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BornRich: Philips’ pioneering Cinema 21:9 HDTV has been reported to be available as soon as June.

This 56-inch ultra-widescreen panel has more than enough reasons for the couch potatoes to wait eagerly for its launch. The company has already claimed it to be the world’s first HDTV set to deliver a true cinematic experience with its 21:9 aspect ratio.

Colors change according to the displayed thing and there are no letterbox strips on the screen. This behemoth uses Philips’ famed Ambilight lighting system.

The Philips’ Cinema telly will hit UK shops in June for €4000.

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Akihabaranews: The 42-inch 42PFL9832D, 47-inch 47PFL9732D, and 52-inch 52PFL7432D LED-backlit LCDs are looking like they might be the next big thing for Phillips.

Sharing the company’s Ambilight tag, the sets offer dynamically changing colored lights behind the display to match the mood in a movie that supports the technology.

Phillips has also thrown in a 120Hz refresh rate so we can get twice the responsiveness you would find scenes showing quite a bit of motion.

If you’re looking for some differences besides the obvious, look no further than the speakers. The 47-inch and 52-inch sets have standard two-channel embedded speakers, while the 42-inch model will offer full surround sound.

Look for these sets this summer for around €2,100 (47 inches), €2,200 (42 inches), and €2,600 (52 inches).

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Engadget: If you’re one of those folks who genuinely feel that Philips’ Ambilight technology adds a whole new level to your television viewing experience, we’ll tell ya, these are going to be awfully hard to resist.

Ceratec’s CeraLight Xeno audio system consists of four Ceraplanar flat diaphragm transducers and one subwoofer, and besides the 100-watts or so of power you’ll have at your fingertips, these column speakers should delight the lighting freaks in the crowd with their remote-controllable brightness and color.

Apparently, the LED-infused speakers can emit a variety of colorful glows depending on your mood, ensuring that there’s never a lack of rainbow going on in your living room. Unfortunately, there’s no word on price or availability just yet. (…)

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Oh Gizmo: Philips really seems to be thinking outside the television box these days. First they come up with their Ambilight technology (which I’m still not sold on BTW) and now they’re looking into creating displays made of fur. Instead of LEDs or some other technology each pixel on the display would be made of a colored piece of fabric covered in different colored hairs.

When the hairs are all lying down flat you’d only see their color. But when an electrostatic charge is applied all those hairs would then repel each other and stand on end revealing the color of the fabric below. By precisely controlling the charges being applied to each fabric pixel you can in theory produce a fully functioning display.

(more…)

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Techdigest: Philips has been banging on about amBX since way back at IFA, promising a “totally immersive gaming experience” based on the Ambilight concept of throwing light around the screen in accordance with the subject. This extends for the PC gamer thanks to fans, a rumble strip and some kick ass speakers, and today Philips gave a sneak preview into the direction they believe the product is heading.

Currently, light, sound and touch are dealt with, but Philips believes that this could soon be extended to deal with things like smell. Apparently 10% of trialists even enjoyed getting small electric shocks from the ‘total immersion’ (reports that 10% of UK gamers are masochists are unconfirmed).

(photo:Capital Photos/Gerald van Daalen)
As well as extending the functionality of the amBX system, we can look forward to an increase in the platforms it can be used with. Current versions only work with PC gaming, but it’s hoped that by the end of the year, the same product will be available for gaming consoles. Philips also hypothesised that within 3 years, we will also see this extending to films. Apparently there are already several large studios very interested in it.

For the time being however, we’re still waiting for the initial product to ship, which should happen by the end of Q1.
A variety of packages are available, ranging from 199 to 399 Euros, with the first amBX game, Broken Sword, to be included with each. It’s hoped that there will be 15 titles added to this by the middle of this year.

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Gizmodo: If, like this man, you get headaches from watching TV with not enough lighting, yet are too cheap to buy a real Philips Ambilight, here’s a way you can construct your own ambilight-like system with any TV.

Step 1: Buy Cheap LED Light strips from IKEA.
Step 2: Attach it to the back of your LCD/Plasma.
Step 3: No more headaches.

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TG Daily:  Philips yesterday announced that it has sent its one millionth Ambilight TV off the production line. Compared to regular LCD TVs, Ambilight devices emit ambient light out of the sides of the TV frame.

In harmony with the 10th anniversary of its first flat-panel TV, the one million milestone for Ambilight TVs shows that there is consumer demand for a TV that sets itself apart from the rest of the market, said Philips.

Rudy Provoost, the company’s CEO, remarked, “This demonstrates that Ambilight has clearly become a hit with consumers – it not only enhances the overall viewing experience but it also makes watching TV easier on the eyes.”

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Philips unveiled new and innovative concepts based on its ‘sense and simplicity’ brand positioning at the 2006 Simplicity Event (2-5 October). One remarkable concept in particular struck our eye…

Philips press release: The amBX™ immersive gaming experience – makes it easy for gamers to bring their gaming environment into the real world. Through a simple USB connection the game’s special effects really come to life with light, color, and the rumblings of thunder and even wind, all natural elements from the game being played. It’s a truly immersive experience that will transform gamers forever. amBX is a new licensing technology in a series of hardware devices for PC games that work alone or in combination with each other. They are also designed for game creators to embed the effects into the games themselves. Gaming is just a starting point. amBX takes entertainment beyond audio and visual to turn your entire room into an entertainment system. Some amBX products may appear in selected United States stores as a sneak preview before Christmas 2006.

(photo:Capital Photos/Gerald van Daalen)

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Smarthouse: Philips has introduced a 100-inch (245 cm) LCD TV, which includes its exclusive Ambilight display technology, at last week’s IFA technology conference in Berlin.

Philips said that its latest prototype LCD TV measures a massive 100 inches and features four-sided Ambilight technology, called Full Surround, which is expected to create an immersive viewing experience by matching the color and brightness in the images on the screen. (…)
There is also another version of Ambilight that has been unveiled, called Ambilight Surround, which features lighting units on three sides. Both variants of Ambilight will be demonstrated at IFA, including Philips Cineos 42PF9831D FlatTV with Ambilight Full Surround, and the Philips Cineos 37PF9731D FlatTV.

Meanwhile, the company said that it expects to sell one million Ambilight sets by this year’s end. However, it did not reveal a price or launch date.

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