Philips don't stop making 21:9 TV's

[bluevoice]

Dear all,

Philips is planning on stopping producing 21:9 TV's. Philips says at this moment the demand for such a product is too low for mass production, but they can reconsider this decision if demand will increase in the futue.

The argument at this moment is that the larger part of cunsumers don't understand this format. Though people that understand the format truely love it and don't ever want to switch back to 16:9.

Philips asked me to create a poll to be able to see how many 21:9 fans are in this forum, so here it is.

[JustMe]

Dear all,

Philips is planning on stopping producing 21:9 TV's. Philips says at this moment the demand for such a product is too low for mass production, but they can reconsider this decision if demand will increase in the futue.

The argument at this moment is that the larger part of cunsumers don't understand this format. Though people that understand the format truely love it and don't ever want to switch back to 16:9.

Philips asked me to create a poll to be able to see how many 21:9 fans are in this forum, so here it is.

I guess part of the reason why the format is not so successful is the price. If in addition to the top range, there would also be a "budget" Tv with this format I would imagine more people would buy it.

[bluevoice]

I agree, I guess producing the new Philips Cinema Gold 2 (50CIN6907S/12) was not such a bad idea after all. This would have been a reasonably priced TV.

Other manufacturers seems also interested in the 21:9 format, so Philips could loose exclusivity on this format. The Verge reports LG is now producing a 21:9 monitor: http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/28/32...medium=twitter

[Richter1k]

Philips is also producing a 21:9 monitor but that you can not compare...
a TV 1,40m by 0,70m is not the same as a monitor with... dont know 0,5m?

the idea indeed is far beyond "bad" however, the mass market is not what you need to sell such a product.
a 21:9 should only be used with HD content and in fact we only have this HD content on only a few TV channels so its not for tv...
it is for cinema, in this market however you can see a lot of devices which you can call "better" than a TV, like beamers.
If i want to watch a movie and i want to have the cinema experience it is not only about the 21:9 but also about ambience...
for cineasts they want it big! big sound and big picture, 1,40m is big 0,70m is not, look at the new device, 60", 66" and even 80".
in this class the 21:9 is not that important anymore (it was in 2009 where the normal screen size was about 42") so today there is no market anymore...
decide between a 9956 Device and a 60", the 9956 has 21:9 so no black bars but the 60" is as big as you simply dont care anymore about this black bars. so you must sell a 60" device with 21:9 feature but the screen is so exotic that it would cost to much, in that price-class people do buy beamers but not tvs....

[zlatko]

First I am truly convinced Philips should continue 21:9 format and I hope every other top manufacturer will have such a Cinematic line. Secondly - I agree with both what JustMe and Richter1k had said. 21:9 range must have more affordable models in it and also we need BIG screens. 58" in 21:9 is not as big as 60" in 16:9 aspect. I personally need 65-70" 21:9 screen. So it is large enough both when I watch 2.35 HD movies and when I watch 16:9 HD TV.
I currently own 52" 9606 and I don't feel 58" 9956 is bigger screen when comparing them.

[Toengel]

Hi,

Philips will continue to produce PC monitors in 21:9 format (however, the monitors are only labeled with "Philips"):


Toengel@Alex

[Gerrit]

I hope Philips will continue the production and development of the 21:9 screen. The reason I did not buy this screen till now is the problems with local dimming. Some of my friends were waiting for the same reason and while IFA 2012 came nearer we decided to wait for the new 2012 model. So what to do now?
Just saw the press conference of Philips IFA in Berlin, the new 60 inch 16:9 is not a replacement for the 58 inch 21:9. The 60 inch 16:9 is a big screen on the wall of your living room and, when not in function, far from elegant. Talking about both design and widescreen cinema experience in the living room, the 21:9 is to my opinion far superior!!

