Vizio 58" XVT3D580CM Razor LED Cinemawide Display Preview

Vizio has been pushing the envelope of what we consider to a be good quality but affordable televisions for quite some time. But now that TVs have been coming down in price across the board, manufacturers are looking to differentiate themselves in new ways. Of course 3D "has" to be included in just about any new display offering. But if everyone has it, your display doesn't stand out. There are apps and streaming services as well as networking, but even these are becoming more and more common. Plus, at best, networked features have received a lukewarm reception from the public due to their redundancy. So what do you do?

Well, if you are Vizio, you change the game completely.

If you've been around a while, and have looked at projectors, you've heard of anamorphic lens kits. These kits allow a projector to display anamorphic content natively. You need a special screen (or some sort of masking system) but it is considered the creme de la creme of projectors. No truly high end home theater would put up with those black bars. Black bars are for the huddled masses.

Vizio's new line of Cinemawide HDTV's sport a 21:9 aspect ratio. This allows the display to show 2.35:1 content natively. Without any black bars. Of course, you'll have black bars for everything else, but who cares? You won't for most cinematic movies. But Vizio has thought of this. If you prefer, you can display the fully 16:9 content (just about all HD broadcast content) on the right side of the screen with Vizio's Internet Apps on the left side of the screen. Since it's using LED technology, burn-in isn't really an issue - at least not under normal use.

Currently, there is little specific information on these new Cinemawide displays. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, though shipping is set for October. So far, only two sizes have been announced (the 50" XVT3D500CM and the 58" XVT3D580CM). Rather than the 240Hz or 480Hz processing of the other Razor displays in the Vizio line, the Cinemawide displays will have 120Hz processing. In their defense, there are a considerably higher amount of pixels to process. They will also come with a Bluetooth QWERTY remote and SRS Studio Sound HD. SRS Studio Sound HD has been designed, specifically, for flat panels and it designed to "deliver the most immersive and natural surround sound ever using built-in TV speakers."

Well, that's certainly setting the bar low.

Of course, 3D is on board with four (count'em) included glasses. Vizio has incorporated their passive 3D technology that will provide a flicker-free 3D experience with up to 2x's the brightness of current active shutter LCD displays. The passive glasses are, of course, battery-free which makes them much lighter (and in our opinion... better). They will even work in many movie theaters. All current 3D formats will be supported by the new displays

The new Cinemawide displays will have edge-lit LED technology with Vizio's Smart Dimming. Edge-lit is great for making a very thin display (we don't know how thin exactly yet), it tends to give an uneven overall picture. Vizio's Smart Dimming is supposed to help with that. It also allows the LED lighting to be turned off to give truly black blacks and claim things like 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio (which, like nearly all super-high contrast ratio numbers, is ridiculous). Vizio is also coming out with other displays (we've included a table with them below).

Conclusion

Will an Ultra-wide display sell? It could. The decision to allow dual use of the screen real estate was a good one in our opinion. We hope people will use it that way. Of course, it requires a network connection to your home theater or living room. Possible? Yes. Probable? Maybe - made more likely through the increasing popularity of wireless networks. Unfortunately, much like with 4:3 content on 16:9 screens, we're going to see a lot of stretching going on. But, if you are a movie buff or just want to use apps without disrupting your viewing, the Vizio XVT3D580CM Razor LED might be just what you were longing for.

For more information, please visit www.vizio.com.

VIZIO Theater 3D Series TVs

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.