What Hi-Fi? has been running for a whopping 50 years, and that means we have access to half a century of magazine archives.
Included in there are, inevitably, some rather dated advertisements, to go along with a treasure trove of technology. And that means we can follow the history of every important piece of home entertainment equipment of the past half century – it’s like Who Do You Think You Are? for home cinema and hi-fi brands.
Looking back, of course, we got some things more right than others – hindsight is 20/20, after all. Here, we take a journey back through our archives to see which innovations quickly got off the ground, and which never quite took off.
Win: Smart TVs becoming the norm
In the early 2010s, there were whispers that smart platforms would change how we interact with our TVs. Instead of relying on strict channel schedules and bulky external boxes, more companies were introducing TVs with internet access and downloadable apps.
The first smart TV to hit the shelves came in 2008 in the form of the Samsung PAVV Bordeaux 750. By CES (the enormous annual consumer electronics show that takes place in Las Vegas every January), in 2011, brands such as Sony, Panasonic and LG had joined the party and released their own smart TV models.
We said in our CES report that you could expect app support from sites such as Facebook, eBay, Skype and Napster. (If that list doesn’t make you feel old, I’m not sure what will.)
The landscape has, of course, shifted massively since then towards streaming, meaning services such as Apple TV and Disney+ are built-in to platforms.
In 2012, Samsung also launched the LED ES8000, which threatened to “make our remote controls redundant” thanks to voice and gesture controls. While we are not quite at the point where your TV set doesn’t come with a remote, voice control is now very much built into the DNA of the majority of TVs.
We had not accounted for the huge leap in AI technology that was on the horizon, where TVs can answer questions about movies and shows with personalised recommendations (take Sky’s newly upgraded OS, for example).
We added in our reporting that “there looks to be plenty of added content coming to a clever, internet-connected TV near you,” and that has certainly become the norm for sets today. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a movie-viewing experience without a smart platform.
Miss: 21:9 ratio TVs
We are all familiar with the standard 16:9 aspect ratio on most sets, but in 2009, a TV tried to shake up that traditional look.
Enter Philips’s Cinema 21:9 – a TV designed to make the most of movies filmed in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. That’s wider than the traditional TV aspect ratio, and Philips aimed to “further immerse you in the action,” as we reported in our review of the set.
“The main benefit to this”, we said, “is the removal of the black bars from the top and bottom of the screen when you’re watching a movie”.
It measured 146cm wide and 74cm high, making it a rather unconventional addition to your living room. Philips’s signature TV feature, Ambilight, was on board to add “perceived image depth”.
When watching a film in the 21:9 aspect ratio, we were impressed by this Philips set’s performance and said the company should be “applauded for its efforts”. The TV got to show off its picture chops, as we noted in our review that “movies look the business” thanks to the “awesome” level of detail.
With 16:9 content, though, you had to either stretch or crop the image. You could switch to a 16:9 picture format via the remote, but that just resulted in black bars on the left and right instead.
Another issue was that, when watching with subtitles in 21:9, the text was cropped out along with the black bars at the bottom. The only viable practical solution was to pair the TV with a Philips Blu-ray player to show subtitles without squashing the picture.
All of which meant that, even though the technology resulted in an ultra-wide screen with the content in the suitable aspect ratio, switching to anything else resulted in a disappointing image that called for too many compromises.
That’s not to say that 21:9 screens are a thing of the past. There is a range of curved premium ultra-wide monitors for gamers wanting a more enveloping experience. But they are yet to hit the mainstream when it comes to home cinema.
Win: Slimmer TVs
“Slimmer is the new flat!” That was one of the biggest headlines from CES 2010, following the increasingly thin TVs that were coming onto the market. After all, it was only less than ten years before that home cinema moved away from the chunky CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TVs, and flat-screen panels were available to the public.
At CES 2010, we were shown Samsung’s flagship C9000, which measured just 3.4cm / 1.3 inches deep, and was displayed as one of the thinnest models available.
We said that “the slimline screen has to be one of the most desirable of modern gadgets, freeing up valuable living room estate and adding style to any home.” And that is certainly a trend that has continued, as TVs have got only thinner and slimmer.
One of the thinnest TV screens on the market right now is the LG W6 – just 0.9cm / 0.4 inches thick. It has never been a cheap proposition to get a super-thin TV, as this the 77-inch W6 model proves: it comes in at an eye-watering £4699 / $3700.
Still, these days, even mid-range and budget TVs have become significantly slimmer compared with the average model back in 2010 – and we saw it coming.
Miss: 3D TVs
When 3D TVs first hit the shelves, they were the talk of the town for home cinema nerds. A three-dimensional picture that fully immerses you in your favourite movie? It sounds like a dream come true.
In 2011, we wrote: “From the increased prevalence of 3D films in cinemas and on Blu-ray, to the flood of 3D technology in TVs, Blu-ray players, games consoles, and more; it’s clear that 3D is here to stay – and it’s only growing in importance.”
Plenty of brands went all-in on the emerging technology. There was a barrage of different models that passed through our test room, each with varying levels of success.
That included the Samsung UE40C7000, which we awarded five stars for its “scintillating” picture performance, as well as the less successful LG 47LD950, which scored a middling three stars due to its lack of detail and punch.
Despite the technology’s promising start, you will be hard-pressed to find a set dedicated to 3D on the market these days. By the end of the mid-2010s, the hype for 3D was already winding down. That’s partly down to the lack of 3D content being made, but probably more because of the cost and the faff of wearing 3D glasses.
Having said that, we have recently seen some promising 3D projector technology displayed by the likes of Xgimi at IFA this year that really shows off the magic of 3D picture. So perhaps 3D images aren’t gone for good, but we may have to wait a little while for a resurgence.
Win: OLED screens
In 2012, we said OLED TV screens “could have a huge impact on what takes up space in our test room,” and, frankly, we hit the nail on the head.
OLED screens had been around before then, with the first 11-inch screen emerging in 2007. But the technology really caught on and became more accessible for home cinema fans only in the early 2010s.
Unlike Mini LED, OLED panels don’t need a backlight. Instead, they use self-emissive organic light-emitting diodes that generate their own light, which is then passed through a colour filter. The advantage is that, when an OLED pixel is turned off, it is truly off and therefore looks pitch-black.
One of the first OLED TV reviews we can see in our magazine archives is of the Samsung KE55S9C, a curved screen that came in at an astonishing £7000. Luckily, OLED has become much more affordable these days. The best OLED on the market now, for instance, is the Samsung S99H, which will set you back £1899 for the 55-inch set.
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