Philips Cinema 21:9 3D

The basics

The Philips Cinema 21:9 3D is a 3DTV with a special 58-inch 21:9 aspect screen for showing ultra-widescreen movies. It comes with LED backlighting, networking and Internet connectivity, as well as Philips’ full arsenal of image processing tech.

The good

This TV isn’t short on features: Ambilight bathes your living room wall in gentle coloured light, replicating the on-screen colours of the moment, while Net TV offers a range of online services and even a web browser.

There’s 3D too of course, and unlike other Philips TVs the transmitter for the glasses is built into the TV casing itself, and not a separate box. And picture quality? It’s absolutely drop dead gorgeous, with the LED backlighting delivering black levels that rival plasma for inky darkness.

The image is also bright and vivid – and that 21:9 screen means no black bars when you’re watching most movies. The 3D mode also suffers less from crosstalk than many rival 3DTVs, meaning less distracting ghosting in the image when you’re ogling a 3D movie.

The bad

A Freeview HD tuner should have been included in a TV this high spec, but that’s really about it.

The bottom line

Stylish, fully loaded and capable of breathtaking performance, the Philips Cinema 21:9 3D is one of the best televisions currently on the market.