Panasonic has unveiled its 2012 line-up of smart TVs, Blu-ray recorders and home theatre systems which offer more connectivity than ever before.
With an expected 30 per cent surge of TV sales ahead of the Olympic Games in London, Panasonic has announced 23 new plasma and LED Viera TVs which tick the boxes in five areas – picture quality, easy operation, networking, eco features and design.
The 10 plasma and 13 LED Viera TVs which make up the line-up are now as easy to connect to your network as they are to connect to your antenna.
With DLNA capability on all models and built-in wi-fi on some of the panels in the range, they can now link with other devices like tablets and smartphones to push out and pull in content.
The new Viera smart TVs can also act as a DLNA server and stream multimedia content from a connected storage device or Blu-ray Disc recorder to a tablet, smartphone and even another TV.
Users can also send content from their device to view on the Viera’s large screen.
To make this job even easier Panasonic has also developed apps for the iPad and iPhone and Android smartphones and tablets to enable content sharing and control.
The connectivity also provides access to Facebook, Twitter and Skype right there on the Viera’s screen while still watching your program.
There’s also access to catch up TV services like ABC iView and Yahoo’s PLUS7 as well movie through a new partnership between Panasonic and BigPond Movies and QuickFlix.
Panasonic Viera Plasma
There are 10 models in the 2012 Panasonic Viera plasma range with sizes ranging from 50-inch to 65-inch. Panasonic will no longer make a 42-inch plasma panel.
Eight are full HD 3D models with one HD 3D model and a Full HD 2D model.
The TVs feature Neo Plasma technology which offers deep black levels along with a simple glass design.
The Panasonic Viera plasmas start at the 50-inch U50 series which is priced at $1299 and go all the way up to the 65-inch VT50 series that will cost $5999 when it is released in June.
The 50-inch ST50 ($1,749) and UT50 ($1,399) are available in stores now.
Panasonic LED LCD TV
Panasonic now make more LED LCD TVs than they do plasmas and they feature all of the same connectivity features of the plasma range.
The 13 LED LCD TVs will be available in sizes from 24-inches up to 55-inches.
Picture quality is enhanced with IPS (In Plane Switching) technology which renders vivid colours while using 25 per cent less power
Three of the LED LCD TVs – the WT50, DT50 and ET50 are full HD 3D while the ET50 is full HD 3D but with passive 3D technology. The E5 and X5 are 2D Full HD while the X50 is a HD 2D TV.
The new screen sizes for Panasonic are the 55-inch and 47-inch models.
The Panasonic LED LCD TV’s starts at $489 for the 24-inch X5 model (available June) all the way up to $3499 for the 55-inch WT50 series (available June).
Panasonic Blu-ray Players and Recorders
Panasonic’s new Blu-ray Players and Recorder can not only provide high definition playback and recording in 2D and 3D but they can also stream content to compatible products like tablets and smartphones.
The 3D DMR-BWT820 has a 1TB hard drive while the 3D DMR-BWT720 has 500GB of space to record in 2D and 3D. The DMR-BWT520 also has a 500GB hard drive but can only playback and record in 2D.
Each of these devices feature Viera Connect and offers all of the connectivity options of the latest Panasonic TVs.
This means users can connect the players and recorders to an older TV and enable it to perform and connect just like a smart TV.
Their built-in wi-fi and DLNA server capability allows content to be shared around the home.
Prices start at $499 for the Panasonic DMR-XW390 DVD recorder and go all the way up to the DMR-BWT820 for $1099.
The new Panasonic Blu-ray players also have wi-fi connectivity and Viera Connect. They are priced from $149 for the 2D Blu-ray player DMP-BD77 (available this month) to $399 for the DMP-BBT01 Full HD 3D for $399 (available July).
Panasonic 3D Blu-ray Disc Home Theatre Systems
Panasonic has three new all-in-one home theatre speaker systems which can be controlled with dedicated apps for tablets and smartphones.
The new models – SC-BTT790 ($799, available now), SCBTT490 ($599, available now) and the SC-BTT190 ($399, available now) offer 3D video playback and 3D cinema surround sound.
They also come with built-in wi-fi and Viera Connect capabilities to access content from the internet as well as wirelessly stream to tablets and smartphones within the same network.
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