Philips Android TVs will be the first to offer Spotify Connect

Tuning the TV

Android-powered Philips TVs will be the first to support Spotify Connect, letting you stream music from a mobile device straight to the television.

From September, Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to stream music on their compatible Philips Smart TV, in a move that will integrate the music service more into our homes.

And Spotify tells us that Philips is just the first in a "long line" of smart TVs that will be arriving with Connect support.

Because Connect draws on internet connectivity directly, the tunes will keep pumping even if your phone or tablet goes out of range, or you have to take a call - making it better than other connectivity options, such as Bluetooth.

On top of that, Spotify has announced some new Connect partners for home speakers, including Bose, Panasonic and Gramofon. More will be announced at IFA 2014, Spotify tells us, so keep an eye on this space.

And as for all you Windows Phone users, don't forget that Spotify has just opened up free streaming to your platform.

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Philips Brilliance MultiView (272P4QPJKEB)

Pros Strong feature set. Wide viewing angles. Deep blacks.

Cons Expensive. Skewed color accuracy. Has trouble displaying gray-scale shades. Skittish touch buttons. Bottom Line The Philips Brilliance MultiView (272P4QPJKEB) is a pricey 27-inch WQHD monitor that uses Plane Line Switching (PLS) panel technology to deliver dark blacks and wide viewing angles. This monitor is loaded with features, but its mediocre color accuracy and gray-scale performance hold it back.

By John R. Delaney

The Philips Brilliance MultiView (272P4QPJKEB) ($799) is the latest 27-inch monitor to bring Wide, Quad High-Definition (WQHD) resolution to the desktop. It uses Plane Line Switching (PLS) panel technology to deliver sharp 2,560-by-1,440 imagery, dark blacks, and wide viewing angles. It is loaded with ports and niceties, such as a fully adjustable stand, a webcam, USB ports, and speakers. Its gray-scale performance and color accuracy could be better, and its list price of $799 is over the top. For a list price that's another $300 more, the NEC MultiSync PA271W, our Editors' Choice for big-screen, professional-grade monitors, offers much better performance and a generous feature set. For a list price that's $350 less, consider the Acer K272HUL, our Editors' Choice for midrange, big-screen monitors. You won't get as many features, but it is a solid WQHD performer with a reasonable price tag.

Design and Features
The 272P4Q's textured, black finish is stylish yet subtle. The 27-inch Plane Line Switching (PLS) panel has a non-reflective coating and is framed by ¾-inch bezels. The lower bezel sports a prominent silver Philips logo and is attached to a ¾-inch panel that holds two presence sensors, four touch-sensitive function buttons, a headphone jack, and a touch-sensitive power switch. The buttons are erratic; every so often they would fail to respond to a touch command. Moreover, they are labeled with gray lettering that is difficult to read against the black finish. The presence sensors are part of the PowerSensor feature that, when enabled, conserves energy by reducing the brightness level by up to 80 percent when no motion is detected.

The 12.6-pound cabinet can be hung on a wall using an optional mounting kit and the four VESA-compliant mounting holes on the back panel. The stand is fully ergonomic and sports an arm with a sliding mechanism that provides 5.9 inches of height and 25 degrees of tilt adjustability. It also allows you to pivot the panel 90 degrees for Portrait mode viewing (the panel will automatically change the image orientation for you). The arm swivels at the base up to 65 degrees in either direction.

At the back of the cabinet are a variety of ports, including two HDMI inputs, a dual-link DVI input, a DisplayPort input, and a DisplayPort output for daisy-chaining multiple monitors. You'll also find an audio input and the power cord jack. On the left side of the cabinet are four USB 3.0 ports, three for downstream communications and one for upstream. The 272P4Q's dual 2-watt speakers are moderately strong, but tinny sounding. Along the top bezel is a 2-megapixel webcam and microphone array that communicates with the host PC via the upstream USB connection.

Philips' SmartControl software lets you change settings using the keyboard and mouse, which is much easier than using the overly sensitive and poorly labeled touch buttons. Here you can tweak Brightness, Contrast, Black Level, White Point, and Gamma settings, enable power-saving presets, and schedule days and times when you would like the monitor to automatically power down. There are six picture presets (dubbed SmartImage), including Photo, Office, Movie, Game, Economy, and Off (Standard).

