Philips Agrees That Wider Is Better

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.hometheatermag.com/news/philips_ultrawide_lcd/' target='_blank'>http://www.hometheatermag.com/news/..._ultrawide_lcd/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Dubbed the Cinema 21:9, this TV's screen measures 56 inches diagonally with a native resolution of 2560x1080. An auto-formatting function can resize 16:9 material to fill the screen, or&mdash;thankfully&mdash;this function can be disabled to display everything in its native aspect ratio, sort of like an anamorphic lens being moved into and out of position on a front projector. "</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1238526919.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>I've always preferred widescreen to formats that have been modified to fit my television.&nbsp; Aside from the fact that most movies are filmed with an eye to widescreen, it provides a much more compelling experience.&nbsp; Yes, I even watched widescreen format movies on a 13" kitchen TV.&nbsp; Philips seems to be taking this to the extreme by releasing a TV that has an aspect ratio of 2.33:1, just kissing the widest ratio you will ever need.&nbsp; The rest of the specifications look typical with it capable of 1080p resolution and 56 inches of LCD goodness.&nbsp; But why, oh why would you want Ambilight?&nbsp; I've never understood manufacturers that are infatuated with extra lights on their products.&nbsp; I have a desktop computer case that has blue LEDs that rivals the Luxor Hotel spotlight!&nbsp; Especially for a TV where all I would want to see is the movie itself, not the poorly painted wall its mounted on.&nbsp; Does anyone buy into mood lighting?</p>

[Jason Dunn]

I kind of like the ambi-light stuff, but I've never seen it in person, so I don't know if it's as nice in person as it looks in the pictures.

My bigger question is the whole ultra-widescreen stuff. It seems like it would be excellent for movies, but what about TV content? I watch more HD TV content than movies, and I bet most people are the same...so this seems like it's aimed at the movie-watching elite....some uber-rich person who can have a TV for "TV" and one for movies. :rolleyes:

[Felix Torres]

...so this seems like it's aimed at the movie-watching elite....some uber-rich person who can have a TV for "TV" and one for movies. :rolleyes:

You are exactly correct.
Remember, there is, in fact, a very large "secret" industry of products aimed at upscale buyers, expecially in the av arena. Just as in the auto industry you have exotics that incorporate all sorts of state-of-the-art technologies at a premium (Tesla's Roadster and upcoming Model S being this week's best examples) which eventually filter down into mainstream products, so too in the consumer electronics business you find pleanty of room for (and profits from) high-price specialty gear.
You've heard me harp on the difference between TV and Home theater, before, no?
Well, here is the perfect example of a new approach to home theater.
What this LCD display competes with is are front projectors that are equipped with anamorphic lenses to change the aspect ratio to present a very reasonable equivalent of a theater experience in the house.
A little geometry might be in order:
This 21:9 56" panel has comparable height to a 45"16:9 panel and width comparable to a 59" panel. The quoted price looks to be at a slight list price premium for a 60" panel but has a higher pixel density; they *added* horizontal resolution rather than stretch out the normal 1920 resolution, as an anamorphic lens would.
You don't lose any image quality watching 16x9 tv content but you gain about a 30% extra resolution in watching wide-screen movies so I'd say there really is going to be a market for this among the golden eyeball crowd. As long as the electronics can drive the panel properly, the thing is probably even cheap compared to a lot of 1080p home theater anamorphic front-projector systems ($5000 list is entry-level in that market), especially if its uses LED backlighting and high scan rates. (Neither of which is clear at this point).

Main problem is that the home teater crowd tends to prefer bigger screen sizes than a 60"-class LCD but otherwise, its an interesting product.

Well, that and the ambilight thing; wish they'd let a bad idea die a quiet death...:rolleyes: