Philips 65OLED803 Evaluation

If you are able to do with out the wonderful sound system discovered on Philips’ 903 OLED TVs, this step-down mannequin is outstandingly nice worth

Execs

• Distinctive worth for such OLED TV
• Excellent image high quality
• Engaging Ambilight design

Cons

• Occasional odd pores and skin tones
• Android TV has a number of interface and content material points
• No Dolby Imaginative and prescient help

Key Specs

• Evaluation Worth: £2399
• 65-inch OLED TV
• Native 4K decision
• 3-sided Ambilight
• New P5 proprietary image processing engine
• Multimedia help by way of USB and community

What’s the Philips 65OLED803?

The Philips 65OLED803 is a 65-inch OLED TV outfitted with Android TV and the model’s distinctive Ambilight expertise. It makes use of the identical image engine as Philips’ step-up 65OLED+903 fashions, however prices £500 much less. This cheaper price means having to just accept a much less highly effective sound system. Total, although, the 65OLED803 remains to be a severe OLED cut price.

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Philips 65OLED803 – Design and construct high quality

As ordinary with a comparatively high-end Philips (Europe) TV, the 65OLED803 seems to be pretty. On the one hand, it’s at pains to minimise its impression in your lounge. Its display body is exceptionally slim, and it sits low on two neckless, single-bar ft which might be so slender, you possibly can barely see them once you’re sat straight reverse the display.

Change it on, although, and the minimal strategy is immediately obliterated by a kaleidoscope of colors erupting from its edges. This “Ambilight” system might be set to output single colors or to match the color content material of the photographs being proven. Select the latter possibility and Ambilight tracks the tone and placement of the picture’s colors with exceptional accuracy.

I assume some folks might discover Ambilight distracting. Wherein case you possibly can cut back Ambilight’s brightness and depth, in addition to how aggressively it tracks the image. Set it up proper in your room situations, and it actually does turns into an immersive and stress-free function.

The Philips 65OLED803 isn’t fairly as gorgeously nicely constructed because the 903. It additionally noticeably lacks the soundbar you’ll discover alongside the underside fringe of the 903. It nonetheless manages to be extremely skinny at its edges, although, with out feeling flimsy or brittle.

Transport with the 65OLED803 are two very distinctive distant controls. One includes a typical button rely on the entrance, however a full QWERTY keyboard on the rear. The opposite is a novel single-bar design, harking back to the TV’s ft, carrying an absolute naked minimal of buttons. Each are pretty efficient of their alternative ways – and the bar distant handily carries a mic for voice recognition and management.

Associated: Philips 55OLED+903 evaluate

Philips 65OLED803 – Options

Other than its hanging design, the 65OLED803’s predominant sights are its OLED display and “P5” image processing.

The OLED display allows every pixel to supply its personal mild and color, independently of its neighbours. Cue probably excellent black ranges and distinction, and pure colors which might be undiluted by the backlight leakage related to LCD TVs.

OLED TVs will also be watched from a lot wider viewing angles than LCD fashions, with out struggling a discount in color or distinction.

The primary draw back to OLED expertise would usually be that it might’t get almost as shiny as LED TVs. This can be a potential concern in terms of dealing with HDR content material. Nevertheless, the Philips 65OLED803’s P5 engine includes a new element which we’ll see, genuinely boosts distinction.

There’s just about no facet of the 65OLED803’s photos that the brand new P5 system doesn’t contact. It provides a number of further processing steps over and above its 2017 iteration, too, together with new element and sharpness screens, the beforehand talked about peak brightness booster, and enhanced color copy.

It’s price saying that the P5 engine suits all of its myriad levels onto a single chip. This makes the processing more practical and environment friendly, as the whole lot might be utilized within the optimum order.

The 65OLED803 doesn’t boast the OLED903’s built-in Bowers & Wilkins-designed speaker bar. It nonetheless carries 50W of energy delivered throughout a 2.1 channel speaker system, although. What’s extra, the audio system nonetheless appear moderately high-end for such an reasonably priced (£2399) 65-inch OLED TV. They embody two silk dome tweeters, and “triple ring” bass drivers which might be capable of transfer additional and thus go deeper than typical TV woofers.