The 272P4Q is covered by a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight. It ships with HDMI, DVI, USB (upstream), and audio cables, as well as a resource CD with drivers, a user manual, and the SmartControl software.

Performance
The 272P4Q's performance was a mixed bag. Colors popped from the panel's dark-black background, but their accuracy was a bit off. As shown on the chromaticity chart below, red, green, and blue (represented by the colored dots) all missed their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes), although red was relatively close. None of the colors were so far out of whack that they appeared oversaturated, but if your work requires accurate color matching you'll have to calibrate this panel.

Gray-scale performance was also sketchy. The panel couldn't correctly display all shades gray on the DisplayMate 64-step Gray-Scale test; the darkest three swatches appeared black rather than gradually progressing shades of dark gray. Light gray-scale performance was slightly better, but the two lightest swatches appeared whitewashed. The Viewsonic VP2770-LED also has some trouble with dark blacks, but its gray-scale performance was better overall. Shadow detail in my test images took a hit as a result of the panel's weak gray-scale showing.

The display's 6-millisecond (gray-to-gray) pixel response delivered fairly good gaming performance, but there was some motion blur while playing the PC version of Aliens vs. Predator. Results were similar while playing Burnout Paradise on the PS3 console.

The monitor consumed 42 watts of power during testing while set to Off (Standard) mode and only 24 watts while in Economy mode. However, the Economy mode picture was very dim. By way of comparison the ViewSonic VP2770-LED used 40 watts in Standard mode and 21 watts in Conserve mode, but the latter was also very dim.

Conclusion
The Philips Brilliance MultiView (272P4QPJKEB) is a well-equipped 27-inch WQHD monitor that offers bold colors, a sharp 2,560-by-1,440 picture, and an impressive feature set that includes three high-speed USB ports, four digital video inputs, a webcam, and a highly adjustable stand that lets you position the panel for optimal viewing. However, I expect better color accuracy and gray-scale performance from a professional-grade monitor in this price range. For another $300, the NEC MultiSync PA271W offers much better performance and a generous feature set, which is why it is our Editors' Choice for big-screen, professional-grade monitors. If that's a little too rich for your bank account, check out our Editors' Choice for midrange, big-screen monitors, the Acer K272HUL. You won't get as many features with the Acer but it is a solid WQHD performer with a reasonable price tag.

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Philips Brilliance MultiView (272P4QPJKEB)

Pros Strong feature set. Wide viewing angles. Deep blacks.

Cons Expensive. Skewed color accuracy. Has trouble displaying gray-scale shades. Skittish touch buttons. Bottom Line The Philips Brilliance MultiView (272P4QPJKEB) is a pricey 27-inch WQHD monitor that uses Plane Line Switching (PLS) panel technology to deliver dark blacks and wide viewing angles. This monitor is loaded with features, but its mediocre color accuracy and gray-scale performance hold it back.

By John R. Delaney

The Philips Brilliance MultiView (272P4QPJKEB) ($799) is the latest 27-inch monitor to bring Wide, Quad High-Definition (WQHD) resolution to the desktop. It uses Plane Line Switching (PLS) panel technology to deliver sharp 2,560-by-1,440 imagery, dark blacks, and wide viewing angles. It is loaded with ports and niceties, such as a fully adjustable stand, a webcam, USB ports, and speakers. Its gray-scale performance and color accuracy could be better, and its list price of $799 is over the top. For a list price that's another $300 more, the NEC MultiSync PA271W, our Editors' Choice for big-screen, professional-grade monitors, offers much better performance and a generous feature set. For a list price that's $350 less, consider the Acer K272HUL, our Editors' Choice for midrange, big-screen monitors. You won't get as many features, but it is a solid WQHD performer with a reasonable price tag.

