Again in early 2023 at CES, Signify and Samsung introduced an fascinating partnership that meant that individuals wouldn’t have to fork out $250 for a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Field to get that ‘Ambilight’ impact, because the duo have been launching a brand new app that does the job with out the necessity for extra {hardware}.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t all excellent news as there was nonetheless the necessity to cough up $130 / £115 for the Philips Hue Sync TV app. Which is a LOT for an app, proper? Even when it did technically minimize your prices in half.
Quick ahead a 12 months or so and – no feedback on the uptake right here – however there’s now a extra interesting entry to the sunshine syncing TV motion, with a $2.99 / £2.69 month-to-month subscription on provide.
What the app does is actually replaces the exterior Hue Sync Field {hardware} and powers every thing from inside your Samsung TV as a substitute, successfully which means your Samsung TV can act as a Play Sync Field, providing a singular gentle syncing expertise with something you watch or play in your TV.
In truth, it’s truly a bit higher than the Sync Field as, not solely does it scan your TV’s HDMI ports to detect what visuals to go with, it additionally works with the Samsung TV’s native streaming apps, resembling Disney+ and Netflix. It additionally helps all picture codecs together with 8K, 4K and HDR 10+.
Just like the Sync Field, you’ll in fact want some Hue lights to create the results.
It really works with a vary of Hue bulbs – you configure the format within the Hue app – however one of the best expertise (in my view) is if you throw a Hue Gradient Lightstrip into the combination.
No matter your setup, you’ll want a Samsung QLED TVs within the Q60 or greater vary from 2022 onwards to become involved.
It additionally all ties in with the SmartThings ecosystem, offering customers seamless management over the Sync TV app straight from their smartphones, alongside managing their different SmartThings-compatible gadgets and permitting folks to create of multi-device automations, enabling customers to curate the perfect residence cinema ambiance with a easy faucet.
There’s additionally a brand new Music matching mode launching on newer 2024 Samsung TVs, which will even hit 2022 and 2023 TVs within the Q60+ vary later this 12 months.
The brand new month-to-month subscription choices and the SmartThings enjoyable will hit all suitable TVs within the coming weeks.
