No HDMI needed — Philips Hue's new camera-based Screen Sync system works with any source, including your TV's native streaming apps | Tech Radar
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No HDMI needed — Philips Hue's new camera-based Screen Sync system works with any source, including your TV's native streaming apps
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Philips Hue smart lights just got a major upgrade, with a new system that lets you sync lights with your TV screen regardless of its source. Signify, the company behind the Hue brand, showed off a new system called Hue Play Screen Sync at IFA in Berlin yesterday, and it looks set to make immersive entertainment lighting a lot more accessible.
The Philips Hue Play system lets you use smart lights (including light strips and bars) to extend the colors from your screen, creating a more immersive viewing experience. However, until now, this could only be done using a Philips Hue HDMI Sync Box, which sits in between an HDMI source and your TV. If you want to watch content via a non-HDMI source, such as a native app on your smart TV, you were out of luck.
The new Philips Hue Play Screen Sync changes all that, using a fisheye camera to monitor the action on your TV screen and synchronize it with your smart lights, regardless of the source.
Similar systems already exist from rivals including Govee and Nanoleaf, so I'll be interested to see how the Hue Play Screen Sync compares. Camera-based systems usually have a few drawbacks compared to HDMI screen syncing (they can be affected by reflections on your TV screen and tend to have more latency) but hopefully the Hue system will offer performance comparable with the HDMI Sync Box.
Another big update launched at yesterday's event is Custom AI Behaviors, which lets you use natural language to describe lighting automations, rather than having to create them manually — something that could be quite time-consuming or fiddly when done in the app. For example, you might choose to have your lights behave differently at the weekends, or activate a particular scene automatically after dark.
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The Philips Hue app already contained an AI assistant the let you use text or speech to describe a lighting scene (such as 'something for Christmas' or 'a tropical sunset'), and would search the existing scene library for a match. If none existed, the assistant would create something suitable for you. This was a useful feature, but Custom AI Behaviors goes far beyond that, and should make advanced automations much more accessible, with no need to spend time fiddling with switches and sliders.
On the subject of accessibility, there is now a 4K version of the Philips Hue Sync Box to accompany the 8K version launched in 2024. The 4K Sync Box is more affordable than the 8K model, and for the first time, you can use it to sync a single light with your TV via Bluetooth, without a Philips Hue Bridge.
Third-party collaborations are coming as well, including one leaked last week, which allows you to integrate Nanoleaf Shapes lights into your Hue lighting setup, and a collaboration with Sonos that will let you control the brand's speakers with selected Hue switches.
There's a huge bundle of new smart lights too, including Festavia curtain, net, and icicle lights (ideal for Halloween and Christmas), a Philips Hue Liane 360-degree rope light, with LEDs around the entire circumference, and an Omni Glow outdoor strip light. Omniglow is a technology that uses tightly packed LEDs to create an extra smooth gradient, with no visible gaps, and this is the first time it's been available for an exterior light.
I'm hoping to test some of the new lights soon, and will bring you full hands-on reviews as soon as possible.
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Cat is Tech Radar's Homes Editor, covering smart home tech, kitchen appliances, vacuums, haircare and more. She's been a tech journalist for 15 years, having worked on print magazines including PC Plus and PC Format, and is a Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) certified barista. Whether you want to invest in some smart lights, find your ideal hair styler, or pick the espresso machine of your dreams, she's the right person to help.
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