After seeing the Bentley home theater setup, I suppose it was really only a matter of time until someone decided to make their own sweet home theater setup around a whole new automotive passion–Harley Davidson.

Yes, that’s the Harley Sweet Home Theater you’re looking at–containing a bar, poker table and setting area in the same general space as a home theater setup containing one plasma TV, two LCD TVs, a set of in-ceiling speakers and a whole bunch of other gear from Elan, and a Panasonic Blu-ray player.  The three TVs can operate independently from each other, or show the same movie on each thanks to an RTI remote AND yet another item from Elan, a touchpanel.

With all these exciting pieces of equipment, along with a whole bunch of home theater gear (yeah, I was referring to the Harleys before), there’s not a bit of doubt that this qualifies as a sweet home theater setup.

3DTV may not necessarily be in demand now but don’t be surprised if the numbers suddenly swell. And while the TV manufacturers catering to this new niche is not necessarily boggling at the moment, studies suggest that by 2013 about 46 million shipments of 3DTV will be imminent. And for giant TV manufacturers such as Sony and Panasonic, rejuvenating their business may be made possible with the new advent of 3DTV, seen as the next big demand for home and business entertainment mediums.

3D capable TV systems are starting to show and it is just a matter of time before consumers will shift their product preferences to 3D technology. So in the coming months, don’t be surprised if more 3D-capable TV sets start to show unique features, a trend that we see today in the fast evolving world of home entertainment requirements.

(Source) Press

Because they’re done.  As in Panasonic is done making them.

After fifty five years of making televisions involving tubes, Panasonic is now selling all its interest in CRT-based ventures to focus solely on flat panel models.

Frankly, this is a move that was a long time coming and, in a way, I’m almost surprised it took this long.  LCD TV prices are falling with every passing day.  It’s now entirely possible to get a 1080p thirty two inch LCD for under five hundred bucks.  CRT-based televisions no longer offer the significant cost advantages of their predecessors, and they’re much harder to move and transport, making them a tough prospect for just about anyone even considering buying a new TV to think of.

Why buy a tube TV when LCD sets cost about as much and look so much better?  There’ s just no sense in it!  And that’s exactly the conclusion Panasonic reached.

I have to admit that I was a little dismayed by the quailty on the Panasonic TC-L37X1 television.  But only just a little.

But first, the technical rundown.  The Panasonic TC-L37X1 is a thirty seven inch 720p LCD TV with an iPod dock, Viera Link and Viera Image Viewer, three HDMI ports and one PC input.

Doesn’t sound like a lot, I know–and for an eight hundred dollar television (that you can actually find used on Amazon for the low, low price of about five hundred bucks)–and frankly, it’s not a whole lot of value for what you get, either.  I found that the picture was surprisingly grainy even at long distances.  Normally, I expect a bit of grain when I’m checking the up close view, but this one was giving off more grain than a wheat field from about eight feet off.  However, the sound quality was pretty nice, and the controls were plenty easy to handle.

I’m not very happy with the value on this one–at least not on the model I tried–but if you can find a good price on it and don’t mind a grainy picture, you should do all right.  I don’t recommend it myself, but your mileage may vary.

Panasonic has released a couple of DVD and HDD recorders carrying practically similar specs. The two new models are the Panasonic DMR-XP200 and XE100. The XE100 feature a 320GB HDD and digital TV tuner while the XP200 boasts of a 500GB HDD, an analog and digital TV tuner along with a BS/110 CD digital tuner. The XP200 can also record 1 Seg TV programs and save recorded videos on a SD card.

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced.

(Source) Slippery Brick

It doesn’t get bigger than this! Panasonic unveils a whopping 50” 3D plasma TV which comes with a full HD 1080p resolution. And with the 3D age fast being the talk of the town, providing a larger screen capable of addressing the HD display needs is practically served with this plasma TV that is set to hit the market in 2010.

But while that is the expected release date, consumers can get a glimpse of a prototype for the said Panasonic 3D Plasma TV from October 6 to 10 at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba City east of Tokyo. The TV set will require 3D glasses and makes use of Panasonic’s high speed 3D drive technology.

