Philips Cinema 21:9 56PFL9954H 56in LCD TV

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Ohmz

3:12 PM on 10 June, 2009

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So let me get this straight, we had 4:3, now we have 16:9 and now we're moving to 21:9? Why the hell didn't they just get it right the first time? This all looks like the current mess of computer displays.

Also, this was the first television review on here I didn't really understand! Not your fault, it's just all the aspect ratios got to me...

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Ed

3:22 PM on 10 June, 2009

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It's by no means the start of things to come, Ohmz. This is more of a unique demo that happened to come to market.

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rav

3:24 PM on 10 June, 2009

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Very disappointing that Blu-ray does not already carry a native 21:9 picture for the amount the discs cost.

This looks fantastic though.

Just imagining playing 360 on this. You could have side by side split screen with an enormous picture for each player.

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BarryWard

3:29 PM on 10 June, 2009

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You didn't mention how this tv handles 4:3 and subtitles. I'd expect seeing the full 4:3 image without cropping would result in enormous black borders on the sides and would look silly. Plus on DVD's, subtitle pictures are more often than not displayed over the bottom black border of a 2.35:1 film. So cropping the borders off would result in no subtitles, correct?

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davef

3:41 PM on 10 June, 2009

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@Ohmz - If I remember correctly, I believe the movie industry were worried about TVs and so when TVs were first introduced there was a 'compromise' and 4:3 was chosen as a standard so that it didn't compete with the cinematic 'experience'.

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Ripsnorter

3:50 PM on 10 June, 2009

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Excellent review, John! I was lucky enough to see this set on display at a Berlin branch of an electrical goods chain called Saturn. Conditions (no sound, very bright lighting, poor source) were less than ideal. It was priced at €3900. My initial impression was one of awe at the picture without black bars, but also disappointment that Philips had not attempted anything new with the design, as in a thin or brushed aluminium bezel. But I do wonder how non-HD 4:3 and 16:9 sources (the vast majority of German TV output) would look. Also, Philips TVs are notorious for the less than user-friendliness of their calibration systems and their need for almost constant tweaking depending on the source. How did you get on with this? Are the out-the-box settings good enough or does it require constant attention?

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John McLean

5:32 PM on 10 June, 2009

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@davef - I thought it was more to do with the limitations on the technology of the age. The engineering of a cathode ray tube really constrains it to squarish designs, in that the depth of the TV set is determined by the maximum acceptable beam angle, which in turn is largely related to the longer dimension of the image. While you could probably make a 21:9 tube, you'd need to massively increase the depth if you wanted to widen the image to compensate for the loss of height.

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Tony Walker

5:34 PM on 10 June, 2009

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Available in Switzerland for the equivalent of £3125. In Germany I've found it for £3447. And a French e-tailer is doing it for €2990 (yes Euros!).

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WestHej

5:45 PM on 10 June, 2009

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Any word on how this handles PS3/Xbox360 HD games or should I assume it does a similar job as with 16:9 TV sources?

Just worried (not that I have the money to buy this TV let alone a secondary TV anyway) that you would need a seperate HD TV to play games!

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davef

5:51 PM on 10 June, 2009

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@John McLean - I guess that also makes sense. My info came from an online article - can't remember which. As always, it's difficult to vouch for the veracity of some online stuff. I'll see if I can find said article.

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Philips Cinema 21:9 56PFL9954H 56in LCD TV - Feature Table

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