[limpitakis]

I love the 21:9 format and to prove it I am just saying that I have both 3 21:9 tvs
1. 56PFL9954H
2. 58PFL9955H
3. 58PFL9956H
What philips should do is to promote full 21:9 resolution blu ray discs rather than leave the tv to do the upscale to normal full HD blu rays.
That is my point of view though. However I am more than convinced that tv should sky rocket if someone could clearly see the extra crsispness of its higher than normal HD panel.
Quad tvs have a long way to travel, so please philips make our 21:9 tvs to show their true value and most of all do continue to develop the format.
Nick

[Gerrit]

I love the 21:9 format and to prove it I am just saying that I have both 3 21:9 tvs
1. 56PFL9954H
2. 58PFL9955H
3. 58PFL9956H
What philips should do is to promote full 21:9 resolution blu ray discs rather than leave the tv to do the upscale to normal full HD blu rays.
That is my point of view though. However I am more than convinced that tv should sky rocket if someone could clearly see the extra crsispness of its higher than normal HD panel.
Quad tvs have a long way to travel, so please philips make our 21:9 tvs to show their true value and most of all do continue to develop the format.
Nick

Limpitakis, which of the 3 can you recommend as best?

[limpitakis]

Limpitakis, which of the 3 can you recommend as best?

As far as the format itself is concerned I would recommend all three of them.
However the best image according to my opinion as well as the best blacks of all three of them is produced by the latter model 58PFL9956H.
Nick

[zlatko]

@bluevoice
I on the contrary will prefer 55" 16:9 to 58 21:9
Your comparison is very good - both screen have nearly the same real estate(actually on 55" 16:9 it IS slightly bigger). As all HD TV channels are 16:9, the 55" will be much better(bigger). When watching 2.35 HD movie if you resize picture a bit cutting left and right edges picture will be same area on screen. Of course 21:9 will be slightly better. So for me getting "only" 58" 21:9 is worse than 55" 16:9.
But if there were 65"-70" 21:9 - now that's a REAL SOMETHING!
http://www.displaywars.com/70-inch-2...s-55-inch-16x9

[bluevoice]

@bluevoice
I on the contrary will prefer 55" 16:9 to 58 21:9
Your comparison is very good - both screen have nearly the same real estate(actually on 55" 16:9 it IS slightly bigger). As all HD TV channels are 16:9, the 55" will be much better(bigger). When watching 2.35 HD movie if you resize picture a bit cutting left and right edges picture will be same area on screen. Of course 21:9 will be slightly better. So for me getting "only" 58" 21:9 is worse than 55" 16:9.
But if there were 65"-70" 21:9 - now that's a REAL SOMETHING!
http://www.displaywars.com/70-inch-2...s-55-inch-16x9

I agree, a 70 inch 21:9 screen would be great!

On the other hand I disagree on the 55 inch 16:9 being better(bigger) when watching a movie. Loosing parts of the image left and right when watching a 2.35 movie is a compromise I don't want to make. A true film fan would want to watch a movie in its original aspect ratio.

[scape]

I´m watchin 90% Movies on my TV, so the 21:9 screen is perfect for me! The only thing that I miss is that i can use the native resolution, cause I´m feeding my TV with a Home Theater PC! Here the 2560 pixels would be great!

[Andreas Willershausen]

I planned buying the 'Cinema Gold' in the not too distant future and was a bit upset by Philips plans. The main question is: Will Philips keep developing new firmware software and enhancements for the 50pfl???

Best regards,

Andreas

[bluevoice]

I planned buying the 'Cinema Gold' in the not too distant future and was a bit upset by Philips plans. The main question is: Will Philips keep developing new firmware software and enhancements for the 50pfl???

Best regards,

Andreas

@ Andreas Willershausen: looking back to Philips's update history, I expect there will be new firmware releases but only to solve minor bugs. But don't expect to see any new valuable features like USB recording without the use of internet coming to the 2011 range. For that you'll have to buy a 2012 or later TV.

Anyway I think at this moment Philips managed to fix most annoying bugs for the 2011 range:
- Random crashes
- CI+ module no image bug
- PNM always on bug
- Local dimming bug (doesn't apply to the Gold model)

So if you're satisfied with the current features of the Philips Cinema Gold, than buying this TV is a good choice. You'll get a good price for a cinematic format TV, that works great for both movies and television broadcasts.

There is still one major bug to be taken into consideration with the 2011 TV line and that is the incompatibility with other Philips's high end sound devices (HTS's and Soundbars) when Easylink is active. If you want to read more about this, then take a look here: http://www.supportforum.philips.com/...50PFL7956H-12) Philips says they can reproduce this problem but there's no fix yet.

So expect we might see 1 or 2 more software updates for the 2011 series after all but nothing too fancy.