Panasonic Showcases IPTV Plasma, First in the Industry

At the recently concluded Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2008, Panasonic showcased an IPTV Plasma under Viera PZ850 series and this is the first of its kind in the industry. Panasonic, trying to leave a landmark in the IPTV market, a service which provides access to online content directly from the television using the Viera Cast technology, has come up with this innovative product.

The product design comprises basically four features namely; the 46-inch class TH-46PZ85, the 50-inch class TH-50PZ850, the 58-inch class TH-58PZ850 and the 65-inch class TH-65PZ850. The PZ850 series features a Pro Setting Menu that allows consumers to access professional calibration software; native resolution contrast ratio of 30,000:1 and a dynamic ratio of 1,000,000:1; Digital Cinema Color Re-Mastering; 24p native reproduction; Game Mode; an SD memory Card slot; RS-232C connection; four HDMI connections; increased luminous efficiency; lead free panels; 100,000 hours to half brightness and a PC input.

The SD Card has an expanded capability allowing it to be able to accommodate more data and the PZ850 features H.264 codec to support HD video recording of HD camcorders equipped with the H.264 codec. The company said that the game mode minimizes the time lag when displaying game images on the Plasma screen by synchronizing the response of the game image to the player's operation.

Also, in order to offer virtual one-click access to YouTube and Picasa Web Albums directly from the PZ850 series, Panasonic tied up with Google.

Although pricing has not yet been mentioned, Panasonic said that it will make the Panasonic Viera PZ850 series Plasma available in spring 2008 alongside with the commercial value.