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Plasma News: Could the Kuro’s days be numbered? --

We’ve said it before: the Pioneer Kuro line of Plasma HDTV units are among the best in the industry, but the industry is rapidly closing the gap with small leaps in technology being seen recently. Now Panasonic advances have possibly dethroned Kuro from the king of plasma screens.

At an event in New York City last week they announced a breakthrough in dark levels on Plasma units, telling the press that Panasonic’s new VT30 line will match the black levels of the 2009 (that’s 2 years ago!) Pioneer Kuros. The key (after reading through all the mumbo jumbo) is the new and improved louver structure of the filter that blocks reflective light from coming in, which in turn blocks ambient light — and Kuro fans around the globe moan in sadness as its king possibly falls.

We’ll have to wait to see if this indeed comes to pass, with the odd note that it took 2 years before a company caught up in this category to where Pioneer was previously.

Panny Parcel: Panasonic 2011 HDTV line debuts in Japan --

Panasonic usually releases new lines and news about upcoming models first in Japan, and the latest news has been released to great anticipation with news of fabulous Plasmas and HDTV recording to USB drives, among other developments. Read on:

Panasonic’s found time to show off its latest series of HDTVs in Japan, including the new top 3D-capable VT3, GT3 and ST3 generation plasmas, and DT3 LCDs, . As one might expect, the feature list is predictably similar to the US models with the next iteration of 3D panel technology, including a few Japan-specific features like VOD services and recording TV to USB drives.According to AV watch it looks like the starting prices have gone down slightly YoY as well, with the new 50-inch VT3 predicted to arrive March 18 for 380,000 yen ($4,654) down from 430,000 yen ($5,267) last year. The lower end GT3 series and new DT3 3D LCDs should arrive a week earlier on March 11, though we’ll probably have to wait until much closer to launch again to find out precisely what the predictably lower US pricing will be this time around.

We’ll of course cover any new notable releases individually if warranted. These new models look pretty cool overall.

CES 2011: Summary of Best Stuff (that we haven’t covered already) --

CES 2011 is over and the highlights are legion, including lots of 3D developments, new models and other such news. Here our friends at Engadget have summarized the best of the rest, and given us a nice concise rundown for your reading pleasure.

Feel free to read, and drool over the coming growth in the world of HDTV, and get as excited as we are. Samsung and Panasonic in particular have some pretty neat stuff on the way, and we can’t wait to report it to you right here on these pages.

Thanks for reading on this fine Saturday!

Next Gen Goodness: Panny’s next Plasma line records to SDXC memory cards? --

We have talked glowingly about Panasonic’s Plasma line of HDTV units, and with good cause: they’re among the most advanced and cool plasma sets out there right now. Even more so with this latest news:

Panasonic’s plasma sets get most of the attention, and perhaps rightfully so, but it’s actually the company’s new LCD lineup for Japan that can help you make use of your woefully neglected SDXC cards. In addition to compiling terrestrial HDTV footage on a standard external hard drive, the Panasonic Viera G3 and X3 can record to a new SD card slot as well, archiving up to five hours of 1080p footage on a ‘standard’ 64GB SDXC card. We put ‘standard’ in quotes because while that’s presently the typical capacity for that particular designation of flash, it’ll still cost you upwards of $200 to get in on the ground floor, and that’s a pittance compared to what Panasonic’s charging for its own. Who said magnetic storage was dead? If Tokyo’s where you hang your hat, expect both the G3 and X3 series to hit stores near you in February of next year.

We’re always a little sad the best items always usually start in Japan vs. US shores, but assuming it does well, it’ll arrive here too at one point.

Most Reliable HDTV: Panasonic? --

Based on a recent large survey published in PC World Magazine, Panasonic is the big reliability winner with HDTV units – and that’s even with their consumer service being just about average. However, the mag said the results are clear: readers call the sets “very reliable” with few if any serious problems, if stats are to be believed.

PC World recently asked that consumers grade their units on a variety of “reliability” stats including whether the set had any problems right away and its ease of daily use. Panasonic finished #1, with “better than average” grades on “overall satisfaction with reliability,” “significant problems” and “severe problems.”, which should make Panny quite proud indeed.

