A product I’ve been pining for since 2019 was quietly released last month. Yet it’s only this week that I’ve started to see it available online (and even then, it remains hard to find in stock). Said product is the Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box 8K. Catchy, right?
Once paired with a Philips Hue Play Gradient TV light strip, it mimics the colors of any on-screen action you’re watching, then casts them onto your wall. It’s a seriously nifty sight to behold in full flow/glow.
While I think the old 4K model is great, the key limitation of Philips’ first sync box, released some years back, is that it doesn’t support HDMI 2.1. This new 8K model does. And it should put on quite the light show alongside one of the firm's outstanding light strips I've spent hundreds of hours enjoying.
I’ve got about as much interest in watching 8K movies or gaming at that ludicrously demanding pixel count (7,680 x 4,320) as a Coulrophobia sufferer has in being trapped in a Big Top full of freaky, face-painted jesters. And yes, I did just teach myself a new word about clowns.
What I actually care about is being able to play the best PC games at 4K/120Hz with my sync box and TV lightstrip working their glowing magic on my home office’s wall — yup, I play the best Steam games on a television, not a monitor.
It’s an experience I’ve been craving for over three years which Philips and its $250 / £230 accessory couldn’t give me due to its HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2 limitations. Well, now the company finally has granted me my most super-geeky of AV wishes.
That’s because the new HDMI sync box from Philips supports 8K at 60Hz, my long desired 4K at 120Hz — which should prove useful to Sony gamers planning on buying the upcoming PS5 Pro — and both 1440p and 1080p at 120Hz. To give Philips’ aging 4K model credit, it can also handle a 120Hz signal at those last two resolutions.
The catch with the 8K sync box? Philips wants me to fork out an eye-watering $350 / £300 on it. Even for an AV enthusiast of my slightly unhinged levels, that’s a little too rich for my veins.
Sync or swim
Although, who knows? You’re currently reading the words of a dude who bought a special PC stand on wheels so he could roll his rig through to his living room every night to play way too much of a classic stealth game that keeps kicking my ass to this day. If I sell my old model for a decent sum, I might pull the trigger on the 8K upgrade for that sweet, sweet 4K/120Hz support.
Just bear in mind that if you are tempted by either of the Dutch’s company’s HDMI sync boxes, you won’t just need a Hue Play lightbar, you’ll also need the Philips Hue Bridge. The little puck lets your sync box and light strip talk to each other, while it can also be used to control any Philips smart bulbs you may have in your home. That’s why I linked to the bundle further up the page.
From my frigid home here in the Great Britain, that £300 figure is just too steep at the moment to realize my PC gaming 4K/120 fps glowed up dreams. Considering it’s only been out a matter of weeks and I can only find it available on Philips' U.K. store, I’m hoping that by Black Friday 2024, the Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box 8K will be more widely available.
And hopefully it will cost a less wallet-hammering sum in the not too distant future.
