While every LCD manufacturer out there is trying to get LCD technology to function at its optimum, Philips is trying to get at their televisions from a whole different angle. Namely, the aspect-ratio angle. With the coming of their 56PFL9954H, Philips has done what movie buffs all over the world were waiting for — removal of those black bars letter boxing their films.
First Look
Needless to say, this television is one-of-a-kind the minute you lay eyes on its 21:9, true wide angle screen. It takes a little getting used to as you probably have only seen these dimensions in the cinema, staring at the white curtain in front. And this Cinemascope* aspect ratio isn’t just a couple of Inches wide; It measures a staggering 56" on the diagonal. A couple more inches and you could charge box-office prices to enter your living room. The television is sleek; the black is glossed to a degree that isn't flashy, just classy. It’s its sturdy on a circular stand, the base holding up the 32kgs weight atop it with ease. On the rear, the panel is lined on three sides with Philips Ambilight Spectra, whose job is to match the lighting of the currently displayed frame and illuminate the back of the television, in turn extending the depth of the image.
Technological aspects
An aspect ratio like 21:9 or 2.39:1 can accommodate films shot in Cinemascope and Anamorphic Formats that start at 2.21:1 and end at 2.40:1. When you watch these films on a standard flat screen, although the screen is wide enough, its height causes the film to get letterboxed. If you were to remove these black lines on a standard flat panel, you'd be cropping the width of the film frame quite drastically. However, with the 56PFL, there's no need for this cropping as the panel size matches the aspect ratio of most films shot during the past 50 years. The rest of the aspect ratios ie 16:9 and 4:3, are all well accommodated by the panel, as long as you can live with black bars to preserve the quality of the incoming signal. If you're just one of those people who want to make use of every little Inch of the screen even while watching cable TV, then you can switch the television at its Zoom modes, which will zoom into the frame and expand it to the edges of the screen, but not without quality loss.
The 56PFL has taken care of all your connectivity issues with 5 HDMI inputs — four on the back and one on the side along with an Ethernet port and wi-fi. Along with this the 56PFL offers you component, VGA, SCART, composite, analogue RCA audio in/out. SPDIF audio out, headphone out and a USB input. The USB port can playback anything from DIvX. WMV9 to H.264 encoded video off a USB pen drive or a FAT32 based hard-disk. The brightness of the panel is rated at 500 cd/m2, with a resolution of 2560 x 1080p, which is greater than 1920 x 1080p Full HD for more vertical lines meaning more pixels. The response time is a staggering 1ms. Philips doesn't let any of their flat panels leave the assembly line without Perfect Natural Motion picture processing. For those of you who haven't had a chance to witness it, the feature tries to make the film look smoother by filling up the frames between the 24-frames of your film at a 200Hz refresh rate. We've always been a little weary of this feature primarily because it makes the film seem a little too real, like the film's actually taking place out of our window. We're well acquainted with the slight jerkiness of 24-fps of most flat panels.