The remaining top five in order: LG, Sony, Hitachi, Olevia (the last two are a bit of a shock really). The LG part certainly is not a shock, as we’ve always praised LG for their quality and reliability.

The bottom five of shame: View Sonic was the worst. 2nd to worst: Mitsubishi (a surprise), then comes JVC, Westinghouse, and Toshiba, in reverse of order of badness.

Thursday’s (Again) Thrilling HDTV Deals --

The last time these deals were thrilling was here. It’s been awhile, so let’s revisit the thrill once again:

6ave.com has a very nice Panasonic TC-L42D2 42” 1080p 120Hz LED LCD HDTV for $823.00 – 4% off coupon we supply you with: “AFL4COUPON” = $790.08 with free shipping. For LED that’s pretty amazing we have to say.

Tiger Direct has a great deal on a top of the line smaller model: the AOC LE23H062 23″ Edgelit LED HDTV for $230 + $9 shipping = $239 shipped. First class tech, third class price; the kind of deals we love.

Thanks for reading and join us again soon for more amazing deals!

Exclusivity: Panasonic gets Avatar 3D Blu-Ray all to itself --

In an interesting bit of BR HD news, it seems the age of exclusivity deals have arrived, as Panasonic secures an exclusive deal to distribute the hit movie in the 3D Blu-Ray format. It’s a big deal for the company, even if demand early on is not expected to be overwhelming.

The exclusive will run for an unspecified period of time, probably not forever, as we expected. But during that period, Panasonic will be able to include the disc with the purchase of a Panasonic 3D HDTV, or even sell it separately at retail.

It wasn’t clear exactly how it was expected to be sold (and the company didn’t make it obvious in their recent press releases), so we’ll wait and see what happens once it hits in early December. We suspect it’ll be a bundle of some kind to push those models out the door.

Wednesday’s Wacky HDTV Offers --

We always love a good deal, don’t we HDTV fans? Well, here’s a nice little selection of offers for your perusal:

BuyDig.com has the Panasonic TC-P42G25 42″ Viera G25 Series Plasma HDTV for $909 with free shipping as well. Use the Add to cart to see the sale price. Very nice deal on one of the newer, neater Pannys out there right now.

Walmart has a Proscan 47LED55SA 47″ LED 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV for $799 with free shipping, which is amazing considering the size and its decent ratings too. Check it out!

Thanks for reading and keep on visiting us for more HDTV deals and developments.

Friday’s Freaky HDTV Deal-O-Rama --

Yes, its once again time for some of the great hi-def deals anywhere on the web, courtesy of SS. Feel free to continue reading:

Walmart – Plasma is always a nice option, and here is the Panasonic Viera TC-P50S2 50″ 1080p S2 Series Plasma HDTV for $899, and with free shipping. WalMart is tough to beat for these mid-range deals, and this is just such a case. This HDTV would have been $2,000+ 2-3 years ago.

Adorama.com – The 40″ ranges are becoming more and more inexpensive we’ve noticed. This Toshiba 40XV645U REGZA 40” LCD HDTV for $599.95 with free shipping is a perfect point to accent this shift in pricing.

Feel free to click the links above. Happy HDTV shopping, and make sure to stop by and read us this weekend.

Panny’s New Move: New line of HDTVs with 2D-3D conversion --

It seems 3D, in some form or another, is here to stay. And Panasonic is advancing the technology with the first line of HDTV products with 2D to 3D conversion included. Not cheap, but here’s the quick rundown from Engadget:

If you thought you could crawl in a corner and wait for this 3D onslaught to pass, you may be camped out for some time to come. Panasonic is following up on its CES introductions with a new pair of 3D plasmas for the gaming set, the Viera 3D GT25 range. Said series is debuting with a pair to choose from, the 50-inch TC-P50GT25 and the 42-inch TC-P42G25. The latter is Panny’s first-ever 42-inch Full HD 3D plasma, and as you’d expect, both of these guys will require active shutter glasses in order to operate. As for specs? You’re looking at a 1080p panel, 600Hz sub-field drive, 24p playback and (a company first) 2D-to-3D conversion that may or may not be the answer to all of life’s problems.

We like the approach, even if Sony and several other companies are planning similar products. Prices will start around the $1,700 USD mark or so.