FabianLast week, Philips Hue unveiled its Hue Play Screen Sync TV camera with a fisheye lens. The gadget, priced at 119.99 euros, is already available in the Philips Hue online store—without the light strip—and can also be ordered on Amazon. And that wasn’t the end of it, because today Signify unveiled a new product from Philips Smart Lighting. The Wi-Fi brand—known as WiZ just a few months ago—is also introducing a Screen Sync solution.
And here, Philips Smart Lighting is going all out: The TV camera is offered in a bundle with a light strip at attractive prices. The complete set for 40- to 50-inch TVs is already available for 89.99 euros; for 55- to 65-inch models, the price is 109.99 euros; and for 75- to 85-inch TVs, the price is 129.99 euros. All of these are significantly cheaper than Hue Play Screen Sync, since with that system, the light strip must be purchased separately.
The way it works is exactly the same
There are few surprises when it comes to how it works. The Philips Smart Lighting solution also uses a camera that’s mounted on top of the TV. The fisheye lens captures the entire screen content and adjusts the lighting of the RGBIC light strip in real time.
Installation is incredibly simple. Once the fisheye lens has been positioned centrally above the TV screen, it can be calibrated via the WiZ app. Screen Sync automatically aligns its anchor points with the edges of the screen, so all you have to do afterward is make some fine adjustments.
There’s one thing Philips Hue does better
When it comes to the actual light strip technology, the budget brand Philips Smart Lighting certainly can’t keep up with Philips Hue. In particular, the Philips Hue Play Lightstrip Pro, which is based on OmniGlow technology, is likely to deliver significantly better and more attractive lighting.
The WiZ solution, for example, does not use cool-white or warm-white LEDs. Instead, it has another feature that Philips Hue doesn’t offer: it covers not just three sides, but all four sides of the TV.
