2008 Vieras boast 100-fold contrastSINGAPORE--Amid the turbulence of the flat-panel market, Panasonic has emerged relatively unscathed. In fact, it's back to wow with a showcase of its latest 2008 flat-panel TVs and belated Blu-ray player. No major surprises in the Viera lineup as it presses on with the plasma technology for screen sizes of 42-inch and above, while expanding its IPS Alpha LCD development to cover the void. And unlike the new Korean entries out there, the enhancements here are mainly performance-oriented.Viera plasma TV highlightsIt's time to welcome onboard the upgraded G11 plasma panels and their companion V-real 3/Pro 3 picture-processing engines. For a very strong reason apparently, since they deliver a 100-fold leap in dynamic contrast to a record high of 1,000,000:1 across the board. This is not even taking into consideration a pretty impressive 30,000:1 native contrast for the flagship PY800 and its x.v. Color compliancy (to reproduce richer hues from videos captured on compatible HD camcorders).Another interesting but rather complex addition is the 480Hz Sub-field Drive. In a nutshell, the system is designed to minimize resolution lost during motion reproduction, ensuring sharper and smoother visuals with over 900 lines of details. The PY800-series is also probably the first in Asia to field the BBE ViVA high-definition 3D (HD3D) software. This is an audio post-processing said to be compatible with all TV programs and capable of serving out musically accurate 3D imaging. If you're looking to stretch your dollars, these claim an industry-leading 100,000-hour panel life like their predecessors and an LCD-like matt antiglare treatment that minimizes screen reflections. Connectivity-wise, it's a case of quality over quantity with film-centric 1080p24 signal support via HDMI, capped at three. That said, the elusive fourth port will be en route in 2H 2008 from even higher-end PY850 models. These will have additional AVCHD playback via an integrated SDHC card slot and a unique "sheet of glass" styling. |
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