USA Today
By Mike Snider
January 27, 2012

The shape of TVs to come might be even wider than widescreen.

Today's high-definition sets evolved to a rectangular 16-by-9 shape from the more square analog TVs. But a wider 21-by-9 display standard is in the works at the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Vizio's 58-inch 3-D LED CinemaWide display is expected to be the first 21-by-9-inch HDTV to market. It's due in stores in March in time for the NCAA men's and women's March Madness basketball tournaments and will be $3,499.99, including four pairs of 3-D glasses. (Pre-order at vizio.com.)

Vizio plans 50-inch and 71-inch CinemaWide models in the second half of this year.

On CinemaWide sets, Hollywood films shot in aspect ratios wider than 16-by-9 will automatically fill the 21-by-9 display without black bars on the top and bottom. Other 16-by-9 content can be upscaled to fill the screen, too.

Viewers can also use Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Yahoo TV and other smart TV apps on the left side of the screen, while the full 16-by-9 video fills the remainder of the display.

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