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A smaller widescreen
Loewe's Cantus makes for good viewing
By Michael Jones
February 2001
Loewe Cantus 3870 wide-screen television. $3999
It's fitting that the first television reviewed in AudioEnz online is Loewe television, as I have admired both the picture quality and the styling of the German Loewe televisions since they were first introduced to New Zealand back in 1996.
Plus it's fitting that we look at a widescreen television, as widescreen matches more closely the movie aspect ratios from DVD than does a standard TV.
The
Loewe Cantus 3870 is a brand new model from what appears to be a new range
in Loewe televisions. It's a widescreen model, which means that the screen
is noticeably wider than that of normal TVs. The screen is 70cm or 28
inches.
While a standard TV has a screen ratio of 4:3 (the screen is 4 units wide to 3 units high) a widescreen TV has a ratio of 16:9.
By the standards of many other Loewe televisions, the Cantus has a discrete, almost unassuming appearance. When turned off, it will recede into a room, rather than stand out.
The styling of the Cantus is clearly based on the existing 4:3 Loewe Contour range. The screen is flanked on both sides by a speaker system. The Cantus is available in Graphite (black) or Titanium Metallic (a dark grey).
Connections into the Cantus are via two Scart sockets on the back, which accept both composite and S-Video quality inputs. One of the scarts also will accept an rgb signal from a suitably equipped DVD player (such as the Loewe Xemix) or Sky's digital decoder. Under the panel on the front are the standard AV inputs (including an S-Video connector) - useful for hooking up a computer game or video camera.
Closest competition to the Cantus in the marketplace would be the Philips 32" widescreen set. AudioEnz hasn't reviewed the Philips, but it is usually of a similar price but wider (by 4 inches) than the Loewe, so it would pay to check it out.
I had the Cantus in house for several weeks over Christmas and immensely enjoyed having a television of the quality. During this time I watched many DVDs and more TV than I though I would.
Fire up a Loewe television and immediately you’re entranced with the picture quality. The vibrancy of colour and the clarity of the Cantus were exhilarating. Old favourites such as A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2 came across well, with the underground scene in A Bug's Life being particularly well portrayed. This scene is very demanding of a television, having a wealth of detail along with extreme highlights (bright areas) and shadow areas, both of which many TVs get wrong.
With the Cantus, the highlight areas were bright but did not bloom and the detail in the shadow areas was very good. With many TVs shadow detail disappears into black and highlights bloom (the light area encroaches on the surround screen area).
I began watching TV broadcasts in widescreen mode almost immediately (this chopped the top and bottom from the broadcast TV picture while allowing the picture to fill the width of the screen). Much to my surprise, after a lifetime of watching TV on 4:3 screens, widescreen mode seemed natural and somehow "right" almost immediately. Going back to 4:3 mode seemed weird.
I suspect that this is because a widescreen television more closely resembles our natural field of vision. A 4:3 screen is an historical artifact in many ways.
My TV reception is not great, but even so the Cantus looked superb. The richness of colour in shows such as The West Wing came across particularly well, while some of the American sitcoms looked suitably anti-septic - this look nicely matched the storylines and writing!
Several months ago I had a look at several $1200 29" TVs for Tone magazine. If you've never closely compared TVs then you'd be surprised at the huge differences between the standard, run-of-the-mill TV and a television such as the Loewe Cantus.
The extra visible detail on screen, the realistic vibrancy of colours, the shadow and highlight detail will leave you wondering how you could live with a run-of the mill TV again!
A 28" widescreen television does not give a huge picture. So I see the Cantus as being a good choice for a movie buff in a small lounge to medium-sized lounge (I even have such a movie buff in mind).
This is a delicious television for anyone who appreciates good pictures. Warmly recommended.
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