(Source) Slashgear

When you’ve got an unusually shaped basement, you can either live with it and just use it as a storage space, or you can do like Chris and Beth Martino did and turn it into a home theater.

Naturally, they’ve got some nice stuff in this.  They took six months and thirty five grand to build a whopper home theatre with a BASH Subwoofer amplifier, a Comcast HD DVR, a Monitor Audio speaker array, Denon receiver, Panasonic PT-AE3000 projector, a hundred and twenty nine inch screen from SmX Cinema Solutions, a Wii and Playstation 3, and more.

But this isn’t where the awesome ends, no, merely where it begins.  This home theatre also comes with an adjacent bathroom and kitchenette, so you can make your snacks and such right off the theatre.  Plus there are a few extras in there like a popcorn machine, a beer kegerator and a wine cellar of forty two bottles.

This pretty much ensures you only need one room for your entertaining, allowing you to close off the rest of the house from your company.  This is a terribly awesome development that’ll really qualify this for sweet home theatre setup status.

I’m generally very fond of the Panasonic lineup as they’re not only an excellent system overall most times, but they’re also very intuitive to learn without even consulting a manual.  That’s one of my top criterion for judging a system–if I have to resort to a manual it loses points with me.

The Panasonic Viera TCP54S1 is no exception and proves to be an excellent system overall, much like the rest of its lineup.

This Panasonic is a fifty four inch 1080p plasma TV with three HDMI slots and the exclusive Viera Image Viewer, which allows you to show pictures from SD cards directly onto the screen.

One thing is clear, the picture on this piece is absolutely phenomenal.  There are easily reached, easily operable side-mounted controls to complement the remote, and the sound quality is also solid as a stand-alone system.  The one down side is that it’s got a pretty salty price tag of around eighteen hundred bucks, depending as always on where you shop.

But the Panasonic TCP54S1 is certainly a solid value for the price, and if you’re prepared to go big you can’t do much better.

If you didn’t scrunch up your forehead and ask “who?” when I pitched you that headline, then you’re either better versed in world cinema than I am or just not the curious type.  But it’s true–Panasonic’s got a new pitchman for its Viera line of televisions, and it’s Ranbir Kapoor.

You may not know who he is, and it’s not surprising if you don’t, but Ranbir Kapoor is actually one of the biggest names in Bollywood right now.  Bollywood, in case you don’t know, is the Indian equivalent of Hollywood, and so this choice for pitchman makes some sense.

I emphasize some–while it’s somewhat widely known that Kapoor will not endorse a product he wouldn’t personally use, and that’s a great attribute for a pitchman to have, the problem here is that Kapoor’s appeal is somewhat limited.  Oh, sure, in and around the subcontinent, Ranbir Kapoor might well be the equivalent of Robert Pattinson.  But once you get out of Bollywood’s effective range, which as yet is a whole lot smaller than Hollywood’s, Kapoor’s name recognition falls through the floor.

So unless Panasonic’s planning on using Kapoor locally, this may be a bad idea.

You’ve got to hand it to anyone who wants to go with a regional theme for their home theatre setup, and for Marc McManus, all it took was one year and sixty grand to recreate a little bit of Ireland in what once was his basement.

Naturally, he’s got an amazing array of equipment here, a list of which he’s actually provided.  Check this setup out: a Panasonic AE-2000U projector, Denon AVR-3808CI home theater receiver, a DaLite 100” Cinema Vision screen, a Klipsch RF-82 left/right speaker, a Klipsch RC-62 center speaker,  Klipsch RS-42 side surrounds, Speakercraft AIM7 back surrounds, two Velodyne DLS-4000R 12” powered subwoofers, and plenty more besides.

Oh, and did I mention the attached bar?  Yeah…he’s also got a pocket Irish pub wedged in there.  To prove how far he went with this, he actually planned it out with AutoCAD before he built it.  Between the sheer depth of detail in the surroundings, and the sheer magnitude of hardware he’s got running in there, it’s got to be called a sweet home theatre setup.

There’s just nothing else it can be called.

