The new monitors announced by Philips are presented as offering UltraColor, so there’s no need for aspiring and semi-professional photographers, designers and video-makers to settle for displays that fail to do justice to their efforts.

The new models expand the line-up of UltraColor displays for home users, but Philips adds that these models will also satisfy aspiring and semi-professional photographers, designers and video-makers looking for displays able to offer good reproduction of color. The wider colour gamut of UltraColor produces more natural-looking greens, vivid reds and deeper blues, bringing media entertainment, images, and even productivity more alive – all complemented by fantastic full digital sound thanks to the inbuilt speakers.

UltraColor technology brings excellent colour performance to home entertainment and apps. Supporting a wider gamut – 85% of the NTSC gamut as opposed to the typical 72% – UltraColor expands on the range of colours that are perceived by users, for more true-to-life images. Unlike enhancements that work by tweaking software settings in order to adjust colour balance, UltraColor works through the actual chemistry in the panel: innovatively engineered adjustments to the colour chips are what make it possible. As well as UltraColor, the E-Line displays offer 16:9 Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution for rich detail and contrast, and feature Philips Flicker-free technology for an ultra-stable picture that keeps eyes fresh even after hours of viewing.

Artem Khomenko, Product Manager Philips monitors Europe at MMD, is confident that the new E-Line displays are hitting a sweet spot on the market: “We’re seeing a tremendous appetite among home users for colour performance that a few years back would have been the domain of professionals. With these UltraColor displays, MMD is providing home users with truly stunning colour for entertainment and home apps.”

The new E-Line displays also offer with neat cable storage, and are available in glossy black finish with the same slim, elegant metal stand as the other models already on the market. All feature edge-to-edge glass and a narrow border for a seamless appearance and minimal viewing distraction. The sleek lines are enhanced by a front panel that is totally free of touch buttons: instead, there is a discreetly placed EasySelect toggle key on the rear to make quick adjustments to monitor settings.

To give users even greater choice over picture quality, the displays include Philips Smart technologies: SmartContrast analyses what’s currently shown in the screen and automatically adjusts colours and backlight intensity for the best digital images and videos – great for the often darker hues of gaming applications. There’s also a special Economy mode for just-right display of everyday office applications and lower power consumption. SmartImage Lite, an exclusive leading-edge Philips technology, also analyses screen content and dynamically enhances contrast, colour saturation and image sharpness for ultimate display performance based on the scenario selected by users.

As usual with Philips monitors, smarphones and other MHL-capable mobile device can be connected to the monitors. This allows users to stream photos and videos straight to the 246E7QDAB and 276E7QDAB displays, and play mobile games or view photos and videos in Full HD UltraColor quality – accompanied by full digital sound. In addition, the mobile device is charged while it is hooked up to the display, which keeps battery power topped up no matter how long the session.

These models may not be the first choice for many professional photographers or video-makers, but their low price make them attractive to those on a budget looking for a monitor for multiple uses that can also be used for editing photography or video. Available in Europe in August 2016, the displays cost £ 159.00 ($210) for the 24-inch and £ 229.00 ($303) for the 27-inch. No information yet, about when these displays will be available in North America.