Panasonic Digital Lifestyles Show
By Peter Putman March 30, 2006 — On March 28 at BB King's Blues Club and Grille in New York City, Panasonic announced several new models in their plasma line. In addition to upgraded 42-inch and 50-inch products, Panasonic took the wraps off a pair of 58-inch plasma TVs, announced a ship date and retail price for their 65-inch 1080p plasma, and claimed their 103-inch model, shown at CES, would be at retail by the end of this year.

Panasonic TX-58PX600U

The two new 58-inch models, the TH-58PX600U ($5,999) and TH-58PX60U ($5,499), represent new glass cuts from Panasonic's expanding PDP lines. They sport 1366x768 native resolution and expanded bit depth, with a spec of 29 billion color shades and 10,000:1 peak contrast. The TH-58PX600U comes with TV Guide electronic program guide, a CableCARD slot, and a 31-watt (yes, thirty one) stereo audio system.

Other upgrades to the line include the 50-inch TH-50PX600U ($3,999) and the 42-inch TH-42PX600U ($2,999). The latter panel has 1024x768 resolution and was the only 42-inch model on display, so it looks like EDTV plasma is passé in Secaucus. In addition to the TV Guide EPG and CableCARD slot, a PC (VGA) input is included, along with two HDMI interfaces and an SD memory card reader.

Panasonic's 65-inch TH-65PX600U has a heftier price tag ($9,995), and will debut this September. This TV sports a full 1920x1080-pixel matrix, CableCARD slot, and TV Guide OSD. No prices were given for the yet-unnamed 103-inch PDP, which is surely going to be a CEDIA channel product.

In addition to a few new DVD recorders and some smaller LCD TVs, Panasonic also announced the availability and pricing of their DMP-BD10 Blu-ray Disc player. It will hit the streets at the same time as the TH-65PX600U with a retail price below $1,500. Expect that price to change as more models are announced and everyone jockeys for retail space.