Located just below the OLED+984 flagship in the 2019 range, the Philips OLED+934 features a European-style design and a separate Bowers & Wilkins soundbar. This soundbar features patented B&W controllers with a 2.1.2 design with an upward squeea bed controller and has a low door at the back. It sits in front of the TV and uses a special stand that turns everything into a stand for the Philips +934 when the table is mounted. A second stand is obtained in the box to mount the soundbar on the wall with the TV.
The OLED 934 also features high dynamic range HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision and HDR10 systems, along with Dolby Atmos sound. The TV uses Philips’ third-generation P5 image processor that Philips says offers excellent noise reduction, scaling and handling, while extracting more detail from the SDR and, thanks to superior tone mapping, HDR content.
There is also the Android operating system (v9 or P for Pie) which has a decent add-on of apps with services from Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube 4K HDR with more available through Google Store. There are also voice assistant features using Google Assistant and Alexa. We have noticed some bugs with applications, which have been reported to Philips and these will be fixed as soon as possible. There have been slight lip sync issues with Netflix and Prime videos and there is no sound in the BBC iPlayer app within the smart TV system. We had no problems with off-board sources.
While product design is a subjective theme, we find that the +934 is a very nice TV with a unique design compared to all the other OLED models on the market. There’s a minimalist look on the royal panel with a 1mm silver stripe around the entire edge of the screen without a bezel. Between this border and the image there is a black 10 mm portion of the screen surface, so the image does not reach the full edge of the screen.
On the side we have a CI slot and two USB ports, with a service port between them. Below these are three HDMI 2.0b ports. Then, looking down, you will find the fourth HDMI 2.0b port, two 3.5mm break ports for the component audio and video inputs, an RF and two satellite antennas along with an Ethernet port and an RCA subwoofer output to add an external sub.
All HDMI ports support ARC and also have a full bandwidth of 18 Gbps 4K 4:4:4 60p ready with HLG, HDR10, HDR10 and Dolby Vision support.
We found that the performance of OLED+934 was identical to that of the OLED854 previously revised by image quality. The differences were, of course, with the design and sound systems, with the +934 winning with the Bowers & Wilkins soundbar.
The uniformity of the panel in 5% stimulus was actually very good without visible bands noticeable views and full white was also good, however, the ABL circuit that controls the brightness of the full screen works more aggressively than other OlED TVs of Panasonic and LG for example and attenuates the brightness. This wasn’t really noticeable in isolation with normal content, but watching the sport over time will see it obscured over time. The overall brightness is also evident in parallel tests against the Panasonic G-950 and LG C9, both of which are marginally brighter than the 934. The direct competitors to the OLED 934 are the LG C9 (although it could also be seen as the E9 given the more direct speakers) and Panasonic G-1500 (which is identical to the G-950 for image quality, but adds a soundbar).
Just like this is a Philips 2019 OLED TV, it comes with the new third-generation P5 processor. Motion performance is good without an obvious 24fps material-induced judder, as a correct drop-down menu is applied when the motion style is set to Film. It can also be disabled to get a correct movement with most of the display material. All other motion options add frame interpolation and soap opera effect and should be handled carefully if you choose to use them for fast-moving video and sports equipment. Some experiments will be needed as too much is added to artifacts.
The Upscaling was also very good with HD Blu-ray and streaming which looks nice and crisp with a good line definition and no noticeable edge sign sound within the content. The P5 chip gives you a lot of image manipulation options, including additional sharpening settings and edge enhancement if you really want to go into town with these, but when you’re ready we haven’t seen anything that applies that shouldn’t be there.
The HDR content is also very good with a good reproduction of the color that looks saturated but again natural and balanced with excellent skin tones. The dynamic range is impressive with HDR10 content with excellent tone mapping. Moving on to the content of HDR10 and Dolby Vision and quality takes a slight step forward with more details now visible in mirror highlighting areas and well-controlled dynamics. Dolby Vision Bright on philips has a lot of applied image processing and motion interpolation, so if you want to see things as expected, you need to select Dolby Vision Dark or turn off all processing in light mode.
The Philips OLED+934 is another excellent TV of the brand in 2019 with a great design and an excellent sound system from Bowers & Wilkins. It also has a competitive price and offers many of the features we expect to see on an OLED TV, such as dolby Vision and HDR10 dynamic metadata systems. The Android operating system and smart systems are stable and reasonably fast in operation and the third-generation P5 processor certainly has the power to provide a wide range of image and processing styles. However, we are concerned about the accuracy of the images by industry standards so that we can see the content as it was thought to be seen. In this sense, the OLED+934 might be better in the factory, but it provides excellent calibration controls that allowed us to mark with excellent image accuracy. Our only demand for the future would be greater gamma-control by a dedicated publisher.
There is no such thing as perfect TV and compared to its peers Philips has shown some of their strengths against the competition, but it was also possible to see where some of the differences are. The ABL circuit of the 934 is a bit aggressive and this is combined with a slightly darker tonal map that, creating incredibly detailed reflections, looks a little less dynamic. This is by no means a deal breaker, as you probably wouldn’t even notice that this was the case in isolation, but in our reviews, we like to be complete in our testing and evaluation.
The big selling point for the Philips OLED +934 over other TVs in its range and its peers is the Bowers & Wilkins sound bar. We found this to work incredibly well and, unlike last year’s OLED 903, where B&W drivers had to exist in a space within the TV that couldn’t be changed, this year they had a free hand in design and implementation and shown! It sounds great with all kinds of content with rich and clear delivery dialogue and excellent weight that helps with the presentation of the film. It won’t shake the room with its response to bass (although you can add a separate subwoofer through the available output), but you have enough punch to fill the bottom with music and movies. Undoubtedly, it’s a step up in almost everything else at its price regarding audio playback.
The choice of quality OLED TVs continues to grow and Philips has created a very nice package with the OLED +934. The mix of excellent image quality and heavy sound reproduction from its excellent soundbar gives the market another option when deciding on your next TV and in this sense, it is highly recommended. Photo:Philips
Philips 55OLED+934 specs:
| Display | OLED |
| OLED Technology | WRGB OLED |
| Display Format | 4K Ultra HD |
| Screen Size | 55 In |
| Resolution | 3840 x 2160 Pixels |
| 1080p24 Support | No |
| Refresh Rate | 120 Hz |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
| Image Enhancement Engine | P5 Pro |
Philips 55OLED+934 Digital-TV
| Tuner | Freeview HD Tuner (DVB-T2) Freesat HD Tuner (DVB-S2) |
| EPG | Yes |
Philips 55OLED+934 Features
| PVR Features | Twin Tuners HDD Recording External PVR Ready |
| Smart TV | Yes |
| Smart TV Features | DLNA Video on Demand Access Media Player Web Browser Remote App Voice Control |
Philips 55OLED+934 Sound
| Speakers | Multi Channel with Subwoofer |
| Supported Sound Formats | Dolby Digital Dolby Digital Plus Dolby TrueHD Dolby Atmos |
Philips 55OLED+934 Connections
| HDMI Type | HDMI HDCP 2.2 HDMI 2.0a HDMI with ARC |
| HDMI Inputs | 4 |
| USB Ports | 3 |
| Common Interface Slot | Yes |
| Ethernet Port | Yes |
| Digital Audio Out | Yes |
| Headphone Socket | Yes |
| Analogue Audio In | Yes |
| Wi-Fi | Built-in |
Discussion about this post