Design and Features
The 272P4Q's textured, black finish is stylish yet subtle. The 27-inch Plane Line Switching (PLS) panel has a non-reflective coating and is framed by ¾-inch bezels. The lower bezel sports a prominent silver Philips logo and is attached to a ¾-inch panel that holds two presence sensors, four touch-sensitive function buttons, a headphone jack, and a touch-sensitive power switch. The buttons are erratic; every so often they would fail to respond to a touch command. Moreover, they are labeled with gray lettering that is difficult to read against the black finish. The presence sensors are part of the PowerSensor feature that, when enabled, conserves energy by reducing the brightness level by up to 80 percent when no motion is detected.

The 12.6-pound cabinet can be hung on a wall using an optional mounting kit and the four VESA-compliant mounting holes on the back panel. The stand is fully ergonomic and sports an arm with a sliding mechanism that provides 5.9 inches of height and 25 degrees of tilt adjustability. It also allows you to pivot the panel 90 degrees for Portrait mode viewing (the panel will automatically change the image orientation for you). The arm swivels at the base up to 65 degrees in either direction.

At the back of the cabinet are a variety of ports, including two HDMI inputs, a dual-link DVI input, a DisplayPort input, and a DisplayPort output for daisy-chaining multiple monitors. You'll also find an audio input and the power cord jack. On the left side of the cabinet are four USB 3.0 ports, three for downstream communications and one for upstream. The 272P4Q's dual 2-watt speakers are moderately strong, but tinny sounding. Along the top bezel is a 2-megapixel webcam and microphone array that communicates with the host PC via the upstream USB connection.

Philips' SmartControl software lets you change settings using the keyboard and mouse, which is much easier than using the overly sensitive and poorly labeled touch buttons. Here you can tweak Brightness, Contrast, Black Level, White Point, and Gamma settings, enable power-saving presets, and schedule days and times when you would like the monitor to automatically power down. There are six picture presets (dubbed SmartImage), including Photo, Office, Movie, Game, Economy, and Off (Standard).

The 272P4Q is covered by a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight. It ships with HDMI, DVI, USB (upstream), and audio cables, as well as a resource CD with drivers, a user manual, and the SmartControl software.

Performance
The 272P4Q's performance was a mixed bag. Colors popped from the panel's dark-black background, but their accuracy was a bit off. As shown on the chromaticity chart below, red, green, and blue (represented by the colored dots) all missed their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes), although red was relatively close. None of the colors were so far out of whack that they appeared oversaturated, but if your work requires accurate color matching you'll have to calibrate this panel.

Gray-scale performance was also sketchy. The panel couldn't correctly display all shades gray on the DisplayMate 64-step Gray-Scale test; the darkest three swatches appeared black rather than gradually progressing shades of dark gray. Light gray-scale performance was slightly better, but the two lightest swatches appeared whitewashed. The Viewsonic VP2770-LED also has some trouble with dark blacks, but its gray-scale performance was better overall. Shadow detail in my test images took a hit as a result of the panel's weak gray-scale showing.

The display's 6-millisecond (gray-to-gray) pixel response delivered fairly good gaming performance, but there was some motion blur while playing the PC version of Aliens vs. Predator. Results were similar while playing Burnout Paradise on the PS3 console.

The monitor consumed 42 watts of power during testing while set to Off (Standard) mode and only 24 watts while in Economy mode. However, the Economy mode picture was very dim. By way of comparison the ViewSonic VP2770-LED used 40 watts in Standard mode and 21 watts in Conserve mode, but the latter was also very dim.

Conclusion
The Philips Brilliance MultiView (272P4QPJKEB) is a well-equipped 27-inch WQHD monitor that offers bold colors, a sharp 2,560-by-1,440 picture, and an impressive feature set that includes three high-speed USB ports, four digital video inputs, a webcam, and a highly adjustable stand that lets you position the panel for optimal viewing. However, I expect better color accuracy and gray-scale performance from a professional-grade monitor in this price range. For another $300, the NEC MultiSync PA271W offers much better performance and a generous feature set, which is why it is our Editors' Choice for big-screen, professional-grade monitors. If that's a little too rich for your bank account, check out our Editors' Choice for midrange, big-screen monitors, the Acer K272HUL. You won't get as many features with the Acer but it is a solid WQHD performer with a reasonable price tag.

