I stumbled upon a particularly apt term “ivory tower” years past and have been fascinated by its connotations ever since. It can denote many things, a lot of it derogatory in nature, and in the modern sense it serves to delineate a way of thinking that’s practical and another way of thinking that is removed from the “real” world.

                                              Errr... it's an ivory tower.

The term originated from Judeo/Christian tradition, and denoted noble purity. It took a few thousand years before the term acquired a negative connotation in the form of describing a “disconnect” from the real world for the sake of the theoretical or the over-specialization. Those that reside in an ivory tower is said to close their minds to reality and devote themselves to what they deem to be noble pursuits.

                                             As smart as they probably are, they gotta know what the bulldozer means.

In this case, the term “residing in an ivory tower” can be used to describe two things: one: the geek who’s smitten with performance numbers, high tech gadgets and new developments – whatever they might be, and two: the manufacturer that relies on numbers and research/development but neglects the “human interaction” side of its products.

Philips’ “The Perfect Scene” Event held at the Shangri-La Digital Cineplex reminded me of the term as soon as our host delved into the new features and new ideas Philips had for implemented into their products. This is namely the Ambi light and the Ambi sound technologies applied to their cutting edge LCD and speaker system products, respectively. How so? Described succinctly, it was due to the simplicity of their ideas.

Described more thoroughly, Philips approached the challenge of enticing customers to purchase their products by going back to the basics. These two technologies / innovations are exclusive to Philips, and upon initial consideration, seems to be quite simple ideas, both in implementation and in the underlying technology. In that sense, Philips has chosen not to remain in the dry region of technological advancement that is hard to explain to customers and more importantly, hard for customers to see the results of.

                                             Ambi light - this is a very visible technological feature.

In the same sense, Philips’ competitors, who remain innovative powerhouses that churn out new technologies by the dozens in a year (and remain quite proud of the fact) have neglected the simple fact that consumers are more swayed by visible results and easy-to-understand technologies that have direct results in their viewing / listening experience – rather than technological footnotes that is complicated enough on paper and impossible to show in actual usage. Only a few technologically – inclined people will take note of faster refresh rates or more varied OSD controls, for example.

                                             New technology musn't be confusing. Philips has realized this.

Philips’ Ambi light is a series of adaptive LED lights mounted at the rear horizontal sides of the LCD. These lights change their color in real time according to the picture currently being shown on screen, and it is meant to both improve contrast in a dark viewing area and thus reduce eye strain, and also, to give the LCD a high-tech “aura” – both figuratively and literally – that is easily seen by the customer.

Ambi sound on the other hand, makes use of the previously mentioned “dry technology” that’s hard to explain to laymen, but results in a simple “sound bar” with no wires to run to the rear, no extra cables to connect, a two-element system that’s simple and easy to set up, and most importantly, an end result that clearly trumps a regular 2.1 or 1.1 setup. Simple description? Ambi sound  uses a single element speaker to produce multi-element sound.

The two main technologies mentioned here are of course backed by technology that is more than a mouthful, such as “psycho acoustic phenomena” or “angled sound driver”, but these ivory-tower technologies will remain inside and fascinate the ivory tower residents – such as the geeks and the tech-inclined. For the rest, it is more than enough that the advantage can clearly be heard, and can clearly be seen. It’s not so bad for techie people to be fascinated by the in-depth technology, but on the other hand, it is imperative for more manufacturers to follow Philips’ lead and not stay cloistered and in isolation.

                                             Ambi sound SoundBar - gives surround-sound option to 1.1

Philips’ Perfect Pixel HD engine is a combination of many elements that takes into account all the steps in the HD – rendering process – from input, to processing through a very powerful graphics engine, and to output using Digital Natural Motion – another technology with clearly visible results. Philips is no longer content to stay aloof, and in this event, it is obvious that Philips is taking steps to answer more to the majority of customers’ wants (and not just those interested in the technology), as well as make use of previous technology in furthering this goal.

Philips has put in its own research hours, has developed its fair share of bewildering technology advancements that have no immediate benefits for the consumer, but the advancements obtained are put into improving the immediate customer experience and thus gives Philips the products that can entice people from both sides of the white-colored wall. It’s simple enough – I like what I see, I like what I hear, and it’s very easy to setup. This will prove to be attractive to many buyers.

                                              After sound and light, the next step for Philips ?