Philips Cinema 21:9
The basics
The Philips Cinema 21:9 is a 56-inch 2560 x 1080 LCD panel with a 21:9 (or 2.39:1) aspect ratio. It also boasts Philips' Ambilight feature, as well as full DLNA styreaming capabilities via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It has a contrast ratio of 80,000:1, a 200Hz frame rate and five HDMI ports
The good
To look at the Philips Cinema 21:9 is to want one. It's a one of a kind: the world's first ultra-widescreen television. The beauty of that is there's no more letterboxing (the black lines that appear above and below the picture during certain programmes/films), which means the screen is completely filled with picture. And an awesome picture at that. Thanks to Philips' picture processing tech working overtime details are sharp as a Sushi chef's knives, colours are as vibrant as a children TV presenter's personality (but not as annoying) and motion judder is non-existent! The addition of Philips' Ambilight feature (projecting colours on the wall behind your telly) merely enhances your viewing pleasure. And as for the speakers, well, they almost blew our ears off!
The bad
It's not all perfect. If you're watching a film with subtitles, for instance, the Cinema will almost certainly crop them out in 21:9 mode. There is a special format setting, but that squeezes the picture and it's not ideal. Also, not all source material comes in 2.35:1 (rather 16:9 or 4:3), which means you may have to "stretch" the image to fill the screen or put up with black bars filling the empty space. Neither solution is optimal. As for Net TV, which lets you get on the web for sites like YouTube is a nice quirky addition, but keying in URLs into the remote is about as pleasing as sticking needles in your eye. Oh and at £4,500 it's not cheap!
The bottom line
Now when we talk about cinemas in your living room, we'll be referencing the Philips Cinema. With its unique 21:9 widescreen styling it's the ultimate home cinema experience. In a word: awesome!
User comments (28)
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mattygadgetdude10 August 2009
Thats quite cool Whats the price?
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Renato Sormani10 August 2009
£4,500. Quite expensive, but it looks awesome!
Report as inappropriatejaw2floor11 August 2009
Well at least Philips are being smart. That have chosen to stay with LCD
Report as inappropriatedalvinder14 August 2009
it is too small i know it is 56" look at how low it is and at £4500, expensive i know but for a gamer like me it will look nice in my room with my xbox and playstation, where can i get one from
Report as inappropriateR4P7OR24 September 2009
I OWN IT
Report as inappropriatepete25 September 2009
Very cool tv, but the price is uncool
Report as inappropriateS4M-L01L3Y30 September 2009
R4P7OR doesnt own one of these! I would sincerely love one
Report as inappropriatejonmon27 October 2009
I would love one of these, just to be abal to watch films how they ment to be. Its got to be the future of TVs.
Report as inappropriatenigel29 October 2009
sounds great a bit pricy
Report as inappropriateThegenegenie04 November 2009
It was not that long ago large screen plasmas were £5K+, when other manufacturers get on board & all the "must have the latest TV at any price brigade" have bought their sets, the prices will plummet. I have to say, I am happy with my 52" WS bravia. Philips are well known for being an innovative company, but they tend to just move on once they launch it,... I bought a cdi, they dropped that like a hot spud, leaving all the buyers with a machine with hardly any software.
Report as inappropriateDani Kaltoft Kobeissi07 December 2009
I am a happy owner of the Philips 21:9 TV, and it is great. However, in addition to the TV I would recommend buying the Philips BDP-9100 Blu-Ray which will allow you to choose subtitle placement, hence maintaining the correct aspect ratio in 21:9 even if the subs are originally placed below the picture on the black bars. So whats left is the Net TV features to be improved. I personally don't use it, so I couldn't care less. It is without a doubt the the best TV i have owned... and I have owned quite a few :-) Also, I would recommend colour calibrating it. This can be done by anyone using a Spyder3 TV, or you can have a pro do it for you, which will result in an even better calibration. Of course, colour calibration should be done with any TV you intend to watch movies on.
Report as inappropriateonceaknight08 December 2009
I have always wanted a tv screen that is ahaped for full widescreen movies without the black masking. However i will wait until the market expands enough to bring prices down to an affordable amount.
Report as inappropriateTV lover09 December 2009
Looks great, but this will be horrible for everyday TV viewing - you'll have black lines on the left and right of the picture for everything you watch, imagine a 4:3 picture, about half the screen will be blank! Unless you only use this in your cinema room or only ever watch Blu Rays then I would avoid it. As for stretching the picture, why would you spend £4k on a TV and then settle for compromised quality? I'd stick with a high end 16:9 which most content was designed for. If you are dead set on watching a film how the director intended a 16:9 does this too, just with the thin black lines top and bottom. I'd rather have black lines occasionally than all of the time!
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gadgetboy31103 June 2010
have any of you seen the 103" panasonic tv it is isck
Report as inappropriatedsalo6403 June 2010
i am hopeing 2 win one on the gadget show
Report as inappropriatePeter Thomas22 June 2010
On offer in RicherSounds at the moment, only £2000.
Report as inappropriateKeanu12327 July 2010
I have it its amazin COOL COOL
Report as inappropriateMultizoneav.com22 August 2010
There's a new version of this TV coming this autumn - a 58" LED Pro backlight version! Dont know the full model number but if the existing one is anything to go by then the model will be 58PFLXXXX. Should be an awesome. Will post link once Philips send out info :)
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big h09 September 2010
this phillips tv is at richer sounds for £1499.
Report as inappropriateMark30 September 2010
I have the Samsung UE46C8000, my friend has this one. Mine was £2k cheaper and INFINITELY better. Picture quality, sound, settings, the works, it's awesome. So much so, my friend is selling his on eBay and getting the Samsung :) Also, worth mentioning, if you have an iPhone, you can download an app for the phone that can turn the phone in to a remote, which is also a useful keyboard for the web TV option and games controller for the interactive options on your sky box.
Report as inappropriateInigo16 January 2011
This beautiful TV is now at Richer Sounds for £999, and it IS the works, I love it, truly immersive!
Report as inappropriateAndy03 February 2011
These are available through RIcher Sounds and other outlets @ sub 1k!! Go pickup a bargain!!! ... I did/
Report as inappropriatefergud21 February 2011
i just bought one from richer sounds for a grand and i have to say its the best tv ive ever bought .blu rays look great in the 21:9 mode and because ive got virgin hd ,normal tv looks great on the auto select ratio .only thing that lets the tv down is the online function as i cant seem to get it to play any streaming video . may just be me but im not that fussy as ive got a laptop would have been nice though.
Report as inappropriatejohn malone27 February 2011
i love this tv from philips it is the tv to own. to watch your favorite movies on can not wate till number two come down in price that one is beautiful. i want it. philips have brought out the sound bar to go with this tv it look's & sound bril
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