21:9

LAS VEGAS--Do you think your wide-screen TV isn't wide enough? Vizio's 21:9 TVs have you covered.

The company's CinemaWide models, dubbed the XVT3D0CM series, offer three screen sizes (50, 58, and 71 inches) that have an aspect ratio of 21:9, which in person is noticeably wider than the normal 16:9 rectangle shape used by typical HDTVs.

The advantage of the shape, according to Vizio, is that it allows the sets to display 2.35:1 (CinemaScope) movies without any black bars. As the company points out, many big-budget Hollywood flicks are shown in CinemaScope, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Philips has brought up us to speed with the new lines of HDTVs to hit in 2011. While we're glad to see Philips' 4000, 5000, and 6000 models all come with MediaConnect (a PC-to-TV screen technology) and NetTV (which offers a wide variety of video content access from providers like YouTube and Vudu), we were really interested to hear about Cinema 21:9.

First expected to be available stateside in the second half of 2011, Philips' Cinema 21:9 LED HDTV will feature a superwide 58-inch screen directly aimed at recreating the 2.39:1 anamorphic 3D experience … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Today Vizio announced it would be shipping a pair of TVs shaped a bit wider than usual.

The new displays, sized at 50 and 58 inches, will be known as Cinema HDTV, and their LED-backlit LCD screens will have an aspect ratio of 21:9. That's visibly wider than the 16:9 shape used by nearly all other plasma and LCD TVs shipping today in the United States.

The advantage of the shape, according to Vizio, is that it allows the sets to "display 2.35:1 (CinemaScope) movies without any black bars." As the company … Read more

BERLIN--Shelled out several thousands for a Philips Cinema 21:9 television? You'll be pleased to hear it's obsolete.

Philips has bumped the firmware and added a micro polarizing lens to the screen, to create a prototype 3D TV.

The TV gets its tri-dimensional input from a prototype 3D Blu-ray player. Philips said Thursday at IFA 2009 that it's "actively participating in the 3D specification work of the Blu-ray Disc Association."

But hold it right there. Amid the 3D arms race--which has all the major manufacturers at IFA insisting that 3D is the next big thing--Philips … Read more

We already knew this was coming, but now we have actual pics that give a better sense of its scale.

Philips introduced its new Cinema 21:9 TV with a wider-than-wide-screen display at a press event in London. Our favorite blokes at Crave UK were in attendance and snapped a few frames of the "mutant telly."

Head over to Crave UK for a whole gallery of photos, as well as their take on the trouble of a new viewing format. (Alternatively, if you find wide screen worthless, head here.)

Many people may just now be getting used to the idea of the 16:9 aspect ratio HDTVs have. The whole black bars at the top and bottom just kinda throw people off I guess.

Personally, I've never had a problem with this. I just never understood how someone could prefer pan scan movies over letterbox once the difference was explained to them. I mean, you're getting the whole movie with Letterbox and a cheap knockoff with "Fullscreen" that has its edges cut off. Not to mention really awkward pans. Yeah, I'm a movie snob, … Read more