Screen Televisions

When will super widescreen televisions come out?

I'm talking like panoramic 2:35:1 ultra widescreen tv's. I know I saw something like that a while back on a CES article or something. Anyways, I know there's a PC monitor that's super widescreen, but it's curved and it's just for computers. Will there ever be something like this for televisions?

Public Comments

1. Panasonic has a 100 inch screen, but I think it's just a prototype.
2. blimy wish i could afford the widescreen for now lol
3. Pretty soon I'd imagine. So many money-hungry companies out there, there's sure to be something like that on the market not far off.
4. What? You don't have one? I have three.
5. I don't think so, at least not for mass production. It is just too impractical and expensive. Due to the ultra wide format the TV would have to be incredibly big to get a decent viewing area. Also there are currently no TV programs or movies available in that format.
6. Probably not. Widescreen computing is not in the same category, because resolution can be altered to have contents fit on the screen without stretching them and distorting them unnecessarily. But, the 16x9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio is the current standard which is unlikely to change for HD televisions. They came up with this standard mathematically because it was the only size ratio that fit every widescreen movie format created by simply resizing it and creating black bars on the top and bottom, but not distorting it. IRT hairhorn Panasonic had a 105" plasma last year - now they have a 150" that was unveiled at CES 2008 (though I don't think it's available yet here). Anybody who can afford it can order it and have it delivered when it is. It is an industrial plasma display - not a TV - because it does not have a built-in tuner. Though, you may be able to add one through the use of terminal boards. I am a former Panasonic employee.
7. The 16:9 format was chosen with great care, and for the long-run. 4:3 was around for many decades, and 16:9 will be too. Of course a few odd examples of technology will pop up, but really, 16:9 is quite a practical size. Much wider than that is great, if you can also get enough height, but for most environments that's a problem. The wider you go, the more wall you need, and so if you don't have a lot of space to place your TV, you end up buying one which is very wide, but only a few inches high, making it more difficult to discern any detail at that size. Super-wide screens are only really practical if they're incredibly large from your point of viewing. In other words, if you're extremely close to them, or if they are actually really huge.