All about the dynamic scenes in Philips Hue

Along with the launch of the new Philips Hue app in June, our favourite manufacturer has announced a new feature that will be unlocked with a later update: Dynamic Scenes. In this article I would like to keep you updated with all the information around these new possibilities. What do you have to look out for? What can we look forward to?

When will the dynamic scenes be available?

So far, the new function cannot be used. But Philips Hue has not only announced that the dynamic scenes are coming, but also when they will come. A corresponding update will be available in the summer, most likely in July or August. September will probably be kept free for the new hardware releases.

What exactly do the dynamic scenes do?

The dynamic scenes are exactly what the name suggests. Not only will several lamps in a room be able to shine in different, well-matched colours, as we know it so far, there will also be a slow colour transition. This is supposed to create a particularly great and unique atmosphere.

Which products do they work with?

So far, all Hue products could be part of a scene, even if they don't control colours, for example. This will be different with the dynamic scenes – here only multicoloured Hue lamps will be involved. White and White Ambiance products will not change their brightness or white tone. A special highlight will be the Gradient Lightstrip, which Hue inventor George Yianni says will be able to display multiple colours simultaneously thanks to the dynamic scenes.

What is the difference to animation from Hue Labs or apps like iConnectHue?

In Hue Labs you can already activate a colour loop for a long time and third-party apps like iConnectHue offer freely configurable animations. But both solutions are particularly performance-hungry: each colour change is sent as a single command from the Hue Bridge into the ZigBee network to the lamps. “We will solve the problem like no one else can,” promises George Yianni. “The effects will play directly on the lamps, so the dynamic scenes will run independently of the rest of the network.”

How will one be able to activate the dynamic scenes?

That will probably be another difference compared to the previous solution in Hue Labs. Philips Hue is likely to have given a lot of thought to how you will be able to activate the dynamic scenes before the launch of the new app. I assume that this will be possible directly in the room view or in the scene gallery.