Philips OLED+ 934 4K TV Hands On Review & Comments

Phil Hinton

Editor
Staff member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Messages
11,712
Reaction score
12,833
Points
6,438
Location
AVForums
Great preview, many thanks.
This TV could be a great alternative to the GZ2000.
 
@Steve Withers Greetings, Mr Withers! For me the most important paragraph in your hands-on review is:

"Philips has wisely decided to take an agnostic approach to high dynamic range, which means the 934 supports HDR10 (just like any other HDR TV), Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG), HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. The inclusion of the latter two means users will be able to enjoy the benefits of both dynamic metadata formats. This approach will give the 934 an edge over much of the competition because most manufacturers (apart from Panasonic) support one format or the other. "

Let's hope that Philips (and Panasonic) can inspire Sony and LG (Dolby Vision only) and Samsung (HDR10+ only) to become HDR agnostic, because surely why would an AVForum member not limit themselves to Philips and Panasonic? I hope to buy a very large (85" or 88") television in about two years time, maybe just before Christmas 20121, currently I'm not fussed whether LCD or OLED, but I certainly won't be buying a television that can't play all HDR formats.

Back specifically to the Philips OLED 934, this is decent value at an initial price of £3K for the 65-inch, especially since it is £1,500 cheaper than the 984 (which admittedly has a better sound system, but the same picture quality). It should sell very well.
 
Be interested to know how the sound comperes to Panasonics Gz 1500 and Lg's E9 when fully tested.
 
Steve

Sorry to be a clever dick, but if Philips were agnostic towards HDR, it would mean they don't believe in it. I think you mean eclectic.
 
Steve

Sorry to be a clever dick, but if Philips were agnostic towards HDR, it would mean they don't believe in it. I think you mean eclectic.

Nope - agnostic is used correctly in this review, this usage would refer to "platform agnostic" which is;
a concept that refers to the design attributes and philosophies of software products. A platform agnostic product runs equally well across more than one platform.

Also for the record agnostic doesn't mean you don't believe in something it means you are unsure if it exists but you are open to the possibility of it either existing or not existing.
 
Definitely looking forward to seeing some reviews of this, looks like a great bit of kit and definitely on my shortlist...I'm knocking the Panasonic TVs off the list unless they fix Cracklegate soon - and not sounding hopeful over on the GZ2000 Owners thread - I spent the first half of 2019 waiting for that model to be released but sounds like a patchy experience for early buyers so far, which isn't great considering the price :(

No mention of HDMI standards but I'm guessing not 2.1 or supporting ALLM etc? LG are adding in Nvidia GSync support on their 2019 TVs too....E9 is looking like a good choice for a movie/gaming usage mix. Either way I think my shortlist is down to the E9 and this Philips. Black Friday is going to be interesting :D
 
Mmmm...outboard speakers! Could these be the first consumer OLEDs that can be used more like monitors for those of us who don’t want the built-in sound gubbins?
Picture will have to beat the GZ950 by around £500 worth (allowing for some price flexibility) to make it viable though;not a small ask! And that’s with Philips’plethora of unnecessary processing turned off.
 
Nope - agnostic is used correctly in this review, this usage would refer to "platform agnostic" which is;
a concept that refers to the design attributes and philosophies of software products. A platform agnostic product runs equally well across more than one platform.

Also for the record agnostic doesn't mean you don't believe in something it means you are unsure if it exists but you are open to the possibility of it either existing or not existing.
Which would be true if Philips were software or hardware, but it's not.

And I'm pretty sure that Philips don't harbour any doubts that HDR exists. Indeed they believe in all 3 of its incarnations - HDR10, 10+ and DV. A (un?)holy trinity.
 
Which would be true if Philips were software or hardware, but it's not.

And I'm pretty sure that Philips don't harbour any doubts that HDR exists. Indeed they believe in all 3 of its incarnations - HDR10, 10+ and DV. A (un?)holy trinity.
Agnostic is correct within the context I was using it. You forgot Hybrid Log-Gamma and Technicolor (although only LG appears to believe in the latter).
 
Definitely looking forward to seeing some reviews of this, looks like a great bit of kit and definitely on my shortlist...I'm knocking the Panasonic TVs off the list unless they fix Cracklegate soon - and not sounding hopeful over on the GZ2000 Owners thread - I spent the first half of 2019 waiting for that model to be released but sounds like a patchy experience for early buyers so far, which isn't great considering the price :(

No mention of HDMI standards but I'm guessing not 2.1 or supporting ALLM etc? LG are adding in Nvidia GSync support on their 2019 TVs too....E9 is looking like a good choice for a movie/gaming usage mix. Either way I think my shortlist is down to the E9 and this Philips. Black Friday is going to be interesting :D
I do mention that the 934 uses HDMI 2.0b and that it supports ALLM. Perhaps a second read is in order?
 
This TV has joined my interest zone along with the Panasonic GZ2000 and LG E9 (I use the onboard sound more than any off board solution I've cluttered lounge up with). Looking at the Philip's website they have manuals for the 934 linked already. If this link works: 934 manuals could help answer lots of questions 👍
 
Which would be true if Philips were software or hardware, but it's not.

And I'm pretty sure that Philips don't harbour any doubts that HDR exists. Indeed they believe in all 3 of its incarnations - HDR10, 10+ and DV. A (un?)holy trinity.
Well Phillips make hardware that also runs software so I think my platform agnostic link is apt.

You are correct on your second point though, agnostic can also be taken to mean "prepared for any eventually" perhaps that better fits?
 
The user manual shows it as a fixed bar that attaches to speaker enclosure which just gives a T shaped footprint. There is no hinge visible so looks fixed, probably for stability as much as cost...
 
I love the tv, but I'm unable to get my tv-channels in the android launcher(channels).
I can watch tv, thats no problem. I can add netflix,disney and kodi to the launcher(channels), but not my tv channels. I love to have the tv channels on the home-screen. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
(It's via cable/dvb).
 
not until mid October, picture is the same as 804 and 854 which we should start seeing reviews for this week/next week. I would say don’t expect any reviews on the 934 till very late October or more likely November.
 
I do mention that the 934 uses HDMI 2.0b and that it supports ALLM. Perhaps a second read is in order?

I’ve heard Danny Tack mention years back that while Philips may not adhere to HDMI 2.1 they do/will add some features of it? As others have mentioned I’d be interested in using this as a monitor, i.e. without a Soundbar getting in the way of my centre speaker of a mid/high end AV System.

As builtin Apps are now able to deliver Dolby Atmos and other advanced audio I really need eARC to get this sound to my AV Amp, which is not mentioned for any of the ‘new’ Philips TVs. This is part of the HDMI 2.1 Spec, I understand as is HDR Dynamic MetaData needed to get HDR10+ & Dolby Vision into the TV via HDMI. So why are these features never mentioned or commented on as urgently needed?

Does Philips expect all owners to just use the builtin sound, while Dolby 2.1.2 is in some TVs it’s no match for a mid/high end AV System. What Philips TV am I expected to by next, as the 9002 never did get the promised HDR10+ via HDMI, only via Apps which never worked for me, plus after more than a year of use I lost the builtin BBC iPlayer App that could use HDR HLG...
... anyone know of a new 9000 series on the cards?
 
Just for the record you don't need eARC to pass Atmos from the TV back to an AVR or soundbar, you can do it with normal ARC because these apps deliver Atmos using lossy Dolby Digital Plus and not lossless TrueHD.
 
Now showing as "available to order in-store" with Richer Sounds. Getting closer by the looks of it
 
Does the 55" 934 have a subwoofer pre out. Would be very interested in this TV if the a separate sub can be added.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom