I saw Philips' ultra-bright new OLED TV with awesome built-in Dolby Atmos sound – and it's really going to shake things up

Philips TV outdoes itself

Features By James Davidson published 3 October 2024

Philips has unveiled the full details of its 2024 flagship OLED TV, the Philips OLED+959. It will be available in a 65-inch size only, with a launch price of £3,999. First models are set to be shipped in mid-October 2024.

I recently saw the OLED+959 in action at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, and you can read about what I saw below – but first the specs.

The OLED+959 uses a META 2.0 OLED panel with micro lens array (MLA) tech for added brightness – the same one found in one of the best TVs of this year, the LG G4, although Philips claims the OLED+959 will hit 3,000 nits of peak brightness, which is way beyond what the LG manages. It also uses a ‘Dual Engine’ version of Philips’ 8th Generation P5 AI processor, an enhanced version of the processor found in the excellent Philips OLED909 and Philips OLED809.

This processor comes packed with AI features, including AI Machine Learn Sharpness V2 for sharper textures and details; Ambient Intelligence V3, which optimises HDR performance to match the TV’s Ambilight feature; and Smart Bit Enhancement V3, which boosts 8-bit video colour to a 14-bit level to correct for banding and contrast loss.

There’s also an AI Sports Optimisation mode that detects when football is on screen and optimises processing to reduce judder and improve picture clarity. Philips has confirmed that the mode is currently exclusive to football but will look to expand to other sports in the future.

The OLED+959 also includes Ambilight Plus, an upgraded version of its Ambilight tech that enables 192 lighting zones for more dynamic, vibrant and faster response to what's on-screen.

Elsewhere, the OLED+959 features a 5.1.2-channel Bowers & Wilkins speaker array. This uses 18 drivers totalling 102W of power output, with front left, centre and right channels, two additional side-firing channels, two up-firing channels and a rear subwoofer.

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors