Help me choose my first Ambilight

[tommytroot]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade to a new 65 inch TV and have my heart set on a Philips Ambilight, preferably from Richer Sounds or equivalent with extensive warranty.

I have had a look on the Richer Sounds website and I think it's down to a choice of three:

• PUS7906 (£699)
• PUS 8556 (£919)
• OLED706 (£1299)

I'm sure most folk would say "obviously the OLED" and I can stretch to the £1299 for a greater experience, However, I would prefer not to spend 2x more if I probably don't need to for my usage. If I am going to be blown away in comparison to the LEDs then yes, I may well consider the OLED. However, something I have noticed from a quick browse around this forum is that there does appear to be a lot of people complaining about the Philips OLEDs.

Anyway, a bit more about my usage - I watch a lot of TV and a lot sports, mainly Boxing, UFC, Football, American Football and the odd bit of tennis. However, I watch these using IPTV on a Firestick which I appreciate is possibly not an optimal source in the first place. I also like to watch series and movies on Netflix. I don't own a PS5 or the latest XBox but I do own a PS4 slim and a Nintendo Switch. My console use is like once a week, and there is perhaps potential for me to grab a PS5 when the price comes down - My usage would still only be causal though. I also like to watch a lot of Youtube using the television.

I do prefer my sports to have good motion and be as judder free as possible therefore is one of these is likely to blow the others away in that respect then that could be another tick in the box. However, important to remember that my source is IPTV rather than Sky/Virgin etc.

Seating position is going to be slap bang in front of the television. Lighting won't be an issue, i tend to have the blinds closed most of the time.

In terms of the sets themselves, I like the look of all three equally. Its certainly not a clincher but the PUS8556 has the preferred 4 sided Ambilight and the TV will be wall mounted. From what I gather though, many folk were saying this model was a bit overpriced? I'm not sure if that was in relation to the normal retail price of the model, but this one is currently discounted by £180 on RS.

The OLED is also going to be a bit more future proof, but something that does concern me a bit is the talk about burn in - Is this still a big issue? Plus as mentioned above, I do see folk having many complaints about them.

The PUS7906 I don't seem to have anything particular to say on that, I like the look of it, it has Ambilight (3 sided) and it's nalmost half the price of the OLED. All big pluses, however, if it offers a vastly inferior experience over the others then perhaps its not the best option. I'll be using the TV for a good 5+ years and want to enjoy it

Any advice from those more in the know would be much appreciated. Also if there are other Amblight alternatives with 5 year warranty I would be willing to take a gander at those too

Cheers

T

 

[AVtest]

Every manufacturer will have complaints - more important will those issues affect you?
If you want ambilight then sadly philips your only option. 7 series I would not touch (personal opinion), 8 series mid range allrounder (nothing magic), 9 series aka premium but with current oled prices think OLED best choice.
And yes 8series is well overpriced for what it is. At least oled justifies its price. Burn in? Well suppose lottery here now I think that's the price/risk you pay for quality. But if you watch HD/FHD streams mainly I would ask is it worth spending on OLED especially when you stretching budget?

 

[tommytroot]

Every manufacturer will have complaints - more important will those issues affect you?
If you want ambilight then sadly philips your only option. 7 series I would not touch (personal opinion), 8 series mid range allrounder (nothing magic), 9 series aka premium but with current oled prices think OLED best choice.
And yes 8series is well overpriced for what it is. At least oled justifies its price. Burn in? Well suppose lottery here now I think that's the price/risk you pay for quality. But if you watch HD/FHD streams mainly I would ask is it worth spending on OLED especially when you stretching budget?

Thank you. Yes, most streams tend to be HD/FHD. Does that defeat the point of using an OLED display?

In terms of the 8 series I posted. What would you say it should be priced at? I could try and hold off fo a few weeks to see if Black Friday offers much.

 

[AVtest]

Thank you. Yes, most streams tend to be HD/FHD. Does that defeat the point of using an OLED display?

In terms of the 8 series I posted. What would you say it should be priced at? I could try and hold off fo a few weeks to see if Black Friday offers much.

Well mate this only my opinion, but let me try to explain: based on your info.
£380 difference between oled and 8series. Now you pay premium in expectation of premium picture right? But we have slight issue as most content you plan to watch aint premium. So your premium tv will have to try to improve overall picture and try to display best as it can. As content is anyway mediocre quality how far do you think tv will be able to improve it? So will you see much of benefit of £380? Will this tv see immersive HDR/DB content to give you true experience worth £1299?

Rough example open youtube stream (any 4k etc) make full screen and press gear at bottom and press quality - choose few to play and see difference. Even on laptop or phone you should see how quickly picture degrades even on top screens. So IPTV would be on similar basis.

Coming back to prices how much do you think tv has to cost so that retailer can afford £500 discount? I know there is no time machine but 58pus8545 was like £550 when it launched:

Where now 58pus8556 is like £900+ considering reviews:


I cant justify such jump in price, which leads to think that someone left reserve for another discount so can be still profitable Not sure what BF will bring either as there seems not that many retailers stocking philips tv's any more.

At the end of the day its your money so you have to make decision on what's suits you. Don't forget you protected with return policy so nothing stops trying

 

[Deleted member 161415]

Ring RS and ask them,

Suspect they will say 7 series at 65” is not that good anyway as most of the money is in the panel but the processing is not that great for a panel that size

The benefits of the Oled are dependent on good source (Iplayer, Net Flix, Amazon Or a blu ray player) so if you don’t use them your paying for benefits you won’t use

Hence they will sel you the 8 series

 

[Clearandcolour]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade to a new 65 inch TV and have my heart set on a Philips Ambilight, preferably from Richer Sounds or equivalent with extensive warranty.

I have had a look on the Richer Sounds website and I think it's down to a choice of three:

• PUS7906 (£699)
• PUS 8556 (£919)
• OLED706 (£1299)

I'm sure most folk would say "obviously the OLED" and I can stretch to the £1299 for a greater experience, However, I would prefer not to spend 2x more if I probably don't need to for my usage. If I am going to be blown away in comparison to the LEDs then yes, I may well consider the OLED. However, something I have noticed from a quick browse around this forum is that there does appear to be a lot of people complaining about the Philips OLEDs.

Anyway, a bit more about my usage - I watch a lot of TV and a lot sports, mainly Boxing, UFC, Football, American Football and the odd bit of tennis. However, I watch these using IPTV on a Firestick which I appreciate is possibly not an optimal source in the first place. I also like to watch series and movies on Netflix. I don't own a PS5 or the latest XBox but I do own a PS4 slim and a Nintendo Switch. My console use is like once a week, and there is perhaps potential for me to grab a PS5 when the price comes down - My usage would still only be causal though. I also like to watch a lot of Youtube using the television.

I do prefer my sports to have good motion and be as judder free as possible therefore is one of these is likely to blow the others away in that respect then that could be another tick in the box. However, important to remember that my source is IPTV rather than Sky/Virgin etc.

Seating position is going to be slap bang in front of the television. Lighting won't be an issue, i tend to have the blinds closed most of the time.

In terms of the sets themselves, I like the look of all three equally. Its certainly not a clincher but the PUS8556 has the preferred 4 sided Ambilight and the TV will be wall mounted. From what I gather though, many folk were saying this model was a bit overpriced? I'm not sure if that was in relation to the normal retail price of the model, but this one is currently discounted by £180 on RS.

The OLED is also going to be a bit more future proof, but something that does concern me a bit is the talk about burn in - Is this still a big issue? Plus as mentioned above, I do see folk having many complaints about them.

The PUS7906 I don't seem to have anything particular to say on that, I like the look of it, it has Ambilight (3 sided) and it's nalmost half the price of the OLED. All big pluses, however, if it offers a vastly inferior experience over the others then perhaps its not the best option. I'll be using the TV for a good 5+ years and want to enjoy it

Any advice from those more in the know would be much appreciated. Also if there are other Amblight alternatives with 5 year warranty I would be willing to take a gander at those too

Cheers

T

Take the oled.. Even, the better viewing angles will never go against you or some visitor.. I know you will sit in front as you wrote. The oled will give you better colour, better faces wit more resolution.
Motion is always a problem.. I saw a sony next to a philips oled.. And they had the same faults..

 

[Marc88]

also just picked up a 706 and IPTV is also my main for live content. the difference is still night and day compared to my old LG LCD even if the source isn't the highest quality

 

[tommytroot]

Well mate this only my opinion, but let me try to explain: based on your info.
£380 difference between oled and 8series. Now you pay premium in expectation of premium picture right? But we have slight issue as most content you plan to watch aint premium. So your premium tv will have to try to improve overall picture and try to display best as it can. As content is anyway mediocre quality how far do you think tv will be able to improve it? So will you see much of benefit of £380? Will this tv see immersive HDR/DB content to give you true experience worth £1299?

Rough example open youtube stream (any 4k etc) make full screen and press gear at bottom and press quality - choose few to play and see difference. Even on laptop or phone you should see how quickly picture degrades even on top screens. So IPTV would be on similar basis.

Coming back to prices how much do you think tv has to cost so that retailer can afford £500 discount? I know there is no time machine but 58pus8545 was like £550 when it launched:

Where now 58pus8556 is like £900+ considering reviews:


I cant justify such jump in price, which leads to think that someone left reserve for another discount so can be still profitable Not sure what BF will bring either as there seems not that many retailers stocking philips tv's any more.

At the end of the day its your money so you have to make decision on what's suits you. Don't forget you protected with return policy so nothing stops trying

Some great points mate, and yes, this is why I thought it was important to point out my source material etc.

One of the advantages of OLED I thought would be the colours, whether that be 1080p of 4K. Although, again, I suppose it comes down to whether or not it's worth that money.

It's an interesting point you raise about where the real benefit of OLED lies. It's obviously a big buzzword, however, I would imagine that the vast majority of buyers are also using the TVs to watch non premium content with their standard Sky boxes, free view and so on.

Ring RS and ask them,

Suspect they will say 7 series at 65” is not that good anyway as most of the money is in the panel but the processing is not that great for a panel that size

The benefits of the Oled are dependent on good source (Iplayer, Net Flix, Amazon Or a blu ray player) so if you don’t use them your paying for benefits you won’t use

Hence they will sel you the 8 series

Yeah, the middle ground. To be honest it was where my initial instinct was taking me. Plus as I said it's the only one that's 4 sided. However, read a few comments about it maybe not being all that superior to the 7 series models and also overpriced. I mean, if it's going to be £150 more expensive than its likely to be over the next year then I wouldn't mind too much, but if it were to come down to £600 in the next year then I would probably be a bit annoyed.

Take the oled.. Even, the better viewing angles will never go against you or some visitor.. I know you will sit in front as you wrote. The oled will give you better colour, better faces wit more resolution.
Motion is always a problem.. I saw a sony next to a philips oled.. And they had the same faults..

Yeah, the improved colour was one of the things I thought would be a plus point regardless of what quality content I was watching. I guess it comes down to whether or not it's in the region of £400 better than an 8 series. Another way to look at it is that I'll be using the TV for 5+ years so that's less than 100 quid for each year, and there is potential to get PS5 etc. Plenty to weigh up

also just picked up a 706 and IPTV is also my main for live content. the difference is still night and day compared to my old LG LCD even if the source isn't the highest quality

Wow. See I hear people say this but its quite hard to believe. Obviously I can go and view an OLED in store etc, and be blown away, but there's always the question of what it's actually going to be like watchin FHD content etc. How do you find the motion with sports? Is that a notable step up from the LCD?

 

[tommytroot]

Thank you all for inputs to my post.

Still plenty to consider.

I am getting the feeling though that it may be wiser to stay away from the cheaper 7 series model.

I'm sure someone will come along and tell me otherwise though

 

[Deleted member 161415]

Some great points mate, and yes, this is why I thought it was important to point out my source material etc.

One of the advantages of OLED I thought would be the colours, whether that be 1080p of 4K. Although, again, I suppose it comes down to whether or not it's worth that money.

