I love OLED display tech almost as much as I adore my 18-month-old puppy. It’s a borderline unhealthy obsession, but at least my new LG G3 OLED TV doesn’t make me scoop poop on a daily basis. Here at Tom’s Guide, we rate this incredible screen as the best TV you can currently buy, so how in the blue hell do you improve on it?!
With the Philips Hue Gradient LightStrip, that’s how.
I don’t care if this makes me a wince-inducing, walking cliché: as a hardcore PC and console gamer, I love LED lighting. Like a moth to a flame, my obsessive eyeballs can’t resist the allure of ambient colors being projected onto the wall behind my beloved OLED.
Philips’ illuminating accessory has been on the market for a few years now, and I’m currently using the 75-inch model. And good news! Right now, the Philips Hue Gradient LightStrip 75-inch is $260 at Amazon — down from its usual $300 list price. If you’re reading this in Britain, you can pick up the smart lighting gizmo for £210 at Amazon UK, though sadly there’s no discount at time of writing.
Like a moth to a flame, my obsessive eyeballs can’t resist the allure of ambient colors being projected onto a wall"
I realize most people reading this probably won’t own a 77-inch TV, so you’ll be glad to know Philips also makes 55- and 65-inch versions of its awesome lightstrip. Both sizes are currently discounted, too. The Philips Hue Gradient LightStrip 55-inch is $193 at Amazon (down from $250), while the larger Philips Hue Gradient LightStrip 65-inch is $195 at Amazon (reduced from its usual $270 price tag).
I’ve been using Philips’ amazing wrap-around lighting strip for a couple of years now, and it’s a total game-changer for setting the ambiance of your entertainment area. Easily controllable via the Hue App through either your tablet or smartphone, you can switch between dozens of color presets thanks to its Hue Scene Gallery collection.
Depending on what sort of mood I’m in, I regularly swap between a bunch of different go-to color schemes. Living in Scotland, where it’s often ‘dreek’ — or ‘dreary’ for my transatlantic chums — I often switch to upbeat patterns like the bright and cheery ‘Miami’ scene.
Scream team
In sharp contrast, if I’m watching one of the best horror movies on Netflix right now, I might find myself flicking to the ‘Chinatown’ scheme to bathe my lounge in blood red hues. I actually opted for this preset when watching the ‘not as bad as I expected it to be’ Scream 6 recently, and the sinister tones that emanated from the back of my TV really complimented the stabby vibes.
If you want to take things to the next level, you can also pair the Hue Gradient with the company’s clever sync box. The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box is $250 at Amazon, and it essentially acts as a fancy HDMI splitter that lets you connect up to four devices, be it a PS5, Xbox Series X or one of the best 4K Blu-ray players.
When it comes to watching movies or playing games, I’ve found the knockout combo of the Gradient LightStrip and its optional sync box to be transformative. Mimicking the colors of whatever action is occurring on my screen, it raises my immersion levels in whatever content I’m viewing / playing every time I enable the feature.
Cleverly, you can set the sync box to either Video, Music or Game mode, to ensure you’re getting the most naturally paired up lighting experience to match whatever medium you find yourself chilling out to.
The latter mode changes its colors most often / aggressively to keep up with the fast-paced action and frequent flashes of color you’ll see in, say, a vibrant Street Fighter 6 bout.
If you find these accompanying light shows to be a little too dazzling, fret not — you can instantly tone down the frequency and brightness of these screen-matching effects with the Hue Sync app. Like Hue Play, it’s an easy to navigate piece of software that's a breeze to control even when hopping between four different devices, as I often do on a nightly basis.
I started this piece doubling down on my OLED obsession, but the Hue Gradient LightStrip works with any modern TV, whether that be a bog standard LCD display or a slightly fancier mini-LED panel. Thanks to the adhesive plastic mounts it comes with, installing this pupil-tanning device is essentially idiot-proof, too.
Looking for a little extra color in your life? Then the Philips Hue Gradient LightStrip is the way to go. It’s the perfect, vibe-setting companion to my TV, and I absolutely love it.
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