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Vizio to ship ultra-wide-screen, 21:9 TVs by February

Vizio's ultra-wide-screen TVs take a new, wider shape, with a 21:9 aspect ratio compared to the 16:9 ratio of typical wide-screen TVs.

David Katzmaier Editorial Director -- Personal Tech
David reviews TVs and leads the Personal Tech team at CNET, covering mobile, software, computing, streaming and home entertainment. We provide helpful, expert reviews, advice and videos on what gadget or service to buy and how to get the most out of it.
Expertise A 20-year CNET veteran, David has been reviewing TVs since the days of CRT, rear-projection and plasma. Prior to CNET he worked at Sound & Vision magazine and eTown.com. He is known to two people on Twitter as the Cormac McCarthy of consumer electronics. Credentials
  • Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
David Katzmaier
3 min read
In addition to being friendly to CinemaScope movies, the extra-wide screen accommodates apps nicely. Vizio

LAS VEGAS--Do you think your wide-screen TV isn't wide enough? Vizio's 21:9 TVs have you covered.

The company's CinemaWide models, dubbed the XVT3D0CM series, offer three screen sizes (50, 58, and 71 inches) that have an aspect ratio of 21:9, which in person is noticeably wider than the normal 16:9 rectangle shape used by typical HDTVs.

The advantage of the shape, according to Vizio, is that it allows the sets to display 2.35:1 (CinemaScope) movies without any black bars. As the company points out, many big-budget Hollywood flicks are shown in CinemaScope, which means that standard 16:9 wide-screen HDTVs have to either zoom the image, cropping or distorting it, or show black bars above and below (more info). The new Vizios will have a 2,560x1,080 native resolution, compared to the 1,920x1,080 of standard TVs.

The wider aspect ratio also allows the TVs to display a full 16:9 wide-screen image while simultaneously showing a screen-worth of Vizio's Internet Apps.

If the above two paragraphs elicit a sense of deja vu, it's not a glitch in the Matrix. It's because Vizio's 21:9 TVs were announced at CES last year but, along with the company's full-array local dimming passive 3D XVT3D5 series and Google TV equipped VIA Plus XVT3D6SV series, never shipped in 2011.

The company assures us that the CinemaWide 50- and 58-inchers will be available to buy in February, with a new 71-inch size to follow later in the year. The main differences? The smaller models will be edge-lit with local dimming and a 120Hz refresh rate, while the 71-inch gets a full-array LED backlight with local dimming and 240Hz (more info).

Here's my quick take from last year, which still applies:

It's a cool idea, and I'm always intrigued by something different, but when I asked Vizio's reps how the TVs handled CinemaScope Blu-rays I was disappointed by the answer. Since such movies are formatted to a 1,920x1,080 resolution, some of the 1080 lines actually consist of black bars. That means that the 21:9 TVs have to zoom the image to eliminate those bars, scaling the image and preventing the 1:1 pixel matching achieved by actual 1,920x1,080 HDTVs. Still, I'm curious to see the sets in action, and I doubt most viewers will notice the scaling. On the other hand, they might notice the need to zoom/stretch/crop (or deal with black bars to either side) when watching normal 16:9 movies, TV shows, and sporting events.
When I mentioned these issues again to Vizio VP John Schindler during a CES 2012 prebrief, he told us that the company intended to face the chicken-and-egg problem of sparse ultra-wide-screen content by delivering the hardware first, and encouraging software and content developers to follow the lead.

Vizio XVT3D0CM series features:

  • Ultra-wide-screen 21:9 aspect ratio
  • 2,560 x 1,080 native resolution
  • Edge-lit LED backlight on 50- and 58-inch sizes
  • Full-array LED backlight on 71-inch size
  • local dimming on all three sizes
  • Passive 3D compatible with 4 pair of 3D glasses
  • 120Hz refresh rate (50, 58-inch) or 240Hz (71-inch)
  • QWERTY keyboard remote
  • Built-in Wi-Fi
  • Vizio Internet Apps

Vizio XVT3D0CM models:

  • Vizio XVT3D500CM 50-inch, available February, $TBD
  • Vizio XVT3D580CM 58-inch, available February, $TBD
  • Vizio XVT3D710CM 71-inch, price and availability TBD