
You can have moody ambient lighting to enchance a spooky movie, or an intense tornado of colours to amp up a video game.

For me, I really like how Hue Sync transforms my living room into something completely different. OK, so is all the effort and money worth it? Well that’s going to vary depending on how you feel about RGB lighting. By default, the Sync Box is set to automatically switch between inputs when something turns on, but in case you don’t like that, you can also manually switch between inputs by tapping on a source at the bottom of the app, or pressing the lone physical button on the Sync Box itself. Once your lights are configured, you can choose between three profiles for Video, Music, and Game, along with four different intensity levels and an adjustable slider for brightness. Thankfully, this can be easily avoided by creating a welcome home routine. That means if the last time you used your Hue lights was to add ambient lighting while watching a movie, you could be in for some unexpected funky disco lighting the next time you come home.
#Hue sync xbox tv
The Hue Sync app allows you to virtually place lights around your TV to mimic where they are positioned in real life, and if you tap the icon for each light, there are three options for adjusting the height of each light: above the TV, TV height, and below the TV. The Sync Box connects to your phone over Bluetooth, and from there it automatically detects all your Hue lights, so you can quickly select which ones you want to add to your entertainment zone. Thankfully, this process is much simpler. Lighting things upĬonnecting all your devices is only half the battle, because after that, you need to configure your lights. Either way, no matter which route you take, setting up the Sync Box is going to take a fair bit of tinkering, especially for people with more comprehensive setups, so you’re going to want to set aside some time to do things right. Hue Play lights are probably the best choice for adding lights behind your TV since they are relatively small and come with adhesive mounts.Īlternatively, you can put your receiver/soundbar last in the chain using ARC.
#Hue sync xbox full
For me, I found that putting my soundbar in the chain after the Sync Box produced the best results, as it allowed for full use of the Sync Box’s music syncing mode. If you do use a soundbar or a receiver, things get a bit trickier too, as you’ll need to figure out where to place the Sync Box in your chain of devices. Also, because the Sync Box only has four built-in HDMI inputs (plus one HDMI out that goes to your TV) you’ll need to get an AV receiver to connect additional devices. Pricey, only 4 HDMI ports, setup can get complicated, automatic input switching can be finickyįrom there, it’s a relatively straightforward process of unplugging the HDMI cables from your various consoles, cable boxes, or streaming devices, plugging them back into the Hue Sync Box, and then connecting the HDMI out port on the Sync box to your TV. Lots of adjustable settings, becomes automatic once it's fully set up, works with video, music, games DON'T LIKE So just get it out of the way first.Ī box that syncs Hue lights to what you see on your TV PRICE
#Hue sync xbox update
Not only do Hue lights take a long time to update (as long as a couple of hours or more), without the latest firmware, you may not even be able to pair your Hue lights with the Hue Sync Box, which will render your efforts to rewire your living room useless until you do.

The Setupīefore you even take the Hue Sync out of its box, you’re going to want to update all your Hue lights. And that’s before you factor in the three or four Hue lights you’ll need to fully take advantage of the Sync Box’s capabilities and the time it’ll take to re-jigger your AV setup. Priced at $US230 ($333), the Sync Box costs a lot for something whose only real purpose is to make your smart lights flash and change colour in harmony with your TV. But with the new Play HDMI Sync Box (or just Sync Box for short), you now have the ability to sync your Hue lights with whatever is playing on your TV to create a whirlwind of colours in your living room.Įditor’s Note: Australian pricing and availability are yet to be confirmed.īut before we go any deeper, let’s get something out of the way first. However, up until recently, the only way to get Philips Hue’s Sync system to work in your living room was to hook your TV up to a PC, which isn’t really ideal. I’ll admit it, there’s something about RGB lighting that just makes everything better, whether its glowing gaming peripherals that pulse with the action, or just thoughtfully placed smart lights to enhance the mood.
