clunky and slow. Maybe it was just the initial set up but still disappointed in that area. Standard TV shows look amazingly good. Much better than my KS9000 that seemed to blow out highlights and crushed blacks but that might be becuause i kept it on HDR picture settings. This TV seems to handle standard 1080i TV very well.
The KS9000 has a one connect box with a powered USB so adding a portable hard drive with media files was always plug and play. Compatibility with different file types was high.
However The Philips just couldnt detect it. I then tried a USB stick and played a 1080p movie trailer but then the TV stopped detecting it altogethe. Formatted it on the PC, added a video file but still no joy on the TV. It was infuriating trying to figure it out. The firmware was the latest. I gave up on the hard drive. I suspect the USB port isnt powered so only low powered flash drived or powered hard drived will work.
Eventually I had to pull my Xbox One S from my games room and plugged the hard drive in there. It played some of my 1080p and 4k HDR demos clips but not all - that was just a format issue that I havnt had time to look into which file are compatible from my collection or not. I used the default Xbox Media Player and also VLC. Neither was great as just plugging and playing into my Samsun KS9000 where everything just worked.
I eventually just ran a 1080p blu ray movie via the Xbox and we managed to watch something at least.
OK so some initial pros and cons
Cons
- Software seems slow and glitchy. Menus took forever to load when it was being set up.
- We said worst case scenario we might have to bypass all the TVs smart capabilities and just use it as a monitor and use a 3rd party smart box/stick. Its looking like we might just have to do that.
- The feet are very wide apart so you will need a very wide TV stand (mine below is 160cm)
- Remote is cheap. I might buy a higher spec TV Ambilight remote.
- Blacks are not as great as the KS9000 Im used to. I mainly noticed it watching movies with the black bars above and beyond but its wasnt distracting.
- Most of my 10 bit HDR10 demos ran but it doesnt support wide colour gammut so the whites were all overblown and colours were off. It was a bit of a mess. I might try a 4K HDR movie disk on my xbox to test its true 4K capabilities.
- The TV itself surprisingly chunky but thats probably the backligh LEDs..
- The sound seemed OK when we first tried it but its irrelevant as we have a good soundbar.
- The motion processings didnt seem the best but I didnt properly tweak or review this. Perhaps in movie mode things will look just right.
- The box is ENORMOUS! I have no idea where i will store it.
Pros
- Even though its rated 350 nits, the screen seems VERY bright. The sheer size of it means naturally even at 350 nits it gives off a lot of light in the room. Its certainly not dim.
- Runs SD/1080i/1080p content amazingly well. I was surpised how good BBC channels look in HD. My KS9000 overprocessed them by default but this TV displays content just right.
- 4K looks very good. I was disappointed at first when the HDR10 demos failed to run properly. I then tried out the 4K ambilight demo that was build for this TV. I think it was a 8 bit material but it looked stunning and ofcourse it was build for Ambilight so that effect was excellent. As a measure of the standard this TV can output I was very impressed indeed.
- Ambilight is a
showstopper! It enhanced all the movies we tried. We had our pizza without any of the lights or lamp on on as ambilight created a nice ambience that was bright enough.
- Ambilight is the reason we will look over some of the other deficiencies or spend more money on media playing hardware to get around its software. It really is stunning. We may even invest in Philips Hue lights. I wasnt expecting much but I was blown away by the final experience. Movies nights will never be the same again!
I have to say I really havnt had a chance to adjust the settings or tweak it properly. It was frustrating to find 4K media playback through external devices was so tricky. We love our KS900. It runs amazing tech demos and good for 4K HDR1000 movies. We still have it in our games room however the 75inch Ambilight was a stunning 'upgrade' in terms of size and overall spectacle. I still need to tweak the settings. Techwise no KS9000 but my expectations were very well managed before we bought it. The image qulaity of the screen is more than up to par for our needs, the size and the ambilight will wow most people when it comes to watching regular 4K, blu ray, Streaming services and regular TV.
As I said, our beloved 65" KS9000 is great for showing off 4K 10 bit HDR1000 content but we only watch a few of these high spec movies every once in a while. The Philips does more for us for our regular viewing habbits.
Just look at the image below! Thats a 75" TV in action. Its created an experience closer to cinema than Ive ever experienced at home. Look at how much of the room is bathed in light.
My to do list for this TV
- Optimise the picture setting
- Play around more with the USB stick and media files to see what does and doesnt work
- Possibly buy an external media player/streamer
- Possibly invest in a Hue lights kit
If you manage your expectations and know what qualities in a TV really matter for you then this could be the best TV for you. My intial satisfaction level is 7/10. Once I’ve made my adjustments it should be 8/10. After we sort out our external/3rd party streaming/media system it should be a solid 9/10 for me. Value for moneywise it should be an easy 10/10.
I'll re-update my points when Ive had more time to play with it.