Philips steps up game in audio, video

MANILA, Philippines - It’s no less than a plan for a home invasion, if you know what we mean.

Dutch multinational giant Philips is pretty serious about conquering the consumer audio and video realms, evidenced by its recently unveiled range of products ranging from personal and home to institutional solutions.

While drawing on more than a century of experience, the folks at Philips also push the technological envelope gleaned from the leaps it has made in other lines such as innovative lighting.

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” said Jason Chang, Asia-Pacific market leader for WOOX Innovations, Philips Audio and Video.

WOOX, recently acquired by iconic music brand Gibson, was a wholly owned subsidiary that boasted the audio, video, multimedia, and accessories business of Royal Philips. Headquartered in Hong Kong, WOOX continues to sell Philips-branded products worldwide as a brand licensee.

Meanwhile, Philips continues to excel itself in the television market via its latest DesignLine and ultra HD offerings. Harnessing performance from a proprietary multi-core Ultra Pixel HD engine, Philips has drawn recognition from the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) for its television picture quality delivered in both native UHD and full HD contents.

The company continues to showcase its unique Ambilight feature that throws a soft halo of light (coming in two or four sides) behind the screen — with the light matching on-screen colors. This gives an impression of a larger screen.

“This is the unique differentiator in Philips. (Ambilight) complements the viewing experience… relaxes your eyes as it (immerses you),” insisted Ivan Lui, regional product manager for TP Vision, adding that the effect virtually enlarges, say, a 55-inch screen to 65 inches.

The technology is taken to greater heights in concert with the Philips Hue lighting product, which gives unprecedented levels of lighting control. The television can be linked to the Hue lights via the buyer’s home local network — effectively extending the Ambilight coverage.

Complementing the innovative televisions are a number of home cinema systems that address various price points while pushing audio quality further. Soundbars, 2.1, and 4.1, systems in both wired and wireless options give audiophiles a breadth of choices to give their home cinema experience a boost and upgrade.

Speaking of sound quality, WOOX Innovations gives the public a glimpse into the stringent quality standards it employs when developing and testing its audio products.

The so-called Golden Ears Challenge, developed in-house, was originally conceived to “develop the listening skills of sound engineers at Philips’ audio innovation labs to ensure that products created were of superior sound quality, highlighting every musical detail.”

Now, Golden Ears has been uploaded online (www.goldenears.philips.com) — available for both desktop and mobile use — as an interactive training facility designed to ascertain and sharpen listening skills. Participants go through six “chapters” per level of difficulty (Basic, Bronze, Silver, Golden) — testing their ability to discern timbre, bass, spaciousness, details, and loudness.

This helps answer the crucial question of how to distinguish good from bad sound quality, said Thomas Peeters, sound and acoustics architect of WOOX Innovations. Based in the Hong Kong headquarters, Peeters is involved in acoustical engineering, project management, and development of new product concepts — particularly for headphones.

“We have one goal — to be the best in sound,” he continued in a presentation to the media. “For us, that means that if we do a blind listening test against our key competitor products, we would get at least 65 percent preference.”

All the sound products, maintained Peeters, go through that kind of litmus test before hitting store shelves. “To (aspire to have) the best in sound is quite a strong commitment from our management team,” he observed. “To achieve this goal, we have a global team of experts, sound quality process, and invest a lot in innovation and development.”

For instance, Philips (through WOOX) develops its headphones from end to end — including the crucial drivers. Peeters is extremely proud of this, and insisted in an exclusive interview with The STAR that it shows the expertise behind the brand.

“We have managed to get to our sound targets as close as possible,” he said. “The driver was developed from the ground up, and we are very pleased about the sound. We have been getting rave reviews. These headphones can go head-to-head with headphones that are much more expensive.”

Peeters is referring to the top-of-the-line Fidelio X1 headphones, which features a pair of powerful 50-millimeter neodymium drivers for “wide yet precise range.” The drivers are pre-tilted for minimal sound reflection, and are tuned to maintaining uniform sound precision.

The passion for quality and the pursuit of perfection, enthused Peeters, extend to the rest of the portfolio as well, and he pleasantly noted: “We are consistently getting rave reviews in benchmark tests.”

When asked by The STAR about more aspirational (and expensive) products in a very tightly competitive segment, the WOOX architect posited: “There are headphones made for people looking purely at sound quality, then there are headphones that are more of a fashion statement or (about) brand loyalty. With Fidelio, we want to bring everything in one. The design is top-class, using premium materials such as metal and real leather. This is something that our competitors at that price point or even above cannot bring. As for the sound quality, we are more confident in saying that we can compete at the same price point or even way, way above.”

Chang reported that last year, Philips shipped more than 30 million units of headphones — a unit every second. That figure reflects the fact that an increasing number of people are enjoying music on their mobile devices. Philips and WOOX obviously want to grow their share further in a marketplace full of discriminating viewers and listeners — who want exceptional entertainment experience at home and on the road.

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For more information, visit www.philips.com.ph or www.facebook.com/philipssoundphilippines.