Philips 52″ Cinema 21:9 LCD TV Promises ‘Cinematic Viewing Experience’

Whilst at the time of writing no official specifications have been released, Philips have offered a taster as to what’s to come concerning their new 52″ Philips Cinema 21:9 LCD TV which offers, as the name suggests, 21:9 aspect ratio viewing for what Philips term as a ‘a genuine Cinematic Viewing Experience’.

Wholly eliminating the need for letterboxing or resizing of the viewable area when watching true widescreen movies, the Philips Cinema 21:9 LCD TV will allow you to watch 21:9 format films as they were intended to be seen and, whilst Philips are playing things fairly close to their chest, they have confirmed that the Philips Cinema 21:9 LCD TV also employs Philips’ Ambilight technology promising that extra degree of emersion.

Here’s the official release from Philips – you’ll note it offer little in the way of specific detail, but its worth including here nevertheless as we suspect that 21:9 aspect ratio TV’s are something that we’ll see a great deal of in the future (being that they make so much sense):

We don’t just watch films at the cinema we experience them. The 21:9 aspect ratio of a cinema screen was developed to mimic our own peripheral vision, providing a totally immersive viewing experience.

This immersion is what makes 21:9 cinematic viewing such an all-encompassing experience and why until now it has continued to provide the optimum medium in which to fully enjoy films. Such is its power that we routinely undergo an intensely personal, emotional journey when watching a film in a cinema. It is the experience of losing ourselves in a film.

This Cinematic Viewing Experience is extremely difficult to replicate at home. Even the largest conventional TV screen cannot provide the total immersion that we enjoy at a cinema because when it comes to watching a film, the viewing experience isn’t determined by screen size.

Films fill a cinema screen.The images reach right out to the very limits of the screen and of our peripheral vision, enveloping us so completely in the action that we actively ‘feel’ along with the characters in front of us.This cannot be achieved on a conventional 16:9 widescreen TV at home without moving to a ‘letterbox’ view or losing the full scope of the original shot.

Until now. With an aspect ratio of 21:9, the Cinema 21:9 is the world’s first cinema-proportioned LCD TV. In combination with Philips’ Ambilight technology – accurately matching on-screen content to extend the picture beyond the confines of the screen – Cinema 21:9 delivers the most completely immersive home viewing experience possible.

Cinema 21:9. The first TV to deliver a genuine Cinematic Viewing Experience to movie lovers in their own home.

UPDATE: See Philips 52″ Cinema 21:9 LCD TV [Specifications & Features Detailed - 5x HDMI, Wi-Fi].