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View Full Version : A night in at the movies: The 56-inch cinema TV that costs ?4,500



gmb45
2nd July, 2009, 05:37 AM
There are plenty of widescreen TVs on the market... and then there's a 56-inch monster.

The super-wide set promises to deliver a true home cinema experience, showing blockbuster films 'just as the director intended'.

The Philips TV has a ratio of 21:9, in contrast to the more usual widescreen ratio of 16:9, and the traditional 4:3.

This means it is significantly wider in relation to its height, which Philips claims is key to the home cinema experience.
Phillips super widescreen television

The screen is significantly wider in relation to its height, which Philips claims is key to the home cinema experience

Among the benefits of the new design is that viewers are not met with ugly black bars at the top and bottom of the screen if they want to watch a film.

Existing sets can remove these by stretching or magnifying part of the screen, although technology aficionados complain that this distorts the image.

However, while the Philips Cinema 21:9 does not need to stretch films, it does need to manipulate everything else to fit the screen.

The company claims its 'smart pixel' technology means this can be achieved without distortion.

The Phillips TV has some 8.3 million pixels - more than any other

However, to enjoy the full cinema experience, customers will need to shell out for expensive Blu-ray DVD versions of their movies, which can deliver them in 21:9 format and in high resolution.

And if that were not enough to punish the wallet of gadget-lovers, the set itself costs an eye-watering ?4,500.

The TechRadar website said: 'Four and a half grand is a lot of money, but then this is, in every sense, a lot of telly.

'If you are serious about video quality and have a substantial budget, then this set should be at the very top of your list.'

The review added that the picture quality is 'remarkable'.

Michael Brook, the editor of gadget magazine T3, said: 'This is an absolutely cracking TV, and goes to show just how close to the cinema experience you can get.

'However, it does come with a huge price tag, and ordinary TV is still a problem, as very few programmes are filmed in the cinema format.'

Des Power, of Philips TV Division, said: 'With our unique Cinema 21:9 we have developed a television which takes you as close to the experience at the cinema as you can get without buying a ticket.