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Philips' 1080p plasma will cost $5,500, not $3,500.
(Credit: Philips)Sometimes when things seem too good to be true, they're indeed too good to be true. Alas, such is the case for Philips' new 63PFP7422D 63-inch 1080p plasma TV, which was announced at CES with a price tag of $3,500. Turns out $3,500 is the price for the company's current 63-inch plasma model, which features 768p or 1,366x768 resolution. (Really, that makes it your basic 720p HDTV). The new price for the new set is actually $5,500. Oops.
For the record, I did have sneaking suspicion that the price was perhaps overly aggressive, but Philips reps at CES assured me that the only mistake in the initial press release was that the new plasma model did not include a motorized stand. I told them I could live without the motorized stand for $3,500.
Of course, with flat-panel TV prices falling the way they are, by the time Philips 63-inch 1080p plasma comes out around the middle of this year, its street price may dip below $4,000. But for now, it's $5,500. No word yet on if the pricier version of the new model includes a motorized stand. For five grand, it should, right?
The diamond Ambilight TV
(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET Networks)Finally, a TV that even Zsa Zsa Gabor would like.
To celebrate shipping 1 million of its "Ambilight" TVs, Philips took the millionth one of the line and inserted 2,200 diamonds from the DeBeers Company into the bezel. Ambilight, which adjusts the TV light level to suit the room, has been one of the more successful technologies in consumer electronics in the past few years for the Dutch giant.
The diamonds are swirled in the white part of the bezel. Plasma TVs of this size weigh about 300 pounds, and the Philips booth is located deep in the central hall of the convention center, so thievery is probably out. But the aged security guard was a nice touch anyway.
Plasma encased in glass
(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET Networks)Philips is also showing off a plasma encased in a sheet of glass. That's the other picture. Neither TV is for sale.
Philips in some ways is the odd company out here at CES. Most of the other big booth holders come from China, Japan or South Korea. Philips is the largest European. But they serve better coffee than most of the other booths.
There's nothing like a bit of realism when you're gaming, according to Philips.
The Dutch electronics company has come out with a PC add-on for gamers that attempts to introduce a whiff of simulated reality to the experience. When you drive faster in a car game, two fans crank up faster and blow wind in your face. When you drive off the track, a rumble strip beneath your wrist vibrates. Two lights dim when you drive underneath a bridge.
(Credit:
Michael Kanellos/CNET Networks)
The amBX system essentially tries to create an ambiance, Lucas Covers, chief marketing officer at Philips, said at the Consumer Electronics Show. The amBX systems range in price from $199 to $399.
You will hear a lot about ambiance from Philips in coming months. The company has succeeded in many markets with its Ambilight TVs, which adjust their brightness to ambient light. The sales success has prompted Philips to come up with more products that take cues from their environment or make a pleasing environment.
One product, for instance, you could call the earthly alarm clock. Lights begin to come on slowly, until the room is fully bright by the time you want to wake up, said Covers. "It takes about a half an hour," he said. "But you wake up refreshed."
Philips' GoGear
iPods are nice, but if you can afford your own tux and you travel in your own chauffeur-driven Bentley, then you need an MP3 player as sleek-looking as this one, showing at CES 2007.
The three models in the Philips GoGear series are thin, but otherwise standard-featured Flash players. Dressed up in high-gloss black polycarbonate with silver, cigarette case-like contours, they could make Britney Spears look like royalty. Almost.
Each PlaysForSure-compatible GoGear model--the 1GB SA5115 ($99.99), the 2GB SA5125 ($109.99), and the 4GB SA5145 ($139.99)--has a 1.8-inch color LCD screen; red-backlit, touch-sensitive controls; Philips' SuperScroll navigation; and an FM radio, and is due to be available this spring. Each provides 18 hours of music playback or 2 hours of video viewing on a single charge of its rechargeable battery. As many PlaysForSure players do, the GoGears handle MP3 and WMV files, but not AAC. Hoi polloi iTunes users will have to stick with their plebian iPods.
We heard about Philips' 1.1 virtual surround system, the HTS8100 SoundBar, before CES 2007, but now that we've got the final specs, we're even more eager to give it a whirl when it comes out around the middle of this year, for $999. What differentiates from the single-speaker competition (a subwoofer is also bundled in) is the inclusion of a built-in DVD player, which will catch the eye of minimalists who want to pair it with a flat-panel TV and call it a home-theater day.
The HTS8100 has a built-in DVD player.
(Credit: Philips)The HTS8100 is only five inches thick and features Philips' proprietary Ambisound technology, with five amplifiers integrated into the single horizontal "sound bar" to create what the company deems a "full 5.1-surround sound experience through a one-piece, fully integrated, home theater system." Playing up the system's high-end credentials, Philips says the built-in DVD player offers 1080p upconversion via HDMI and Faroudja DCDi circuitry. Sounds good to us.
The step-down HTS6600 is a 2.1 system.
(Credit: Philips)If that $1,000 price tag scares you a bit, Philips has also introduced a sleek 2.1 virtual surround system that will list at $599 when it, too, hits stores in the second quarter of this year. The HTS6600 features HDMI connectivity but it upconverts video to 1080i, not 1080p. However, we suspect that only hard-core videophiles will be able to tell the difference.
In a smart move, Philips is shifting away from plasma and focusing almost exclusively on LCD TVs in 2007. The notable exception is its moderately priced ($3,500) 63-inch plasma TV, which has more potential than the company's earlier 42- and 50-inch plasma TVs that had to go head-to-head against Panasonic's highly regarded models.
LED is now the light behind Ambilight.
(Credit: Philips)According to Philips, its new Ambilight LCD FlatTVs "range in size from 32- to 52-inches (32PFL7332, 42PFL7432D, 42PFL9832D, 47PFL9732D, 47PFL7432D and 52PFL7432D). The 42-, 47-, and 52-inch models now boast 1080p resolution, Perfect Pixel HD Engine to maximize 1080p content for the best picture, Pixel Plus 3 HD, Digital Natural Motion and ClearLCD, the peak of high-definition (HD) for today's demanding consumer."
Probably the biggest news is that Philips is now using LED to power its Ambilight technology. The company says that, "The LED generates more saturated colors, allows for a more compact set design, and consumes less power than prior models."
Here's a look at the full lineup:
Philips' upcoming Ambilight LCD TVs.
(Credit: Philips)
Ever wanted to connect a video component to a monitor or a projector on the other side of the room but didn't want to run an expensive, unsightly HDMI cable to it? Well, Philips has introduced a set of wireless HDMI "cables" that will allegedly hit stores midyear, with a $300 price tag. I know it sounds a little contradictory to call cables wireless, but hey, I don't write the press releases or name the products.
I guess the point is in order to go the wireless HDMI route you will to connect a transceiver to both your video source and monitor, whether it's a TV or a projector. Unfortunately, the transceivers will require power, so you'll need to plug them into an outlet. They are HDCP-compliant.
Philips' wireless HDMI transceivers.
(Credit: Philips)Philips says, "Wireless HDMI is an in-room solution that can transfer a 1080p signal without any signal loss. The signal is never compressed and retains all the attributes as if it were transmitted through a standard HDMI cable. By operating in the ultra wideband (UWB) range, the wireless cable experiences no interference from traditional devices. It functions free from obstruction of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cordless phones, microwaves, and cell phones. Additionally, the wireless HDMI can be placed anywhere within a 25 foot range--in an entertainment center, in a closet, on the other side of the room--without signal loss or degradation."
We're not quite sure how useful wireless HDMI is, but it's a cool concept, and with long HDMI cables costing hundreds of dollars, we can see how this could be an appealing solutions for those with challenging home theater setups.
In 2006, we saw a few portable DVD players that integrated an iPod dock so you could playback your iPod videos on the DVD player's larger screen. But Philips has taken iPod integration to a slicker level with two upcoming portable DVD players, the DCP750 and DCP850. Both are wide-screen models that feature 7- and 8.5-inch swiveling screens, respectively. Philips says they'll also have a built-in SD and MMC card reader, and both players will debut in the "first quarter" of 2007 with suggested retail price tags of $149 and $199.
Open dock, insert iPod.
(Credit: Philips)They won't offer the picture quality of Philips' updated PET line and their battery life of 2.5 hours is pretty average. But the DCP line is really designed to iPod owners who are looking for an affordable way to enlarge their iPod videos so that more than one person can watch them at the same time.
The new, high-end PET 1030.
(Credit: Philips)As far as the PET line goes, Philips is introducing the PET1030 portable DVD player, which features an impressive 10.2-inch swiveling screen for tablet-style viewing, five-hour battery life, and side-slot disc loading. The 8.5-inch PET830 offers less battery life (3 hours) but otherwise identical features. Both come with with a car charger and a Smart Car Mount and will retail for $199 and $279, respectively, when they're released in the first quarter.
Philips' big plasma TV has a relatively small price tag.
(Credit: Philips)Vizio is making news at CES 2007 with a $3,000 60-inch plasma TV, but Philips has a big-screen plasma model of its own that it's going to price very aggressively at $3,500 (MSRP) when it arrives in stores in June. At 63 inches, the Philips 63PFP7422D is actually bigger and features 1080p resolution, USB connectivity for displaying digital photo slide shows and MP3 playback, and a motorized swiveling stand. That $3,500 is a suggested retail price, so we expect the real price to be even lower, possibly closer to $3,000. Of course, the Vizio will probably be nearer to $2,500 when it's released, but still, with prices for large-screen plasmas coming down quickly, the demise of the rear-projection TV seems more inevitable.
It's worth mentioning that with this set, Philips is also touting a new picture settings set-up wizard that seems pretty promising. You'll be guided through six preferences, including contrast, sharpness, and color saturation. We've been asking for this sort of wizard in sets for a while, so we're eager to see if it's a gimmick or a simple way for people to calibrate their sets right out of the box, without any help from pricey calibrators.
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