Philips and B&W buddy-up to tackle terrible TV audio
TP Vision, the company that licenses the Philips TV brand, has announced future high-end sets will carry Bowers & Wilkins audio technology.
The two companies have inked a multi-year exclusive partnership, saying they will “truly set new reference visual and audio performance standards” for television sets.
More details of the ambitious alliance will be provided at the IFA tech show in Berlin, which takes place at the end of August.
In a media release, the firms promised “the first glimpse of the potential” of the partnership. That sounds less like we’ll be seeing completed products ready for imminent release, but more a sign of things to come.
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As part of the deal, Philips and B&W plan on sharing their internal engineering resources, which they say will break new ground for the overall quality of TV sets.
New TV audio standards?
TP Vision says the partnership will bring an end to the acceptance of sub-par audio quality on expensive TV sets.
“For far too long, as an industry, we have allowed sound quality to be the poor relation when considering TV performance,” said Martijn Smelt of TP Vision, the exclusive licensee of Philips TVs.
In a somewhat braggadocios release, Smelt added: “A challenge that has been further exaggerated by the outstanding quality of our OLED sets. So, I’m delighted that we have been able to partner with the world’s best audio company Bowers & Wilkins to ensure that in future our Philips High End TV sound will offer a uniquely premium experience.”
Richard Campbell, Chief Revenue Officer for Bowers and Wilkins said: “Our new partnership with TP Vision presents a fantastic opportunity to help redefine the parameters of sound quality & performance on a TV. The superb new line of Philips TVs will introduce our well-known audio performance to a new consumer audience who will be able to enjoy first-hand, the incredible experience only we can provide, ‘Sound by Bowers and Wilkins.”
TP Vision licenses the Philips name in Europe, Russia, Middle East, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and some countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Are you excited by the potential of the Philips/B&W hook up? Will it push manufacturers to up their games when it comes to TV audio? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.