In all but the Vivid preset, the 55OLED804’s colour work is a clear advance on what was possible with any of the settings on the previous 803 models. The result is that dense soundtrack moments can start to sound a little one-dimensional and brittle. We use industry standard tests in order to compare features properly. And there’s at least a degree of customisation now. These can unlock more colour volume with HDR content too, and also provide remarkably deep black levels by LCD TV technology standards. First, they have another established brand to choose from rather than a cheap and cheerful Chinese model. For in pushing for that extra impact, it delivers some pretty noticeable clipping (loss of subtle detail and toning) in the brightest parts of the picture. Happily the Personal preset returns the sort of precision even to extreme colours that defines so much of the 55OLED804’s images. As you would hope these days, HDR and 4K are supported on the Netflix, Amazon and YouTube apps. After all, the way Ambilight’s rear-mounted LEDs boldly cast coloured light from three of the set’s edges is guaranteed to distract you from the picture, right? Improved HDR tone mapping is reckoned to retain more tonal subtlety in peak bright areas. Philips’ 804 OLED is also notable for its support for all major High Dynamic Range formats, including Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HDR10+. This can make such white and colour highlights look plasticky, flat, and out of kilter with the high levels of detail and depth on show elsewhere. The Philips 55OLED804 carries on-board Dolby Atmos sound decoding. In some ways this combination works well – provided you activate the strangely optional Dolby Atmos Height Speaker option in the TV’s menus. New York, Where the sharpness pillar is concerned, we now have new systems for both protecting details in very detailed sources, and restoring them to sources that might have lost them due to compression or low native resolution. Colours looked stunningly vibrant, with wide-gamut images, and brightness peaks with HDR content were in a class of their own for OLED screen technology. The extra sophistication of Philips processing also helps it upscale sub-4K sources to the screen’s 4K resolution with more intelligence and finesse. The good news is that with its latest Oreo implementation, Android TV has started to get on top of its problems. Related: Dolby Vision HDR − everything you need to know. Motion doesn’t suffer with lag or smearing during upscaling, either. That said, if your purist urges demand that you watch SDR without any HDR conversion, then the Philips 55OLED804 does that beautifully too. Otherwise it can become more distracting than immersive. Learn More. As a result, you get at least a sense of the Dolby Atmos object-based approach to sound. The 55OLED804 also doesn’t have enough bass to give its sound the sort of strong foundation it really needs. You will receive a verification email shortly. The screen sits on a pair of slim, metallic feet that become practically invisible when you’re watching the TV from directly in front. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, But they can’t deliver the same sort of localised light precision as the 55OLED804 and don’t support Dolby Vision. If you want to get the best from any 4K Blu-ray or video stream, the 55OLED804 has news for you: it supports both of the HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR formats. The complexity of Philips’ processing engine together with the way Philips (worthily) lets you adjust almost every aspect of its processing systems makes the 55OLED804 rather complicated to use. The latest enhancements to the P5 picture engine make the Philips 55OLED804 a seriously handy step forward over its already excellent predecessor.
The 55OLED804 delivers the most refined, natural pictures Philips has ever produced from an OLED TV, without sacrificing much of the brand’s trademark dynamism and vibrancy. It boasts an improved video processing system, Philips’ unique Ambilight design feature, and support for both of the HDR10+ and Dolby Vision dynamic HDR systems. Colours typically enjoy a strong uplift in vibrancy without looking forced or splotchy, and the 55OLED804’s HDR upscaling does a particularly effective job of recognising small, bright highlights in SDR pictures and giving them a really authentic boost that does a strikingly effective job of creating a sense of HDR ‘pop’.
The 55OLED804 TV is a class act at a great price, delivering the most refined, natural pictures Philips has ever produced from an OLED TV There’s a smoother, less jagged look to upscaled diagonal and curved lines too, and it’s great to see that the 55OLED804’s upscaling is clever enough to keep colour blends looking subtle and natural, without banding or blocking sneaking in. So only TVs like the 55OLED804 that support both can unlock the maximum performance from all HDR sources. And its twin support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision is a fantastically consumer-friendly touch that I’d dearly love to see all other brands adopting too. Unless you hate its Android TV smart system to an unreasonable degree, the 55OLED804’s outstanding OLED picture quality, its cute, well-built, Ambilight-enhanced design, its aggressive price and its brilliant dual HDR10+/Dolby Vision support make it extremely hard to resist.