Associated: OLED vs LED LCD – Which is the most effective show expertise?

The 65OLED803’s good options are delivered by way of Android TV. On the time of writing, this isn’t the most recent 8.0 model of Google’s good TV platform. Philips says that v8.0 will come by way of firmware replace, nevertheless.

Personally, I’m not a fan of Android TV. Its interface feels clumsy, it doesn’t provide a enough variety of customisation instruments, and in its pre-v8.0 model particularly, it doesn’t work onerous sufficient to prioritise video-streaming apps.

The Philips 65OLED803’s present lack of help for among the UK’s largest catch-up TV hitters – ITV Hub, All 4 and My5 – can also be irritating. (Sony provides YouView to avoid Android TV’s UK catch-up TV blind spots.)

Nevertheless, the 65OLED803 does run Android TV extra slickly and stably than most of Sony’s TVs. Plus, there are a few important Android-related advantages: help for Google Assistant voice recognition and management, and built-in Chromecast help.

Turning to the 65OLED803’s HDR help, there’s the trade customary HDR10, the HLG system utilized by broadcasters (together with the BBC), and HDR10+. This latter format provides further scene-by-scene information to assist TVs reproduce HDR photos higher. There’s no help for the Dolby Imaginative and prescient superior HDR system, although. Content material obtainable in Dolby Imaginative and prescient will default to its HDR10 layer.

Associated: What’s HDR? Excessive dynamic vary TVs and telephones defined

Philips 65OLED803 – Setup

Total I like the best way the 65OLED803 places an enormous variety of image changes at your disposal, however it might make residing with the set comparatively labour-intensive. So right here’s a quick rundown of an important setup stuff to consider.

For starters, I’d advocate utilizing the 65OLED803 Vivid image preset. Sometimes, this wouldn’t be my recommendation, since Philips’ Vivid settings have beforehand proved over-aggressive. Right here, nevertheless, it makes essentially the most fulsome use of the P5 processor’s image advantages whereas struggling hardly any of the undesirable uncomfortable side effects related to older Philips processing techniques.

In the event you actually don’t need to benefit from a lot of the P5 processor’s skills, the Film preset delivers a comparatively “unadulterated” image. Be ready, although: the image shall be a lot much less dynamic, shiny and wealthy.

Whichever preset you utilize, be sure that the noise-reduction settings aren’t operating on most; or in any respect, when watching high-quality 4K sources.

Once you’re watching 24Hz movies, I’d counsel setting the movement processing to “Film”. As well as, flip off all Eco options to retain good brightness with HDR content material, and set the TV’s Distinction mode to Greatest For Image.

Lastly, all the time keep in mind to activate the Sport image preset when gaming, if you wish to maintain enter lag right down to round 38ms.

Associated: What’s 4K TV and Extremely HD? All you have to find out about 4K

Philips 65OLED803 – Efficiency

The Philips 65OLED803 makes use of the identical OLED panel and processing system because the just lately reviewed Philips 55OLED+903 TV. It isn’t stunning, then, to seek out that its photos primarily look an identical. Which is usually factor.

Probably the most startling energy of the 65OLED803’s photos is their distinction. We’re used to OLED TVs delivering fantastically wealthy, deep blacks. However no different model of OLED TV so far serves up peak shiny areas with as a lot punch because the 65OLED803. Basic HDR image parts comparable to direct daylight, shiny synthetic lights and gleaming reflections thus get pleasure from a level of depth I’ve by no means earlier than seen on an OLED TV. Aside from Philips’ personal 903 fashions.

For brief bursts the 65OLED803 can really hit 900 nits of brightness – round 70-100 nits greater than another OLED TV I’ve seen so far.

These unique-for-OLED brightness highlights persist, too, even when the spotlight is sitting proper alongside an space of inky blackness. This makes you blissfully conscious of OLED’s pure distinction benefit over its LED rival. Extra importantly, although, it additionally delivers essentially the most fulfilling HDR expertise I’ve seen on an OLED TV.

The 65OLED803 excels with its color in most methods. Saturations with HDR/extensive color sources look extraordinarily wealthy and vivid. Excessive HDR areas comparable to shiny blue skies also can look extra pure than they usually do on OLED TVs – presumably as a result of the additional peak brightness Philips has one way or the other eked out of its newest OLED TV unlocks barely extra color quantity.

