Philips Joins the 4K Display Party with 9000 Series UHD TVs in Tow

You don't have to worry if you just plunked down a wad of cash on a swank Full HD 1080 large screen television, it will serve you well for years to come. At the same time, the transition to 4K might be a little more swift than most anticipated. More and more TV makers are launching 4K sets (albeit comparatively expensive ones), including Philips, which unveiled its first 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) TV line at IFA in Berlin today.

The company's 9000 Series kicks off with 65-inch and 84-inch 4K UHD TVs sporting a 3840x2160 resolution. Content for such high resolution displays is a bit lacking at the moment, though the 9000 Series will happily upscale viewing material when watching from Blu-ray, DVD, or broadcast services.

Philips 9000 Series

One of the touted features is an embedded light sensor that feeds "Micro Dimming Pro" algorithms with information about the ambient light conditions to the television. This allows Philips to dynamically adapt the LED backlight intensity to maintain the highest possible contrast, the company claims.

The 65-inch and 84-inch models also come with built-in Wi-Fi (supports Miracast and SimplyShare), a 15W speaker flanked by two 6W speakers (65-inch) or two 25W speakers and two 20W speakers (84-inch), and 3D support.

Philips 9000 Series Cloud

Philips says both the 65-inch (65PFL9708) and 84-inch (84PFL9708) models are available now in the U.K. and Russia for 4,999 euros (~$6,600) and 14,999 euros (~$20,000), respectively.