Philips Hue’s solution to make their free “Sync app” available on more screens, is an expensive HDMI Box, up for pre-order for “just” $229.99. Folks at Signify really know how to push the price limits 
$100 or less might be worth it IMO. But $230 is a little steep.
1 Like
Exactly what I was thinking. But if the experience is better than using sync app on Windows, it may be worth it. Supports supports 4K @ 60Hz and HDR10 at launch, but not HDR10+ and Dolby Vision videos, although they pass through the Hue Play box. It would be interesting to see how well it works. They say it “shouldn’t” add latency to the video, but if it’s anything like the sync app experience, I doubt I would buy one even if the price comes down 
1 Like
Nothing like reviving an old thread. I ended up getting one of these, using some Best Buy Rewards to help alleviate the cash out for it. I did find an easy way around the lack of HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision, but it depends on the equipment folks have so mileage may vary. All of my devices are connected to my audio receiver, with one output going from there to the TV. The receiver also has a secondary hdmi output. I connected the Hue Sync Box to that output, and set the receiver to send the signal through both outputs. So my TV gets the signal without it going through the Sync Box.
As far as whether I like it or not, so far yes. I have lights behind the tv, as well as in the room in general, and I have yet to decide if I prefer just the tv lights versus the full room synced. The show I started out watching with it (The Witcher) doesn’t really have a lot of color, so it felt a little underwhelming at first. Then there was some lightning, and then there was a scene where everything on the screen was bathed in red, and the whole room was red with it. That was very immersive and quite nice.
Then I looked for some other video with more color, and more color changes. IMO, it adds quite a bit to the viewing experience. There is some playing around with the settings to get it just right (at first it was a bit much). It doesn’t work when watching OTA video or anything from the apps on the Smart TV itself. But I rarely watch live tv, except for sports (and don’t really need the sync effect for that), and have a chromecast hooked up for when I want to sync something. It’s a little less convenient to cast vs. using the apps on the TV, but with the ARC HDMI input, once it’s started I have control with the TV remote.
I think the Hue Sync app could be a little better, and there’s not any way, that I’m aware of, to get the Sync Box out of standby mode short of physically pushing the button on the box, which is annoying. But otherwise, I like it quite a bit so far.
2 Likes
Is the sync box able to control lights connected to a smart things hub, or do you still need a hue bridge and hue bulbs?
No. It only works with hue lights connected to the hue bridge.