Philips has been putting out some stellar gaming monitors, but none this large until now. The Philips Momentum (558M1RY) is a 55″ 4K HDR TV with native 120Hz and a built-in sound bar. It also has a few other fancy features that make it a great addition to the living room. Some of them are amazing while others need some improvement.
Functionality and Connections
The 558M1RY has 3 HDMI 2.0 ports and 1 Display Port 1.4 port. This means that you will only obtain true 4K 120Hz with HDR on the Display Port. All 3 HDMI ports will support up to 1440p 120Hz with HDR or 4K 60Hz with HDR. Since most games on PS5 and Xbox Series X have the option between performance mode and resolution mode, these ports will suffice. You’ll need to make a choice between these modes later in the lifecycle of these new consoles with games running 4K 120fps.
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You can already see this with Call of Duty Cold War since the game supports 4K 120fps. This will disable ray tracing, but as these next-gen consoles get more exclusives, it will become more prevalent. For those connecting their PC to the 558M1RY, there are additional features you can use.
There are 4 high-speed USB Type-A 3.2 ports as well as a USB Type-B (upstream) port. The Type-B port is to connect to your PC and allow the USB ports on the back of the 558M1RY as a USB hub. As mentioned before, the Display Port does support 4K at 120Hz. I tested both the Xbox Series X and the PS5 with an HDMI 2.1 to DP 1.4 adapter, but neither console will support that connection. So the full potential of the 558M1RY can only be seen on PC currently.
Display features
As most know, 4K, 120Hz, and HDR are not the only things important to a proper gaming experience. Things like input lag, variable refresh rate, and obviously LED lighting are important too.
Since the 558M1RY is essentially a giant gaming monitor, it’s expected to have a low input lag, and it does. I measured between 3-5ms, which is a huge improvement when looking at most other TVs on the market (typically 16-40ms in game mode). Screen tearing is something that has plagued many games, so it is no surprise that Philips included AMD free-sync premium pro technology. It provides a combination of smooth gaming at peak performance, and exceptional high dynamic range visuals while still maintaining low latency.
While LED lighting has been kind of a gimmick for gamers, this one is well implemented. Ambiglow lighting relieves stress on the eyes by extending lights across the wall behind the display. I chose to match the image on the display, and it would adjust the LED colors to match what was happening on screen. It is similar to what people have done with the Philips Hue lights on their TVs. Definitely provides a premium movie and gaming experience.
Interface
This is not a smart TV. This is very much a dumb TV, if you will, with no system/firmware updates. This makes sense given that it’s an oversized monitor. The only user control without a device plugged in are the TV settings. Those settings include Ambiglow options, Game Settings, LowBlue Mode, Input, Picture, PIP/PBP, SmartSize, Audio, Color, Language, OSD Settings, and Setup.
Each of these options is quite limited and only a few settings can be adjusted in each category. There were several settings under “Picture” that was never able to adjust. They were greyed out, regardless of what devices were plugged in. The device with the most control was a PC, to no surprise. This product definitely feels focused on PC gaming.
Audio
The 558M1RY has a built-in sound bar that’s tuned and calibrated by Bowers & Wilkins. I loved the audio quality of this bar. High and mids were well pronounced, and lows gave an earthy tone. You won’t find a super low bass effect, but I was happy with the lows it provided. Especially for action movies.
It is a 40W (RMS), 2.1 channel bar. Inside are two tweeters, two 10W mid-high speakers, with a 20W woofer. It is not Dolby ATMOS certified but does support DTS sound.
I never had to constantly adjust the audio between scenes with dialog and scenes with action. I found no rattling of drivers in lows and found its range to be quite diverse. It’s better than the majority of sound bars on the market, in my opinion.
Display Capabilities
This TV will be as good as whatever device you connect to it. It is completely device dependent. For instance, no amount of calibration could fix the image on a Chromecast movie, but it played beautifully with the 4K Blu-ray player in the PS5. So if you haven’t upgraded your equipment, you will want to for the best experience.
Before I get into my impressions of the display, here is a list of the specs I haven’t mentioned yet: Contrast ratio 4000:1, SmartUniformity 95 ~ 103%, Pixel Density 80 PPI, Normal Brightness 750 cd/m2, HDR Brightness: 1200 cd/m², Color gamut (min.) DCI-P3 Coverage: 95%, Color gamut (typical) NTSC 104%*, sRGB 125%*.
Some of the SDR images I received felt muted at times, but that was due to the crazy high brightness for SDR, which can be adjusted. The HDR image was incredible, however. I’ve watched several HDR movies and played several HDR games, and my cheeks flushed during explosions in some of the content I’ve watched. It was very impressive. Turning down the brightness might be necessary for some people, but I was constantly impressed by it.
Grey uniformity at times was phenomenal, but at other times horrible. I found this varied based on what device was connected. Which further proved that it is very device dependent.
What Could Be Better
There are a few places where I felt the ball was dropped. While I loved the Ambiglow lighting, I found that it lagged the image at times, when in “follow video” mode. At times, it struggled to find the right color and would display green or purple at those moments. I still used this mode most often but found it distracting at times. That said, it wasn’t an all too common occurrence.
The Picture Settings are incredibly basic and I found it very frustrating in comparison to most TVs on the market. The only things to control the image quality are brightness, contrast, sharpness, and saturation. Also, some of those cannot be adjusted, depending on what device is connected. Definitely feels built by someone that only knows about PC monitors.
I would have loved to see HDMI 2.1 ports instead of the 2.0 ports. Since the next generation of consoles are coming out and they don’t support Display Port connections, it may get overlooked. Most people with the new current-gen systems are looking for TVs with HDMI 2.1 ports.
Final Reaction
The Philips Momentum 558M1RY is one hell of a giant gaming monitor, that moonlights as a TV. What stood out most was the HDR brightness and the audio quality. Games had a buttery smooth frame rate with minimalized screen tearing, and that was liberating. Movies were ultra-clear and eye-catching.
The TV will only be as good as whatever you connect to it. Smart features are not necessary since this is built to display consoles and PCs that already have those features. The limited HDMI features and picture settings were disappointing. Hopefully, future models will see HDMI 2.1 ports and much more picture control.
If it wasn’t for the amazing sound bar built-in, I would call it expensive. It has a premium build and looks to it. Quite classy in my opinion.
Overall Rating: 4/5 Atoms
This product was provided by Philips for review on loan.
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