May 20, 2008

Panasonic's PZ850 Viera Cast Internet-Enabled Plasma Line Hitting North America Mid-June

Panasonic 50pz850(2).jpg Panasonic's Viera Cast PZ850 Plasma Series, first announced for the North American market at the end of March will officially be hitting shelves mid-June. Panasonic's proprietary Viera Cast technology provides access to all kinds of popular web content including YouTube, Google's Picasa photo platform and Bloomberg News, all viewable directly on the plasma screen.

The Viera PZ850 line will feature 4 new models-the 46-inch TH-46PZ850, 50-inch TH-50PZ850, 58-inch 58PZ850, and the 65-inch TH-65PZ850. All four models features 1080p resolution in 16:9 widescreen format, 30000:1 native contrast ratio/1000000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 24p native reproduction and a whack of connections include 4 HDMI slots, a PC-input and an SD card slot on-screen picture viewing.

Aside from the exciting Viera Cast technology, the PZ850 series has a bunch of other cool features including:

H.264 codec compatibility allows HD camcorder video to be viewed on the plasma set using an SD card
a Pro Setting Menu, providing access to all the tools needed to calibrate the set to its optimum picture quality
Digital Cinema Color Remastering for accurate movie color reproduction
Studio Reference Mode which displays the most subtle colors intended by the film makers
a Game Mode which reduces screen time lag during play
Viera Link providing multiple home theater device control using one remote

Like the entire Panasonic Viera line, the PZ850 series panels contain no lead or mercury and boast a half-life of 100000 hours. Don't expect to get this kind of TV technology for cheap though. When the line-up hits shelves in June, you'll pay $3099.95, $3499.95, $4299.95, and $7999.95 for the 46-, 50-, 58-, and 65-inch models respectively.

Via press release