REVIEWS / HDTVS / PHILIPS INDIA (MMD)

Best PerformerPhilips Cinema 21:9 3D TV - Wide Load

14 Feb, 2011, 9:31 am IST | by Siddharth Basrur | HDTVs

HDTVs

Super-wide, super cool

Super-wide, super cool
A mega-sized TV deserves a mega-sized stand
One of the awesome speakers that makes this TV sound so good
The Joker says buy this TV, but only if you have that kind of money

PRICE IN INDIA

450,000

TECH2 RATING

8.0

AVERAGE USER RATING

9.0

How we test

CONTACT

Philips India (MMD)

 Kuldeep.Ramaiya@mmd-p.com

 +91 9310 092 727

 www.Philips.com

I was quite sore that I missed out on the launch of this TV, but sure enough, it landed on our AV room’s doorstep a short while after. I was amazed at the sheer size of the package, and was even more amazed when I actually got the monster out of its box. This 58-inch TV is definitely one of the biggest TVs I’ve ever seen. But will it live up to the massive hype?

 

Super-wide, super cool

Super-wide, super cool

 


Design and Features
Apart from the width, this TV has quite an ordinary design. One would really expected a lot more from a TV of this stature in terms of style, as Philips is obviously aiming at making this one a part of the big boys club. It has a pretty thick border, although I do like the matte, brushed-metal finish. The Philips logo at the bottom centre of the has these really cool looking menu buttons right under it that light up when you turn the TV on.

Cool, sci-fi menu buttons

Cool, sci-fi menu buttons

 

 

The stand that comes with the TV is huge, and also doubles up as a wall mount. It allows the TV to be swiveled horizontally, but it does seem a little flimsy, though. The back of the TV has all the usual suspects when it comes to connectivity. What’s important is that it does have 4 HDMI inputs, including one 1.4 port. This TV also has a component connection, but Philips has done away with composite sockets.

The remote looks a little like an elliptical dish and fit nicely in my hand. My only problem with it is that nothing is marked, so it may take you a little time to figure out which button does what. For instance, I kept trying pressing the ‘Home’ button when I wanted to go to the main menu. But it does get easier after a while.

I was really disappointed with the active 3D glasses that came with this TV. They’ve got that cheap movie-theatre vibe happening and are not really comfortable. I’m not really a big fan of 3D, and these glasses just seemed to increase my dislike towards it, as my eyes started hurting after a while.

Plenty of connections, but no composite input

Plenty of connections, but no composite input

 


The Cinema 21:9 has a bunch of features apart from its cinemascope aspect ratio. It supports 3D Blu-ray playback in addition to the side-by-side and top-and-bottom formats used in broadcasts. It also has an LED backlit panel with local dimming for better blacks. But the icing on the cake is definitely the Ambilight Spectra 3 feature which makes the overall viewing experience a lot better by mirroring colors around the top, left and right edges of the screen to emit a halo of lights.

Other features include the Net TV function, which allows the downloading of apps like YouTube, etc. it also supports the playback of 1080-p MKV files via DLNA. Philips has included a copy of he Philips MediaConnect software which allows you to duplicate anything from games to videos on your PC screens and you can do this wirelessly in up to HD resolution as long as your TV and computer are connected to the same network. However, all is not peaches and cream, as this TV does not support 2D-3D conversion. I don’t really care about it, but a lot of others might.

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Design and Features


Tags:

Philips , Cinema 21:9 , 3D TV , Full HD , 1080p , DLNA

Would you buy it?




 


How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

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