Philips Unveils Aurea LCD TV

BERLIN — Philips formally announced at the IFA Show here its new "Aurea" LCD TV technology which builds on the company's Ambilight rear-panel lighting system for select LCD TVs by extending the surrounding light to the front of the screen.

The system builds on the Ambilight experience by placing an LED lighting array in the face of the TV frame to "Seduce by Light" those watching programming on the screen.

The system is designed to expand on the immersive viewing experience of the Ambilight system by surrounding the entire picture with a brightness- and color-coordinated glow.

The first Aurea model will be offered only in the 42-inch screen size, and will ship in Europe this fall. U.S. marketing plans are still to be determined, according to a Philips spokesperson. Pricing was not immediately available.

The set features full 1080p resolution and Philips' Perfect Pixel HD Engine video processing technology.

The Perfect Pixel HD Engine offers a combination of image enhancements for sharpness, natural detail, colors and smooth motion on all HD formats, standard TV formats and multimedia content. Each pixel is enhanced to better match the surrounding pixels, resulting in a more natural image, Philips said. Artifacts and noise in all sources are detected and reduced. The system also has a 3ms response time to remove blurred images in fast motion sequences.

Sound will be supported with an "invisible" sound system that is integrated into the bezel of the set. The system is comprised of two arrays of 12 invisible front-firing drivers and two subwoofer/midrange drivers in the bottom of the cabinet.