Hasta La Gadget!

Sure we’d love to see Panasonic mass produce that 4K 150-inch plasma, but so far we’ll just have to be happy with a cheaper 103-inch HDTV and the latest model, an 85-inch 1080p display it’s showing off at InfoComm ’09 this week. All that super size flat panel building experience has been poured into a package that is 99mm thick and apparently 30 percent lighter per square inch than its 103-inch cousin, at a total of 130Kg. This one’s coming through business channels to Japan and the U.S. this fall, ’til then you’ll just have to live with your 4 x 42-inch matrix setup or for the cost conscious, a projector.

[Via AV Watch & Japan Corp (English)]

Filed under: HDTV

Panasonic unveils 85-inch plasma at InfoComm ’09 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The jury’s still out on whether inbuilt DVRs are good for HDTVs, but LG’s obviously hot to trot on the whole idea. Nearly a year after first introducing sets with an integrated Time Machine, the outfit is hitting back with two new big-screen plasmas that each posses a 160GB internal hard drive. The X Canvas 50PS70 (50-inch) and 60PS70 (60-inch) panels also boast 600Hz dejudder technology and can record overflow onto external drives connected via USB 2.0. Additional details (price, screen resolution, availability, etc.) are scant, but we’ll be sure to keep an ear to the ground.

[Via Akihabara News]

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Storage

LG’s 50PS70 and 60PS70 plasmas get 160GB Time Machine functionality originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 May 2009 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pioneer’s decision to axe the Kuro earlier this year set off a wave of gloomy predictions about the future of plasma, but we’ve never really bought into it — and it sounds like the product planners at LG, Samsung, and Panasonic haven’t either. HD Guru asked reps from each company for their thoughts on the state of the plasma market, and the responses were pretty similar across the board: plasma remains the connoisseur’s choice overall, and it still makes up just about half of 50-inch and bigger sales. Of course, that means that plasma’s niche is shrinking and moving higher-end while LCDs more or less take over the rest of HDTV market, but until something like OLED develops into a true competitor we think plasma’s around for a while. Check out the full company responses at the read link.

Filed under: HDTV

Plasma market getting smaller and higher-end, but it’s still alive originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 14:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, there are two ways to look at this: the first is that this television set costs almost as much as many homes, while the second is that it’s around $40,000 cheaper than the Euro-conversion price. Specially designed for plutocrats who need to brag that Mark Cuban has the bargain version of their HDTV, Bang & Olufsen’s 103-inch BeoVision 4-103 plasma brings along a 1080p panel and plenty of wow. The unit has just been let loose here in America, going on a US press tour and becoming available for special order for those with loads of disposable income. It can be purchased in an array of color options including black, silver, red, blue, and dark grey, though there is a three to four month lead time for each set. The pain? $93,050 on wall mount, $111,805 on motorized floor stand — though we hear that it’s hand delivered by Dos Equis himself.

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Bang & Olufsen’s BeoVision 4 103-inch plasma on sale in USA: $93,050 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 May 2009 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The plasma industry may be teetering on the edge of certain doom (okay, so maybe that’s exaggerating it… a little), but Samsung‘s still pushing the envelope. Over in South Korea, the company just outed its latest PDPs, the 850 PAVV lineup. Aside from being 40 percent more power efficient, 20 percent lighter and 120 percent more seductive than the prior generation, the new 50- and 58-inch sets also boast DLNA support, a USB 2.0 socket, DivX compatibility and a rather striking stand. The real kicker? The 29 millimeter depth, which equates to just over one inch thick for those who abhor the metric system. There’s no word on when these beauties will hit the streets, but we’re guessing Panasonic will be keenly interested in knowing.

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Samsung’s 850 PAVV plasma teases the 1-inch thick mark originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 08:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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