Twelve THOUSAND dollars for a plasma TV? Man, it had better be good for that kind of loot, and the good news is, yes, indeed, this sucker’s worth it.

Today we’re talking the Panasonic Premiere line, and twelve grand is just the starting price.  The fifty inch version runs you twelve, the sixty five, meanwhile, costs a cool twenty grand.

And what do you get for this singularly monster investment?  Check THIS out:

The panels deliver full HD 1080p (1,920 x 1,080) resolution and a 60,000:1 contrast ratio, as well as “industry-leading” colour gradation level of 7,160 steps.

“Panasonic’s 18-bit digital signal processing produces a detailed graduation from light to dark, with faithful expression of subtle colour differences. The moving picture resolution of over 900 lines reproduces clear, crisp and smooth images for impeccable reproduction of fast-moving scenes.”

Calibrating these TVs takes FOUR HOURS, and requires specially trained installation personnel who are probably so poorly paid that they’ll never be able to afford one of these, but still.  If you want the absolutely top of the line in plasma TV technology on your side, then this is your weapon of choice.

Panasonic has announced its first ever 2.1 channel Blu-ray Disc home theater system, the SC-BTX70. Designed with a chic, upright silhouette makes the system an ideal match for a flat panel TV. The innovative design of the system integrates an array of digital media options in its ultra slim main unit.

The advanced proprietary surround technology of the Panasonic SC-BTX70 is able to roll out Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD virtual 7.1-channel surround sound through its two front speakers. The power sliding door of the system opens up to reveal a Blu-ray Disc player within, complemented by a Universal Dock for iPods, a USB terminal and an SD memory card slot. The USB terminal comes in handy for viewing images and videos.

The Energy Star qualified Panasonic SC-BTX70 Home Theater System will be available in September 2009, with a SRP of $999.95.

Via:Panasonic

I was prepared to start this review somewhat sedately, describing a TV that wasn’t half bad but had some problems.  But then I caught up to one last detail that made my jaw drop in horrified alarm.

First off, some basics.  The Panasonic TCP42C1 a forty two inch TV showing in 720p.  It includes two HDMI slots, Infinite Black Dynamic contrast and a six hundred hertz subfield drive.

Now, the sound on this one is pretty far from bad.  I liked the fidelity on this one and found it to be well within most tolerances.  But the problem I had was when I checked the video up close and found that at close range there were artifacts in movement video.  I expect an LCD TV to do that, but a plasma?  Especially a plasma running seven hundred bucks?  I’m sorry, but no.  Just NO.  Put a quarter in the don’t jar, thank you very much, because plasma TVs should NOT have artifacts close up.

And yes, you read that preceeding right–this IS a seven hundred dollar plasma you’re loking at.  And frankly, it’s maybe worth HALF that.

We’ve all seen Panasonic’s 103-inch HDTV but its $45,000+ price tag made it hard to justify for just about everyone. Well, if you can’t seem to pony up an extra $15,000 for a TV (ha) then you can opt for Panasonic’s recently announced 85-inch plasma HDTV which clocks in at $30,000.

The TV features a full HD 1080p resolution (it’d be ridiculous if it didn’t, right?) and a body depth of 3.9 inches. Of course, the fact that it weighs 260 pounds means your existing wall mount probably isn’t going to cut it.

via cnet

Panasonic generally offers a solid lineup of televisions, and for the most part, the Panasonic Viera TC-L32C12 will be another solid LCD item in that lineup.  For the most part.

It’s not that it doesn’t come with enough accessories and such; it’s a 32″ LCD TV, with a 720p image, one PC input, two HDMI inputs, and the Viera Link system that allows it to link to other Viera products.

The picture looks great, especially for a 720p, and the convenient sidemounted controls are actually labeled with pluses and minuses along with the slightly more confusing left and right arrows, so that issue has been roundly dealt with, make no mistake.

However, there’s just one problem I had with this model–the sound was somewhat tinny, which is odd for an LCD tv, but won’t be a problem if you have it hooked to component audio, a receiver and speakers, or a similar arrangement.