It's an interesting point you raise about where the real benefit of OLED lies. It's obviously a big buzzword, however, I would imagine that the vast majority of buyers are also using the TVs to watch non premium content with their standard Sky boxes, free view and so on.



Yeah, the middle ground. To be honest it was where my initial instinct was taking me. Plus as I said it's the only one that's 4 sided. However, read a few comments about it maybe not being all that superior to the 7 series models and also overpriced. I mean, if it's going to be £150 more expensive than its likely to be over the next year then I wouldn't mind too much, but if it were to come down to £600 in the next year then I would probably be a bit annoyed.

Yeah, the improved colour was one of the things I thought would be a plus point regardless of what quality content I was watching. I guess it comes down to whether or not it's in the region of £400 better than an 8 series. Another way to look at it is that I'll be using the TV for 5+ years so that's less than 100 quid for each year, and there is potential to get PS5 etc. Plenty to weigh up

Wow. See I hear people say this but its quite hard to believe. Obviously I can go and view an OLED in store etc, and be blown away, but there's always the question of what it's actually going to be like watchin FHD content etc. How do you find the motion with sports? Is that a notable step up from the LCD?

Hi, if it helps, IMO the 706 is a fantastic TV and the price quoted is excellent (from memory it was £1,799 a month ago)

Based on your sources your not going to get the full viewing potential. However, should you start watching even normal TV via a Skybox then it’s worth it.

I’m guessing if I asked you if you want / need ‘earc’ the answer would be no, if so, search for the oled 705. Released about 6 months ago. RS might still have a few

 

[Marc88]

Wow. See I hear people say this but its quite hard to believe. Obviously I can go and view an OLED in store etc, and be blown away, but there's always the question of what it's actually going to be like watchin FHD content etc. How do you find the motion with sports? Is that a notable step up from the LCD?

first thing i did when i got it was disable all of the motion processing options. i find it massively jarring even on an LCD when the image is over processed. I've watched multiple football games and the F1 so far. motion is fine for me but i do think alot of that is down to personal preference as specifically regarding motion i wouldn't say I've noticed any noticeable difference to my previous TV

my next purchase will be an Xbox Series X so i do plan on putting a higher quality source through it but I've no issue with the picture on IPTV. again that'll be a differing opinion person to person I'd imagine

 

[AVtest]

Hi, if it helps, IMO the 706 is a fantastic TV and the price quoted is excellent (from memory it was £1,799 a month ago)

Based on your sources your not going to get the full viewing potential. However, should you start watching even normal TV via a Skybox then it’s worth it.

I’m guessing if I asked you if you want / need ‘earc’ the answer would be no, if so, search for the oled 705. Released about 6 months ago. RS might still have a few

It is truly decent price for 706 OLED at the moment with that discount. IF OP can afford then I guess it would be win on depreciation side as its nearer to £1000mark which we dont see that often.
I would not touch 705 just because this is now 3 year old platform and we are seeing far less updates, not to mention lack of performance etc....
706 defo a choice if can afford. 8 series is overpriced and I would expect it dropping in further in price.

 

[Deleted member 161415]

I would not touch 705 just because this is now 3 year old platform and we are seeing far less updates, not to mention lack of performance etc....

Thanks did not know that. Personally I think it naughty of Phillips to release a TV in 2021 that is now starved of updates.

I bought a 7 series 75” last year. Fantastic picture if sat directly in front of it but, slightly at an angle it was awful

 

[tommytroot]

Thanks everybody for the input and advice.

I think I'm probably leaning towards the 706 at the moment. It gives me options in the future. The other thing is I don't particulary want to overpay for something that could be hundreds of pounds cheaper in a few months.

 

[tommytroot]

Called up about the 706. OOS and no idea when it will be back in.

The guy wouldn't stop talking about LG. It was almost like what I was looking to buy was absolute garbage and the LG is where I need to be at.

 

[tommytroot]

How about the PUS8556 65 inch for £739? Would that be decent value?

 

[dggomes]

Hey Tommy, did you buy it in the end? I'm looking to get the PUS9006 70" that is going for £899, but would be great to hear what you decided!