Philips Cinema 21:9 HDTV, 9000 Series and Net TV get detailed

While it doesn't much matter to Yanks, Philips has some pretty stellar things going on across the pond. MyTechnology was able to attend an overseas showcase where the company finally divulged some of the Cinema 21:9's deepest, darkest secrets alongside tidbits on the soon-to-launch Net TV service and 9000 HDTV series. As for the 56-inch Cinema 21:9, it will reportedly ship with a 2,560 x 1,080 native resolution panel, Spectra Ambilight technology, a one-millisecond response time, 200Hz Clear LCD, 80,000:1 contrast ratio, Net TV integration, five HDMI 1.3 ports, DLNA support and inbuilt WiFi. The 9000 Series, which will also come equipped with Net TV, is rather expansive, so we'll hand you off to the links below to digest the rest.

Read - Cinema 21:9 details
Read - 9000 Series / Net TV details

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 24th 2009 3:55PM]

Given the 2,560 x 1,080 resolution I'm guessing that there is going to be some "upscaling" involved given that there aren't any native 2,560 sources.

I'm wondering if this will have a significant impact on picture, to the extent you'd be better off having the black bars on a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution screen but dot for dot on the resolution.

[madgamer2000 Posted Feb 24th 2009 8:25AM]

I'll likely never see one, but I'm glad they went with a higher rez on that ultra wide screen (keeping it 1080 vertical) rather than just cropping a normal panel down.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 24th 2009 1:52PM]

I feel the opposite. This means they are taking your 2.35 Blurays and upscaling them, thus introducing scaling artifacts. I wouldn't buy it, I am done with scaling. I've got a good looking Bluray, I am not about to mess with it. As for other aspect ratios, downscaling to a lower horizontal resolution is a relatively lossless process, leaving it still looking better than even 720P, you wouldn't miss the few less lines.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 24th 2009 9:37AM]

So, pretty bare bones then?!? Jeez, what a spec sheet! Five HDMIs?!?

Cool.