Pictures: Philips Aurea and Net TV

Philps' new Aurea TV range
Philps' new Aurea TV range

Philips showcased its latest Aurea TV at this year's IFA show, and TechRadar were there to see the thing in action.

For those who are not yet au fait with Aurea – the technology is essentially 250 LEDs which come together to create a multi-coloured frame of light around the screen and extending onto the wall.

The new third-generation Aureas now have a seamless transition between the screen and the 8mm Ambilight Active Frame.

philips aurea

The buttons on the TVs have been changed, too. They are now touch-sensitive and integrated into the front of the panel, instead of the side.

As for other specs, the TVs come with 80,000:1 Dynamic Contrast ratio, use 100Hz Clear LCD and have a 2 millisecond response time.

One of the biggest changes to the new Aurea sets is that they now come with Net TV. Although this technology has been around for more than a year, it has never been integrated into Aurea TVs – until now.

auera tv

While not much has changed on the Net TV front – apart from a few new broadcasters announcing their commitment to the technology – Philips did hint at things to come with the service.

The most exciting thing will be 'catch-up TV'. Similar to what Sony announced at IFA – the Philips service will give you an opportunity to watch your favourite shows again through Net TV.

Also demoed was a interactive Teletext-style service.

net tv

net tv

net tv

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.