Hasta La Gadget!

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. Or maybe they’ll just do what Sony and Samsung have already been doing. The duo should be on retail shelves by the end of this month, with the little guy going for $1,699.95 and the big(ger) guy for $2,099.95.

Continue reading Panasonic intros 42- and 50-inch 3D Viera GT25 plasma sets, its first with 2D-to-3D conversion

Panasonic intros 42- and 50-inch 3D Viera GT25 plasma sets, its first with 2D-to-3D conversion originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We had no idea that the Blu-ray players Samsung showed off at CES would just be the first of a steady stream rolling out this year, and today in New York it’s showing off the latest set of 3D capable hardware — many of which have already shown up on retail shelves. The $499 BD-C8000 is the first portable Blu-ray player that can handle the new 3D discs; while the 10.3-inch screen is 2D only, it folds WiFi, 1GB of memory, HDMI 1.4, a 3 hour battery and all of Samsung’s DLNA and widget technology into its very netbook-looking shell for you to take somewhere that has a 3D-ready display. Though that’s already shipping on Amazon, we’ll have to wait until October to see the $1,799 HT-C9950W 7.1 home theater in a box system, specifically designed (& priced) to match those ultra-thin 9000 series displays (and their sweet touchscreen remotes). Speaking of LED edge lit 3DTVs, Sammy also mentioned it’s ready to ship the biggest of the bunch with the 65-inch UN65C8000 (compare that to Panasonic’s 65-inch VT25 plasma) which missed the original July launch projection but is already popping up at a few sites for pre-orders at a price as much as $1,500 below its $5,999 MSRP.

While those fill out the high end of the product line, more frugal buyers of course have the option of selecting older models that are dropping in price, but there are a few new displays and players (that we’ve seen before) for them too. Samsung’s finally officially launching the 50-inch PN50C490 we saw last month that does 3D on a flat panel display in 720p for less than $1,000. Right now, taking it from 3D capable to 3DTV is still an expensive proposition, but we’ll wait and see if any new promotions throwing in the starter kit — updated with a few new Blu-ray 3D exclusives including Dreamworks Animations’ How to Train Your Dragon and two IMAX 3D flicks, Shrek series coming soon — for free turn lookers into purchasers. Check the gallery for more pictures and the press release after the break for more specs and pricing information.

Continue reading Samsung shows off portable, HTIB 3D Blu-ray player options and the biggest LED 3DTV yet

Samsung shows off portable, HTIB 3D Blu-ray player options and the biggest LED 3DTV yet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ready to climb Mount Fuji and see what the next top Japanese TV will look like? Toshiba has just outed its trio of flag-bearing displays for this fall: the Cell Regza Slim 55XE2 and 46XE2, and the full-bloodied 55X2. Inch-based dimensions are already given in their model names, but you’ll also want to know they offer 240Hz refresh rates, 1,000 nits of brightness and 9,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratios on the chunkier X2 (augmented with local backlight dimming), and a 2D-to-3D conversion technology that’ll translate your stale old 2D imagery into bodacious triple dimensionality. You’re also keeping the 3 terabytes of storage and the capability of time-shifting up to eight channels at a time from the older model, though you’re no longer limited to a hard cap of 26 hours per channel. Connectivity is also rich, with options for DLNA and/or up to eight HDDs, while jacking in a Blu-ray recorder will permit you to record straight to the optical media the same way you can do to the Regzas’ own storage. All these goodies won’t come cheap, however, as the flagship 55X2 will retail for a well-rounded million Yen ($11,430) in late October, to be preceded by its Slim siblings with prices of ¥700,000 ($8,000) for the 55-inch and ¥600,000 ($6,858) for the 46-inch earlier that month. Full press release after the break.

Continue reading Toshiba’s latest Cell Regza LCDs are Slim, but don’t go calling them 2D

Toshiba’s latest Cell Regza LCDs are Slim, but don’t go calling them 2D originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading UC San Diego researchers repurpose 3D HDTV for heads-up VR system

UC San Diego researchers repurpose 3D HDTV for heads-up VR system originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic Japan’s push to bring 3D to wider audiences means more than just offering it in smaller HDTVs. The RT2B series plasmas announced today can record TV broadcasts onto their hard discs or Blu-ray drives, and are the first all-in-ones that play Blu-ray 3D movies as well. Available in 42- and 46-inch versions, it’s unlikely we’ll see them on this side of the Pacific, but much more likely to make the jump are some new 3D glasses (pictures after the break.) Now available in different sizes for the whole family, they also include sealed batteries rechargeable by USB, as opposed to the current one-size-fits-all design that relies on a replaceable watch battery. Two hours charging via USB should equal 30 hours of watching, and at 38g, Panasonic’s claiming the small kid-sized TY-EW3D2SW active shutter glasses are the lightest around. What hasn’t changed yet is the price — ¥13,000 ($149.) Barring bundle deals, outfitting the family for some festival viewing will still be an expensive proposition when all of these start shipping August 27.

Continue reading Panasonic adds Blu-ray 3D/HDD all-in-one plasmas; redesigned, rechargeable 3D glasses in Japan

Panasonic adds Blu-ray 3D/HDD all-in-one plasmas; redesigned, rechargeable 3D glasses in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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