The one color concern I’ve is that pores and skin tones with HDR content material can typically look a bit “sunburned”. This concern might be seen on the 903s, too, though Philips has just lately made appreciable enhancements on these TVs by way of a firmware replace. This replace is outwardly set to reach on 803 fashions too.

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The 65OLED803 image’s sharpness can also be a factor of marvel. The processing engine/Extremely Decision function one way or the other makes many different 4K TV photos look mushy by comparability – together with these of LG’s newest OLED fashions.

This sharpness can also be a function of the 65OLED803’s upscaled HD photographs, the place it’s usually delivered with out the marginally gritty look of earlier Philips’ upscaling techniques.

Whereas the 65OLED803 is extra outfitted for HDR than different OLED TVs, it additionally handles customary dynamic vary content material extraordinarily nicely. Sticking to native SDR mild ranges, the image seems to be nuanced, pure, and wealthy.

Additionally, a brand new aspect of the most recent P5 system can convert SDR content material into HDR beautifully nicely, ramping up the SDR picture’s brightness and color vary with distinctive intelligence. By which I imply that its enhancements are utilized to totally different levels in numerous elements of the image, relying on the place they’re most wanted. This results in a way more persistently natural-looking fake HDR expertise than these supplied by most different TV manufacturers.

The 65OLED803 can also be principally a reduce above the norm with its movement dealing with. It may take away judder and blur with out wanting too processed, or inflicting a lot of haloing round transferring objects. The one concern is that my most well-liked “Film” setting for the movement processing can go away judder with vertical digital camera actions.

Philips rounds out a extremely glorious image efficiency with extra shadow element in darkish areas than some OLED TVs, plus OLED’s ordinary viewing angle benefit.

Associated: Greatest 4K TV Offers

The 65OLED803’s sound falls a way wanting the wonderful sonics of Philips’ step-up 903 OLED fashions. It’s comparatively restrained; even at most quantity, the sound all the time seems to be coming from behind and, typically, to the left and proper of the display, relatively than projecting straight out in the direction of you (as occurs with the 903s).

There’s a a lot flatter really feel to the 65OLED803’s sound, with much less ebbing and flowing. Bass is noticeably extra restricted in vary and impression, and the soundstage is usually much less pristine.

Nevertheless, simply because it doesn’t rival the 903’s glorious sound, that doesn’t imply the 65OLED803’s audio is weak by typical TV requirements. The truth is, it has a properly rounded tone that by no means sounds excessively skinny or harsh. Voices sound convincing and clear, and despite the fact that the soundstage doesn’t actually undertaking forwards, it nonetheless has a sufficiently big sense of scale to attract you into the world of the movie or TV present you’re watching.

Associated: Greatest soundbars

Why purchase a Philips 65OLED803?

In some methods, the 65OLED803 is essentially the most thrilling OLED TV but, and due to this fact a mannequin that’s positively worthy of consideration – particularly on condition that its many charms might be yours for simply £2399 on the time of writing (it has since gone again as much as £2699 on the time of publishing).

LG’s OLED TVs include a extra pleasant and complete good TV system, though the Philips has the image high quality edge because of its to sharpness and HDR “punch”.

Panasonic’s OLED TVs, in the meantime, ship gorgeously refined and refined – if much less dynamic – photographs, designed to carefully match the situations of Hollywood content material mastering suites. Neither the LG nor Panasonic units have Ambilight, although.

One different various could be the Samsung 65Q9FN. This LED mannequin is greater than twice as shiny, but nonetheless delivers glorious black ranges. Nevertheless, it has to compromise the brightness of any mild image parts that seem towards a darkish backdrop.

Verdict

Whereas the 65OLED803’s sound isn’t almost pretty much as good as that of Philips’ step-up 903 fashions, its image high quality is actually an identical. This makes its cheaper value appear like severely nice worth for such a high-quality set.

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Used as the primary TV for the evaluate interval

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Trusted Rating

Rating intimately

• Options 8

• Worth 10

• Good TV 7

• Picture High quality 9

• Design 9

• Sound High quality 7

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