Sony, Samsung, LG, and Toshiba all announced 3D-compatible HDTVs at this year’s CES, but Panasonic has made the most noise about the technology. The company began touting an extra dimension at last year’s CES, and this year it has finally announced a shipping date for its first 3D plasma TV. Dubbed the VT25 series, it’s expected to be released in the spring. It will be among the first 3D-capable flat-panel HDTVs available for sale in the U.S.The set will include one pair of 3D glasses–every other 3D set announced at the show, save Sony’s XBR-LX900 series, lacks included glasses. Also, like all other makers, Panasonic will employ an active LC shutter system. The right and left lens in the glasses alternately darkens and lightens, too quickly to perceive, while the TV synchronously displays the corresponding right- and left-eye-specific images. The result is a stereoscopic 3D effect that, in the case of the VT25 mated to full-resolution 3D content, preserves all 1,920×1,080 (1080p) pixels for each eye–hence Panasonic’s term “Full HD 3D.”Toshiba and Samsung have announced 2D to 3D conversion systems with their sets, which purport to create a 3D effect with standard 2D material; however, Panasonic avoids such processing tricks with the VT25. The only way to get 3D out of this TV (at least until 3D-upconverting players come along) is to mate it to a true 3D source, which means a 3D-compatible Blu-ray player playing a 3D disc, or a cable or satellite box tuned to a 3D channel. Such hardware-content combinations are nonexistent today, but given the preponderance of 3D related announcements at CES–including Panasonic’s own DMP-BDT350–they won’t be for long. We’ll take a closer look at 3D after the show, but in the meantime, Panasonic’s 3D HD Web site provides a good overview–as long as you can stomach the inevitable boosterism.

Aside from 3D, the VT25 is separated from step-down models in Panasonic’s lineup by the inclusion of Infinite Black Pro, which we assume improves upon the already excellent black level performance found on current Panasonic plasma TVs. The company lists the same 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio (for what it’s worth) for both the Pro and non-Pro versions of the feature, so we’ll have to wait for a review sample to see how black this latest Panasonic can get.

The VT25 also offers ISFccc, a protocol to help professional calibrators home in on the perfect picture, and an RS-232 port for custom installations.

Update January 8, 2010: We asked Panasonic’s rep whether the the new TVs, like the current V10 series, would include a 96Hz refresh rate, to better display native 1080p/24 content. We were told that the VT25 would have a 96Hz option, but that the new G25 and G20 models would have the same flicker-prone 48Hz refresh rate option found on the current G10 models. See the review of the Panasonic TC-PG10 series for details.

Aside from these differences, its feature set is identical to that of the company’s TC-PG25 series, so check out that write up for more information on the other features below.

Panasonic TC-PVT25 features:

• 3D compatible
• Includes one pair of 3D glasses
• Infinite Black Pro
• ISFccc mode
• THX certified
• VieraCast interactive suite adds Netflix, Pandora, Twitter, and Fox Sports to previous content
• Skype video calling
• Optional Wi-Fi connection

Panasonic TC-PVT25 series models:

• Panasonic Viera TC-P65VT25: 65-inch, available spring 2010, price TBD
• Panasonic Viera TC-P58VT25: 58-inch, available spring 2010, price TBD
• Panasonic Viera TC-P54VT25: 54-inch, available spring 2010, price TBD
• Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT25: 50-inch, available spring 2010, price TBD

Source: cnet.com

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When Panasonic released the first portable Blu-ray player at CES 2009, it received a lot of skepticism, but when we actually reviewed it, we found ourselves liking it a bit more than we expected. Yes, it was too bulky, too expensive, and you had to get really close to see the visual benefits of Blu-ray, but it did enable you to watch your new Blu-ray collection on-the-go. Plus Panasonic made it work as a fully-functional standalone unit too.

Panasonic has now announced its second-generation portable Blu-ray players, with two models this year: the DMP-B100 and DMP-B500. Here’s a quick look at the announced features.

Key features of the Panasonic DMP-B100:

• 8.9-inch WSVGA LCD display
• 3.5 hour battery life
• PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus video processor
• Onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio
• SD card slot
• Adjustable position screen
• No release date or pricing announced

Key step-up features of the Panasonic DMP-B500:

• 10.1-inch WSVGA LCD display
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• Supports Panasonic’s VieraCast streaming content portal, which will feature content from Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Picasa, Netflix, Pandora, and Twitter
• No release date or pricing announced

Editors’ note: We’ve updated this section with new information on battery life.

Panasonic hasn’t released the most important information yet–pricing–but the new players are definitely upgrades over last year’s DMP-B15K. The sleeker design and built-in Wi-Fi on the B500 is nice, but to us the big new is that both players will now have a battery life of 3.5 hours, an hour more than last year’s player. Portable Blu-ray players will likely still a niche product, but we expect these models to be a little more popular than the DMP-B15 now that Blu-ray is more established.

Source: cnet.com

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Panasonic is a major manufacturer of home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) systems, but the company is making its first entry into the sound bar market with the SC-HTB1. The press release highlights its “Clear-Mode Dialogue” feature and advanced bamboo cone speakers, but the most interesting announcement to us is its compatibility with ARC (audio return channel), allowing you to “connect it to the TV with just one HDMI cable.”

An audio return channel is one of the new features of the HDMI 1.4 standard, and theoretically you could connect all your components directly to your HDMI 1.4-compatible HDTV with just a single HDMI cable sending the audio back to the sound bar.

