This year saw Philips once again opt out of appearing at CES 2024, instead waiting for the noise from that event to die down before announcing its latest OLED TVs. 

The company’s new OLED lineup includes the flagship Philips OLED+959 (pictured right), the step-down OLED+909 (left) and the mid-range OLED809. They were unveiled yesterday at a press conference, alongside the news that Philips will introduce the all-new Titan OS operating system on its newest Mini-LED and LCD TVs later this year. 

The Philips OLED+959 and Philips OLED+909 are the company’s premium TV models for this year, and they will benefit from multiple upgrades over last year’s predecessors. For instance, both models will come with a new 8th Gen P5 AI processor, with the OLED+959 boasting a “Dual Engine” version of that chipset. The TV will also feature LG Display’s most advanced OLED panel, which benefits from an upgraded Meta Technology 2.0 that combines Micro Lens Array Plus, a Meta Multi Booster algorithm, and Detail Enhancer technology to produce extremely bright images of up to 3,000 nits and incredible clarity. The TV also supports the Matter smart home standard, as well as Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. In addition, there’s a new Ambient Intelligence V3 technology onboard that promises to significantly enhance HDR experiences. 

Philips reminded attendees at the unveiling that this is also the 20th anniversary of its pioneering Ambilight technology, and to celebrate that milestone it announced an enhanced Ambilight Plus system that comes with multiple lenses for the rear-mounted LEDs on the OLED+959. The company promised it will result in a “more dynamic, larger overall halo with more resolution”, as well as up to four different halo styles featuring different depths. In other words, Philips OLED+959 TV owners will get more options for their immersive ambient lights. 

The company said the Philips OLED+959 will launch later in the year, most likely in the third quarter. There will only be a single 65-inch size going on sale, but it does at least pack an impressive sounding audio system that’s made up of an integrated 102-watt Bowers & Wilkins 5.1.2 channel speaker set. It consists of two 30 x 50m mid-range drivers, a 19mm titanium dome tweeter, plus a 75mm subwoofer and a couple of passive radiators, and Dolby Atmos is supported. Meanwhile the 8th Gen P5 AI processor throws in various algorithms to improve the overall sound quality. 

As for the Philips OLED+909, it comes with many of the same capabilities as the flagship, with a wider range of size options spanning 55-, 65- and 77-inches. It will launch in June and feature the same chipset and OLED panel as the OLED+959, though its sound system is slightly less capable. According to the company, it will feature an 81-watt 3.1 channel Bowers & Wilkins audio system and four-sided Ambilight. 

Taking another step down and we have the Philips OLED809 (pictured below), which is a mid-range model that will go on sale in 42-, 48-, 55-, 65- and 77-inch size options. It’s equipped with the earlier OLED_EX panel from LG Display that debuted in premium models from 2022, and while it’s not as bright as the new MLA OLED panels, it can still achieve a peak light output of 1300 nits. It will feature the same 8th Gen P5 AI processor as the above models, but it lacks the Ambient Intelligence V3 tech, and there’s also a scaled down and non-branded 70-watt 2.1-channel sound system, which drops to just 50-watts on the 42-inch model. Ambilight is only three-sided, compared to the four-sided experience on the more premium models. 

All three models will feature Philip’s new Game Bar, which enables 144Hz variable refresh rates, MEMC for a “smooth” setting that minimises motion and reduces latency to just 40ms, plus support for Dolby Vision gaming at 144Hz. 

We still don’t know how much the new Philips OLED models will cost, but with the OLED809 and OLED+909 set to launch in the first half of the year, it won’t be long until we find out. 

Introducing Titan OS

The other notable announcement from Philips was the surprising news that it’s ditching Google TV on some of its Mini-LED and LCD TVs this year. Unlike Panasonic, which dropped its homegrown My Home Screen software for Amazon’s Fire TV OS, Philips has done the opposite and opted to use a niche, homegrown offering. 

TP Vision, which is the company that licenses the Philips TV brand in Europe and other markets, said it’s partnering with a company called Titan OS S.L., which has developed the Titan OS smart TV platform. It will make its debut on the Philips PML9009 Xtra Mini-LED TV and “The One”, otherwise known as the Philips PUS8909. 

Interestingly, Titan OS isn’t only making its debut on Philips’ TVs, as it will also appear on a selection of JVC TVs. That is the result of a partnership between TP Vision and Currys, which manufactures and sells JVC TVs in the U.K. 

Philips is making a habit of swapping smart TV platforms. The company used the Android TV OS almost exclusively on its higher end OLED and LCD TVs until 2022, when it announced it will switch to Google TV on its OLED808 and OLED908 models. However, the switch caused problems for Philips, as a squabble about licensing between Google and Freeview Play meant the company had to delay the launch of its latest OLED TVs from August until October 2023. So it seems the company is now looking at alternatives, though it will continue to use Google TV on its premium OLED models, for this year at least. 

Titan OS is a Linux-based operating system that appears to merge the best design aspects of Google TV and webOS, with a top-mounted navigation system that allows users to switch between the home screen, apps, channels and search. Meanwhile, the rest of the screen is devoted to content recommendations and a selection of favourite applications. 

The good news is that Titan OS does at least appear to support the most important TV apps, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, as well as regional apps such as BBC iPlayer, ITV X and Channel 4. But there’s no mention of Apple TV or Now, so these services might not be accessible. 

Unfortunately, Titan OS is following in the footsteps of most other smart TV platforms with its focus on personalised ads. Philips said in its press materials that Titan will “enable TV manufacturers to extend their business beyond hardware”, paving the way for “continuous revenue streams for the 40% of the TV market that lacks its own operating system”.