Philips' one-millionth Ambilight TV: cent$ and Sin City
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Jan 8th 2007 5:35PM
posted Jan 8th 2007 5:35PM
Philips -- yes quiet, understated, Royal Philips Electronics N.V. -- just introduced a diamond encrusted Ambilight television here in Las Vegas. The set is slathered in some 2,200 diamonds (225 carats) to celebrate their one-millionth Ambilight to roll off the assembly line. It's a one of a kind item and not for sale. To hell with your "Sense and Simplicity" corporate slogon Philips... it's time to party. Now someone pass the herring, we've got some pickling to do!
Ambilight is one of the worst gimmicks in marketing. By introducing additional light near your display source you reduce effective contrast ratio, especially black levels.
and yet they've sold a million of them... I think marketing deserves a pat on the back...
It is too bad they didn't do it the way it is suppose to be. Ambient light behind the TV, that doesn't change color, to actually enhance TV viewing.
I have a 6500k light behind my TV for this very reason. It is suppose to be better experience for the eyes with a soft ambient light.
diamonds! ooohh ahhhh.. who cares.
Except of course that you can choose to use either a static colour or the colour-changing thingiemabob-setting.
thats alot of diamonds, or should I say blood diamonds... thats about a small army's worth of weapons/ammo there in diamonds.
The Ambilight is great for Philips.
No, wait, let me explain.
LCD screens (Like the Ambilight) cannot produce full blacks. With total darkness you don't see the inky blacks you get from a CRT or Plasma.
But, with the Ambilight producing the light-wash backdrop, it gives the impression that the screen is darker than it really is, making the Ambilight look like it has a higher contrast ratio compared to other LCD's. So, it sells more, and for more money, as it "Looks better" while being the same panel as all the rest with a few gimmicky LED's thrown around the casing.
I work at the Convention Center in New York City and they have a lot of those ambilight displays all over the place and I think they actually look pretty nice. Adds a nice mood to the immediate area around it.
I always thought you were supposed to have a faint/soft light behind your TV? Has anyone read that before?
Isn't this doing the same?
YOU ARE CORRUPTING MY COUNTRY WITH BLOOD DIAMONDS!!!
I don't think you all realise that the ambilight follows the onscreen colours, so in a dark scene the lights are dim, also the lights are behind the screen so the contrast is hardly effected.
Abilight is sold on LCD screens as well as plasma screens. It is only on the high end screens which have a better contrast ratio (6000:1 on some Philips LCDs) so it is not a marketing tool to make the LCDs look better.
You can manually set the colour on the ambilight sets or set it to follow the onscreen colours. One mode (cool white) is 6500k which the manual also states is the SMPTE recommended setting.
Oh and Patrick "diamonds! ooohh ahhhh.. who cares" you cared enough to write that comment = Oxymoron.
I don't think you all realise that the ambilight follows the onscreen colours, so in a dark scene the lights are dim, also the lights are behind the screen so the contrast is hardly effected.
Abilight is sold on LCD screens as well as plasma screens. It is only on the high end screens which have a better contrast ratio (6000:1 on some Philips LCDs) so it is not a marketing tool to make the LCDs look better.
You can manually set the colour on the ambilight sets or set it to follow the onscreen colours. One mode (cool white) is 6500k which the manual also states is the SMPTE recommended setting.
Oh and Patrick "diamonds! ooohh ahhhh.. who cares" you cared enough to write that comment = Oxymoron.
I don't think you all realise that the ambilight follows the onscreen colours, so in a dark scene the lights are dim, also the lights are behind the screen so the contrast is hardly effected.
Abilight is sold on LCD screens as well as plasma screens. It is only on the high end screens which have a better contrast ratio (6000:1 on some Philips LCDs) so it is not a marketing tool to make the LCDs look better.
You can manually set the colour on the ambilight sets or set it to follow the onscreen colours. One mode (cool white) is 6500k which the manual also states is the SMPTE recommended setting.
Oh and Patrick "diamonds! ooohh ahhhh.. who cares" you cared enough to write that comment = Oxymoron.
marketing gimmick or not, philips really re-invented telivision. it elevates the status from a boobtube to a sophisticated work of art. you will never appreciate ambilight if you will not have the right setting for it. at least, it has a real impact on the viewer, unlike from other brands marketing hype which sometimes are decieving for consumer.
Typical of Philips. They can't make a consumer product worth anything, so the value is put into the cabinet, NOT the guts. Go figure a company who outsources ALL tech support to a group that knows nothing, and a product that is shyte to come up with this!