Great in theory, but we won’t know how well it works until we actually get our hands on a review unit. We imagine there could be challenges with analog audio sources that would need to be converted to digital audio by the TV.

There was no pricing or availability announced, so we’ll have to wait for more information about the SC-HTB1.

Source: cnet.com

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Panasonic today revealed three new Blu-ray Disc player (DMP-BD45, DMP-BD65 and DMP-BD85) for its 2010 lineup, and introduced its first-ever 3D Blu-ray Disc player, the DMP-BDT350, which coupled with a 3D HD television set and 3D glasses, gives the consumer the ultimate home 3D experience.

The BD65 and BD85 combine high quality images with enhanced networking functions, including VIERA CAST’s improved and expanded Internet functionality and VIERA Link, which allows the consumer to operate their VIERA Link capable audio/video components with one remote. To further enhance the networking experience, the BD85 includes a Wireless LAN adaptor, while the BD65 features Wireless LAN capability. The BD45 offers all the non-networking basic functions needed to fully enjoy a Blu-ray 1080p HD experience.

The BD85, BD65 and BD45 join the BD70V Blu-ray player which will continue as part of the line-up in 2010, offering multi-format playback and premium 1080p up-conversion. The Panasonic Blu-ray players will be available in the spring of 2010.

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New Panasonic PT-AE4000U just lowered the bar, on price, but not quality. This LCD projector retails for $2499, though some say it can be found for less, even from authorized dealers for hundreds less. Consciously designed for smaller home theaters, the PT-AE1000U can project a 120-inch image from as little as 11 to as much as 24 feet away. You sure can’t get that in a flat panel display for a mere $2.5k.

Panasonic incorporated the new Red-Rich Lamp, which increases the luminance efficiency of the projector, to achieve 150% brighter Cinema Picture modes compared to the previous PT-AE3000. Prior to the development of the Red-Rich Lamp, much brightness was lost to attain the desired color purity/balance for the rich color reproduction of Cinema Picture modes due to the lack of red luminance. The newly engineered lamp successfully adds red luminance, and enables the projector to produce brighter images with excellent colors. Rated at 1,600 lumens, the PT-AE4000 is plenty bright for the average home theater.

For maximum clarity and sharpness of full-HD images, the PT-AE4000U was outfitted with an advanced optical system employing a full-HD-optimized lens unit comprised of 16 lens elements in 12 groups, including two large-diameter aspherical lenses and two high-performance ED (extralow dispersion) lenses. Each lens is carefully aligned to assure a uniform focusing balance from the center to the edges of the screen.

The double-speed display (120 Hz or 100 Hz) greatly improves the clarity of motion images. Panasonic’s Frame Creation interpolates one new frame for each existing frame by analyzing the characteristics of the adjacent frames to reproduce sharp and clear images for fast moving scenes in sports and action movies. For 24p signal input, three frames are calculated and interpolated for each existing frame, to enable 4x speed (96-Hz) display. There are four modes (mode 1, mode 2, mode 3, and off) to choose from.

The Point Color Correction mode allows you to pick a point in the image and adjust that color without affecting the neighboring colors, so it is easy to get just the right color equalization in hue, luminance and saturation. The Six Color Correction mode enables independent adjustment of red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow. Making adjustments on the fly has never been easier either. You can freeze any scene you wish, and then make adjustments while easily comparing the original image and the adjusted image side-by-side.

The PT-AE4000U features the Pure Contrast Plate, which uses a newly engineered crystalline material that is carefully matched to the characteristics of the LCD panels to effectively correct the passage of light exiting the panels. This enables the projector to block unwanted light leakage and successfully increases the dynamic range. It works together with the dynamic iris to achieve a remarkable contrast ratio of 100,000:1. The advantage being the PT-AE4000U works well in environments with high ambient light such as a living room.

To achieve a wide dynamic range, a fifth generation intelligent iris system was placed in the PT-AE4000U. It analyzes the brightness level of each image using a histogram, then adjusts the lamp power, iris and gamma curve accordingly to create the ideal image. The adjustments are made virtually frame by frame.

In the past, projector installation was considered a serious downside. However, as projectors become more affordable it’s less likely consumers will pay to have them installed. So, manufacturers are looking at ways they can make projectors virtually plug and play. Well, not quite but certainly far more flexible with simplified set up procedures. For instance, the PT-AE4000U provides wide lens shift for easy mounting almost anyway – the back wall , the ceiling – and it can even be a little off center.

Perhaps, the most advanced feature in the PT-AE4000U, which is something you won’t even find in many projectors for thousands more, is the Intelligent Lens Memory. Up to six settings can be stored in the Lens Memory, including zoom and focus positions for projecting in the normal 16:9 or 4:3 image ratio, and wide cinema projection settings. These memories can be recalled manually or can be set for automatic switching. The projector is able to detect 2.35:1 and 16:9 source and retrieve the stored setting automatically. This Lens Memory function lets you easily enjoy images with different image ratios on the new wide 2.35:1 screens for an immersive movie theater-like experience.

Own other Panasonic gear? When you have other Panasonic VIERA Link-ready equipment, projection can be started by using only the remote control unit of the PT-AE4000, regardless of whether the source is a Blu-ray Disc or a TV program stored on an HD recorder. This eliminates the need for hassling with several remote controls. Course, you can easily program the PT-AE4000U to a universal remote to eliminate all that remote control clutter.

Source: hometheaterdesignmag.com

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