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Philips Avent SCD603

Pros Compact. Simple to operate. Battery backup for the camera.

Cons Horrendous Wi-Fi interference. No remote pan, tilt or zoom. Limited range. Bottom Line Avoid the otherwise attractive Philips Avent SCD603 baby monitor system unless you're running a Wi-Fi network on the 5GHz band.

By Rob Pegoraro

Philips has long prided itself on its taste in industrial design, and the $219.99 Avent SCD603 shows that focus with its clean looks and simple controls. But I found it had woeful effects on a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network. The Editors' Choice Withings Smart Baby Monitor is our favorite for the task, thanks to its helpful push notifications and smoother interface, even though it's $30 more expensive.

Design and Interface
The stylish camera unit (4.5 inches wide by 3 inches across) could be an extra in a Pixar movie. But it's up to you to position it properly, as the display unit can't pan or tilt it remotely. You can also stick it on a wall, with a pair of screws and drywall anchors in the box for that purpose.

One thing you won't find in the box: a printed copy of the manual. That's reserved on a CD-ROM, which invites you to run a Flash applet while hiding the actual PDF in a subfolder. (What year is this?)

You can pop in four AAA batteries into the bottom of the base unit to ride out power outages, but Philips says they will only power the camera for three hours. The company doesn't specify a resolution, but I'd put it at VGA in light of the wide availability of low-cost sensors with that resolution. LED infrared sensors around the lens provide low-light capability. A large nightlight sits on the base; to turn it on or off, press the light itself.

The 4.75-ounce handheld display unit, at 5.6-by-2.75-by 1.5 inches (HWD) counting the combination stand/holster that swings out from the back, is much easier to carry around over time than most. It's also considerably easier to operate, with a four-way switch on the front to regulate volume and brightness. Four buttons on the side—power, turning noise-activation on or off, playing a lullaby, selecting the next lullaby—complete the controls. There's no push-to-talk option, nor does the camera try to detect motion.

The 2.4-inch screen should awake automatically if the camera unit notices noise, but it also seems to do that on its own. If you do see that you've got an upset baby on hand, try one of the three pre-recorded lullabies. These kid-friendly instrumentals—my daughter asked for its rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at bedtime last night, then held the camera unit up to her ear before naptime today—are done well enough that parents shouldn't mind listening to them. A great many times.

Wireless Performance and Conclusions
Like a lot of current monitors, the SCD603 uses an encrypted 2.4GHz frequency-hopping spread-spectrum wireless link—nothing Internet-based—to tie the base station and display together. But its wireless seems a lot noisier than most. The first day I set up this model, an iMac in an adjacent room lost sight of its usual 2.4GHz Wi-Fi signal. That didn't happen again, but I did see severe slowdowns on that network—instead of the usual 15Mbps, Speedtest.net reported download rates that plunged as low as 1.46Mbps.

The slowdown was about as bad when I tested this monitor against a Nexus 4's portable hotspot 802.11n 2.4 GHz WiFi, with the phone also kept one floor down from the computer and broadcasting on the same channel 6 as the router. 

The traffic effect wasn't consistent, and in some cases Ookla's benchmarking site showed no drop at all. But I would be wary of using this monitor if you can't route around the congestion by switching your Wi-Fi to 5GHz. And that's not always an option: 5GHz brings less range, and a surprising number of phones still don't speak 5GHz Wi-Fi. The SCD603's own range fell short of competitors; I only got 150 or so feet down the street before the video feed dropped.

Philips says the display unit's 1,100mAh battery should power the display for seven hours in noise-activation mode, and 5.5 hours with the screen on full-time. But despite the sensitivity of the SCD603's microphone, the display unit was still ticking along (although showing zero charge) eight hours after the start of a test.

I'd like to compliment the interface designers of this model and have some words with its RF engineers. If you've already transitioned your Wi-Fi to 5GHz, this is a pleasant little gadget to have around; otherwise, shop elsewhere. The Withings Smart Baby Monitor offers useful push notifications, while the Infant Optics DXR-8 comes with a 2x optical zoom lens for more flexible positioning options.

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