But by itself, the Panasonic Viera TC-L32C12 is a solid addition to the Panasonic lineup with only one significant flaw.  That makes it pretty good in my book.

For the people who want to follow a more manageable cost of maintaining their projectors, here is one made for the Panasonic projector owners. The Panasonic PT50LC13 Projector Replacement Lamp is an original replacement lamp that is practically brand new. It is the ideal part to provide your projector and extended life rather than buy a new expensive one in the market.

This Panasonic projector replacement lamp is compatible with the following Panasonic projector models: PT43LC14, PT43LCX64, PT44LCX65, PT50LC13, PT50LC14, PT50LCX63, PT50LCX64, PT52LCX15, PT52LCX15B, PT52LCX35, PT52LCX65, PT60LC13, PT60LC14, PT60LCX63, PT60LCX64, PT61LCX35, PT61LCX65.

Price: $107.98

(Source) Amazon

Normally, when you’re on the road, you generally have to curb your HD cravings and deal with low resolution viewing due to the normal nature of current in-car TV options. Luckily, Panasonic has recently announced their in-dash HD nav system & Blu-ray player combo to eliminate the need to lower your resolution while on long car trips.

This bunlde will include a 7-inch 720p screen with an HDMI port, iPod connector, SD card slot and a digital TV tuner along with a Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player. Add that to all of the normal features you’d except from an in-dash navigation system and you have yourself the ultimate HD in-dash setup.

Of course, this bundle won’t come cheap as the in-dash display itself costs upwards of $3,870 while the Blu-ray player is priced right around $1,050. Of course, this is all hypothetical until Panasonic gets around to released this anywhere outside of Japan.

via engadgethd

As the LCD television market grows, whether or not revenues grow with it, there will always be a class of LCD TV that’s nothing really special–it’s merely there.  And the Panasonic Viera TCL32X1 is a perfect example of one such system.

It comes with one HDMI port, one SD card port, one S Video jack and one component jack.  It also includes the standard Viera Link system, the Viera Image Player, and an iPod connection port.

So you can see that, already, this system is behind numerous others on the market for its lack of ports.  The standard-definition Philips I bought as an open-box three years ago has more connections than the Viera does.  And when an LCD can’t do as much as a standard-def set, well, you KNOW it’s sort of behind in the market.

As for performance, well, sure, it looks pretty good, and sounds all right, but it’s nowhere near as spectacular as SOME systems I’ve seen.  And considering that they’ve got an asking price of six hundred bucks a unit on this one, you’d figure it’d do a lot more than just be a thirty two inch LCD.

All in all, you can really do better than the Panasonic Viera TCL32X1, and in every regard, it shows.

The Panasonic Z1 Plasma series offers a wide array of features that show some promise. As far as the Panasonic Viera TX-P54Z1E is concerned, it transmits 1080p HD signals from its tuner box and can able transmit Amazon video-on-demand services. This means that consumers who consider getting the touted TV can enjoy streaming HD videos through its wireless technology.

The new NeoPDP technology may as well answer the growing concern for energy consumption of plasma screens. With this technology, the TX-P54Z1E can also produce slimmer, lighter screens with improved picture performance.

The 54in Panasonic TX-P54Z1E is now available in the UK.

(Source) HDTV.org

Panasonic Japan has announced a new pair of plasma HDTVs, the 65-inch TH-P65V1 and 58-inch TH-P58V1. Aimed at improving the picture quality and energy savings, each of the HDTVs features the latest generation neoPDP technology with a contract ration of 40000:1.

Both the TH-P65V1 and TH-P58V1 supports the usual series of VIERA Cast streaming media and online widgets. Each of the HDTV has a slot for SD/SDHC memory card and supports Full HD 1080/24p resolution, as well as a virtual 5.1 surround sound system.

The TH-P65V1 as well as the TH-P58V1 can be connected to Panasonic’s wireless security cameras. Each of them has an Ethernet port and four HDMI ports. Both the Panasonic Viera TH-P65V1 and TH-P58V1 NeoPDP Plasma HDTVs will be released on 15 September, 09.

Via: Panasonic