Philips unveils 2012 TV range

Philips has taken the wraps off this year’s new TVs, which will be available from the 2nd quarter of 2012. There are five different ranges, from upper mid-range down to budget level, with steadily fancier specifications as you go up the numbers.

At the budget end we have the 3000 series. These are all 1080p apart from the 32″ 720p version, and are no-frills LCD TVs with three HDMI inputs and a USB port to let you play back multimedia files from USB flash drives. The TV also supports EasyLink (Philips’ name for the HDMI-CEC standard), which lets you control multiple Philips HDMI devices from a single remote.

Moving up the range, the 3500 series adds DLNA media streaming and some limited Smart TV functions – according to Philips, the 3500 will be able to access basic services such as YouTube, but none of the big services such as BBC iPlayer. For that, you need the 4000 series, which adds support for iPlayer and on-demand films from Acetrax, as well as a web browser and support for various apps.

If you can stretch to the 6000 series you’ll get Ambilight Spectre 2, to add punch to your films by projecting the colours on screen onto the wall behind the TV. Unlike the current 6000-series TVs, the new model also supports 3D via a passive polarised 3D panel. Finally, the top-of-the-range 7000 series gives you a 800Hz motion smoothing and active 3D support – so whether you go for the 6000 or 7000 depends on whether you prefer the flicker-free image of passive 3D or the sharper picture of active 3D.

Prices for the new TVs have yet to be confirmed.