Managing large lighting installations with more than 50 bulbs will soon be easier with Philips Hue. On the sidelines of the IFA 2024 technology trade fair in Berlin, the manufacturer announced that it will soon release the long-awaited Multi-Bridge-Sync in the mobile app. This will then make it possible to operate lights and switching aids connected to several of the brand’s ZigBee gateways seamlessly as one installation.
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The manufacturer also showed an improved new version of its Hue Play HDMI sync box in Berlin, which can now translate the image content of a television with 8K resolution and a refresh rate of up to 60 Hz as control commands for neighbouring lamps. The higher resolution is less relevant because 8K devices are still hardly widespread. What is practical for gaming use, however, is that the technologically advanced box has the bandwidth to process a 4K signal with a 120 Hz image structure without latency thanks to HDMI 2.1 support.
The box also supports dynamic image processing methods like Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Signify charges 350 euros for the box. This is 100 euros more than the original box released in 2019.
Philips Hue’s new HDMI sync box can receive lighting control commands from image signals if the latter are resolved in 8K at 60 Hz or in 4K at 120 Hz. This is interesting for gamers.
(Image: Berti Kolbo-Lehrhardt)
App update brings multi-bridge sync
However, an update to the Philips Hue smartphone app that unlocks the Multi-Bridge feature will be free. It is already possible to manage multiple Hue Bridges in one app instance. To address them, you need to switch between them using a button. This is important if your own lighting system has grown so large that it exceeds the bridge limit of 50 devices.
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In the future, all installed devices should be operable within Window View without switching between gateways, Hue technology chief George Yianni told a media event on the sidelines of IFA. According to internal Hue tests, up to ten bridges can be stably connected in this way, Yianni said. However, this is a “soft limit”. There is currently no practical need to test even larger numbers.
Initially, it should be possible to assign devices connected to different bridges to a common room or area and then be able to operate them together via a group connection. Philips Hue plans to add the option of cross-bridge automation later. If a sensor is to switch a light, both components must initially be assigned to the same bridge.
In addition, the bridge can initially only be passed separately to additional services such as Alexa, Google or HomeKit. However, it is planned that the multi-bridge network can be interpreted by these services as “a common home”. Yianni did not want to set a start date for multi-bridge sync. The feature is currently in beta testing. As a stable function accessible to all customers, it should be available “later this year”.
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