Lighting company Signify has announced a new feature coming to the Philips Hue app that aims to give users better control over the brightness in their homes, as well as an update to the Hue Bridge automation that brings more nuance to motion sensor triggers.
Philips Hue lights will soon include a brightness equalizer that allows users to customize the relative brightness of individual lights in an entertainment area, rather than controlling the lights as a group.
Signify says the new feature was developed based on requests from Philips Hue users who wanted more control over their lights while watching a movie, listening to music, or playing games.
With a brightness equalizer, users can “make lights with higher lumens dim less than lights with lower lumens,” according to Signify, allowing users to choose what’s in the spotlight when syncing lights to movies, games, or music.
In addition, an upcoming update to the Philips Hue bridge will allow users to have more control over the lighting automation that is triggered by motion sensors.
Currently, Philips Hue motion sensors support two time slots to automate lighting conditions – day and night – so users can for example set up a bright light to come on in the day and a low-level light to come on at night.
With the upcoming Hue Bridge update, users will be able to customize lighting conditions using a total of 10 time periods, allowing for various settings throughout the day. A natural light spectacle may also be specified as part of these time periods to mimic the sun throughout the day.
Signify reports that the brightness equalizer feature for the Hue app and the Hue Bridge automation improvements are scheduled to launch later this summer.
