Philips' Cinema 21:9 LCD TV was certainly unique. As it was the only telly with a 21:9 aspect ratio, for (rich) people wanting a true in-home cinema experience from a TV it has been the obvious choice.
However, it wasn't perfect. It used old-school CCFL backlighting, which meant contrast levels and the handling of motion did not match up to Panasonic's plasmas or even Philips' own 'LED Pro' Direct LED TVs.
And of course, it wasn't 3D capable.
This has all changed though, with the launch of the 58-inch Philips Cinema 21:9 Platinum Series TV. It's a couple of inches bigger than last year's 56-inch model, although due to the bezel being slimmer, the actual size of the TV has not changed.
It also incorporates full-blown 'LED Pro' Direct LED backlighting, 400Hz and Perfect Pixel HD Engine picture processing as well as top-and-sides Ambilight.
Over 1,500 LED's are used as a backlight behind the LCD panel, meaning it's much brighter than the first 21:9 model, while also massively improving the contrast ratio.
Behind the scenes it's also packing Philips' new 'Bright Pro' tech which helps to boost light output in the bright sections of the screen, while the dark areas remain dark. Combined with localised dimming, it has to be seen to be believed.
Away from the eyes of the public, Philips was showing the new 21:9 screen next to the older model and it made it look fairly ordinary in terms of motion smoothing, brightness, contrast, colour reproduction and sharpness.
We're always slightly amused by the way TV manufacturers like to talk about their new TVs being the best available, and then a year later when they have new products they start talking about the flaws in the older products and why the new ones are much better.
3D comes to Philips TVs
The Philips Cinema 21:9 Platinum Series is actually Philips' first 3D TV, and it uses the same active-shutter 3D tech as the likes of Panasonic and Sony.
The other forthcoming Philips 3D TVs will require external emitters for synchonisation with 3D glasses, but the 21:9 set, being the luxury item that it is, has four of these emitters built into its frame.
The 3D performance of the Platinum Series was excellent. Watching in the 21:9 aspect ratio seems a lot more comfortable on the eyes than traditional 16:9 sets – the added screen space really did add to the sense of depth.
However, while Philips says it has gone to great length to eliminate 3D's biggest weakness – cross-talk (where the two images bleed into each other) – we found this side of things to be a bit hit and miss.
The cross-talk seemed more pronounced than on the latest Panasonic VT20's for example. Is this down to the longer response time of LCD panels in comparison to plasma? Possibly.
All in all though, the Philips Cinema 21:9 Platinum Series is a breathtaking 2D and 3D TV. We really were impressed by it and are excited at the prospect of getting hold of a sample when we're back in the UK.
Now, if only we had a living room big enough to incorporate it and the money to buy one.
Expect a full TechRadar review to come your way in due course.
Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, Television/TV, iPod
As soon as the official 
