2/19/2023 0 Comments Philips hue sync with movies![]() ![]() ![]() It will engage you in a way that should delight most people. The effect the Hue Play Box creates is stunning and makes certain movies and shows really fun to watch. Streaming content from Netflix and other services from an Apple TV 4K on a 50-inch 4K LG worked well and we had no complaints around picture quality. There's a chance you might not even notice the 60Hz refresh rate or the lack of Dolby Vision HDR. The device's specs aren't embarrassing or even bad, but it should be a consideration. The double edge sword here is that for people most likely to invest in Hue Play Bar Lights and the Sync Box to enhance their entertainment area, are probably the same ones investing in the highest quality TVs and movie watching. ![]() (Its HDMI spec is listed as 2.0b with HDCP 2.2.) The biggest downside to the Sync Box is some of its technical specs: It will output 4K, but is limited to 60Hz and HDR10. There were times we forgot to enable the lights if they didn't start automatically, and there were times the lights were more distracting than helpful - like an episode of The Office where there was less color and mundane backdrops. We used both and this setting will be a personal preference. There are settings in the Sync app to start syncing your lights on power-on or you can manually enable syncing when you're ready. That said, the constant glow on every show, movie, or onscreen content could be distracting depending on if you keep the lighting effect on all the time. The best movie we found was Into The Spider-verse, which was a magical experience when synced to the Hue HDMI Box. Marvel movies are good examples of how color can add to the viewing experience. Adding pricey rear speakers, a sub, or other things to a TV area might not even be as worthwhile as adding a Sync Box would. The Sync Box creates bursts of color during explosions and dramatic ambiance during tense scenes is unlike other things people do to enhance the movie watching experience. After a few weeks and dozens of movies we didn't see any hiccups or issues with the hardware box or effects it produced. ![]() The Hue Play Sync Box performs as advertised and the actual hardware performance has been rock solid. The Sync Box uses the same power adapter that the Play Bar Lights use so, for example, if you have two Play Bar Lights and a Sync Box, they can all be plugged into the same power adapter. While you don't need to plug everything into the Sync Box - just the items you want to match with the light colors - having inputs flowing through various inputs may affect how you control your TV or attached devices. There are four HDMI inputs to accommodate an adequate number of sources, but be warned that may be a limiting factor for some people. If you want your Hue lights to match what's on the screen from your cable box, Apple TV, and Xbox, then each of those has to be plugged into the Sync Box. (It is essentially a fancy splitter that connects to Hue lights.) The content passing through is analyzed and translated to flashes of color on any connected Hue lights. To get Hue lights to mimic whatever content is showing on your TV screen, you'll need to connect a source device, like an Apple TV, into the Sync Box. Up to ten can be used in a single group.Setting up the Hue Play Sync Box is straightforward, but will likely require re-doing you TV's entertainment area in some form. If you have a couple of Hue Play lamps behind your TV, for example, you'd select those as part of the entertainment area you can also select how high they are in the room. That's basically a floor-plan of the Hue lights and bulbs you have around the TV, and which you want to use with the Hue Play Sync Box. You'll need the Hue Sync app along with the regular Hue app, for a start, and you'll already need to have set up an "entertainment area" in the latter. If you're using a sound-bar or similar, there's an HDMI-ARC port which can loop the output to that. As long as your TV has a USB port you can connect it to the microUSB on the Hue Play Sync Box, and that will trigger it to turn on/off instead. The former requires an HDMI-CEC compatible set, which most recent TVs are, but there's a workaround if yours isn't working. The idea is that the Hue Play Sync Box automatically powers on when your TV turns on, and then switches between sources automatically. There's a button on the front which cycles through those inputs, but no physical remote. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |