Panasonic's flagship model, the Full HD TH-P54Z1 plasma TV, will be the only Z-series model launched here (54-inch), instead of two sizes launched elsewhere.

SHOWCASE: Panasonic unveiled 11 new Full-HD and 12 HD-Ready TVs for its VIERA plasma TV and LCD line-up in Kuala Lumpur last week. With an expected release date hovering around April 2009, the new series is a significant update to the seven major VIERA product lines, namely the Z, V, G, S, X, C and A series.

Screen sizes vary from 19 to 54 inches, with the TH-P54Z1 being the flagship model at 54 inches. All PDP and LCD models will support VIERA Link (Panasonic’s one-remote access feature which allows users to access other Panasonic HDMI-CEC compatible devices). The PDP Z and V series are both THX-certified displays, making HD movie/sound playback easier with just one HDMI connection.

The launch also saw Panasonic rebranding its SD-card reading function on its TVs as the VIERA Image Viewer (formerly known as the Photo Viewer). The Viewer now supports H.264/AVCHD video file playback (on specific models only, such as the X10 series) on top of the previous JPEG image viewing. Users can add in their own background music to accompany their slideshows as well. (more…)

Say goodbye to deeper blacks as Pioneer rolls out its last plasma TVs on April 11.

CORP TALK: After 12 years in the plasma TV production business and since confirming its withdrawal in February, Pioneer has released an official statement on its website (translated from Japanese), which was picked up by CrunchGear, detailing that it will stop the production of its plasma TV for Japan from April 11 onwards. Four models — the 50-inch KRP-500A and KRP-500M, and the 60-inch KRP-600A and KRP-600M — will be launched on April 1 and cease production by April 11 after 3,000 units are produced (2,500 units for the 50-inch sets and 500 for the 60-inch ones).

Despite the shutdown, Pioneer will continue to provide warranty services for its Kuro HDTVs till 2017 (in Japan at least). The Kuro brand was officially established in September 2007 and so far, Pioneer has managed to sell 300,000 Kuro plasma TVs in Japan and another 2.8 million units worldwide. (Editor opinions: 1)

Vijay (HardwareZone.com): Given that LCD technology has had its strong advantages since the early days of plasma, it was only a matter of time before plasma panels meet their fate.

The downsides of plasma have been so strongly portrayed by retailers worldwide that unsuspecting consumers would quickly be wary of plasma screens - such as ghosting issues, logo burn-in, low text resolution, high power consumption, heat produced and much more.

While a bulk of these issues have been fixed in the later generations of plasma TVs, particularly those made in 2006, market perception has since shifted to the maturing LCD market whose color reproduction has steadily increased while panel prices have been diving downwards due to mass adoption. (more…)