Samsung's D8000 plasma TV

Samsung has started to ship its new, 3D-capable “Plasma+1” TVs.

The D8000, D6900, D550 and D490/450 series have a narrow bezel that adds an extra inch of viewable screen size over Samsung’s 2010 plasma TVs.

The top-of-the-range D8000 Smart TV models have Real Black Filter technology for improved on-screen contrast and reduced glare, Samsung’s proprietary Crystal Full HD engine with Cinema Smooth technology, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 20,000,000:1.

They are compatible with Samsung’s new Bluetooth-enabled 3D active glasses, have a built-in Wi-Fi receiver for accessing the Internet through Samsung Apps or on DLNA-certified devices, and offer four HDMI inputs, one Ethernet input and two USB inputs.

The D8000 Series come in 51-inch, 59-inch and 64-inch screen sizes; the models also stand out for their ultra-slim silver metallic bezel and Samsung’s signature Crystal Design.

The D490 Series has one less HDMI and USB input, lacks built-in Wi-Fi, is only HD-Ready rather than Full HD, and isn’t quite as slim; the 43-inch model is priced at $1299 and the 51-inch, $1799.

There’s also a cheaper D450 series, with only two HDMI inputs, that’s priced from $200 less for the same sizes.

Pricing of the other series has yet to be finalised.

Smarthouse reports Samsung Electronics will unveil a “swag of new IP enabled TVs” at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, as it switches focus from 3D to Internet content.

Home Cinema Choice has a preview of LG’s 3D range for CES while on the eve of the year’s biggest hi-tech showcase, Trusted Reviews has posted a “look back in anger” review of 2010’s tech trends.

Writes John Archer: “In looking over 2010’s TV and projector technology as a whole, it seemed to us that for once, maybe the a/v world had innovated too much.

“It felt as if the TV brands had tried to introduce so much new stuff that they’d ended up fumbling some of it.”

The New York Times has published a useful guide to buying a TV, most of which is as relevant to the NZ market as it is to the US.

It includes a viewing distance rule of thumb that recommends you divide it by three, with the result being the ideal height of the screen (which is usually about half the diagonal measure).

And if you want to know how to hook up that new Boxing Day bargain, Engadget has the answers.

Trusted Reviews has judged the best TV of 2010 to be one you can’t buy in New Zealand: Philips’ ultra-wide LED model, the 58PFL9955H Cinema 21:9.

Runner-up was Panasonic’s 3D plasma series, with an LED model from LG and a Samsung LCD TV rounding out the top five.

Sony’s best placing was eighth, for its top-of-the-range 3D behemoth.

Another of its displays ranked 10^th, and Philips, Panasonic and Samsung each had another entry in Trusted Reviews’ top 10.

Loewe’s Individual 40 Compose Slim ranked ninth.

Having just released a $10,000, 65-inch 3D plasma TV in limited quantities, Panasonic hopes to make the technology more affordable with its first 42-inch model.

The TH-P42GT20Z will go on sale for $2699 on December 15.

It will be bundled with a free 3D Blu-ray of Avatar, which Panasonic has licensed exclusively for the next 15 months, a 3D Blu-ray player and an improved pair of 3D glasses (which can be bought separately for $249).

The new “eyewear” is 40% lighter than Panasonic’s original 3D specs — 40 grams vs 63g — and offers USB charging.

The GT series will be a step down from the VT — watch also for a 50-inch model in this range — but will offer 2D-3D conversion.

The latter is a first for Panasonic, which hitherto has claimed the technology wasn’t mature enough for primetime.

And it still seems to feel that way, as next year’s top models apparently won’t include it as a feature — in other words, Panasonic doesn’t see 2D-3D conversion as a must-have option for a/v purists.

Meanwhile, the TH-P65VT20Z (or at least its comparable international model) scored 8.2/10 with CNET Australia, which praised its “deep, deep blacks … true-to-life colours  … excellent noise performance … and impressive size” but also warned of its “slight cross-hatching effect” and said it was “prone to jaggies”.

Panasonic NZ has confirmed buyers of its 3D TVs will qualify for a free copy of Avatar in 3D on Blu-ray.

The disc will be used as an incentive for buying a 3D Panasonic plasma TV from December to February 2012.

It will be an exclusive 15-month window, with the movie unavailable in 3D from any other source.

“We will be giving these discs away free with the purchase of any Panasonic 3D TV whilst stocks last,” a spokesman told ScreenScribe.tv.

“Also, customers who have already purchased a Panasonic 3D TV will be eligible for a free disc via redemption.”

Panasonic, in partnership with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, has authored and produced the 3D Blu-ray version at its Advanced Authoring Centre, Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory (PHL) in Universal City, California, which was used to deliver the 2D Avatar Blu-ray.

Meanwhile, a week before Panasonic’s campaign starts, Fox will release an $80 Extended Collector’s Edition of Avatar on triple-disc Blu-ray.

Two months before its NZ release, a top British website has acclaimed Panasonic’s 50-inch 3D plasma TV as “comfortably the finest mainstream TV Panasonic has ever produced, and one of the finest TVs ever seen period”.

Veteran Trusted Reviews critic John Archer rates it 9/10 for performance and value, 10/10 for features, and praises the “startling contrast ratio” for its vibrancy, brightness and “deepest, most  natural and involving black level Panasonic has produced to date”.

He also reckons the 3D image is “more consistent throughout its depth than on the Samsung LED set” and has scarcely any of its crosstalk ghosting. But he notes Panasonic’s 3D images are “substantially darker” than Samsung’s (and its own 2D images) while the colours with 3D footage look muted compared with Samsung’s “strikingly vibrant ones”.

CNET Asia echoes these mixed results with its four-way 3DTV shootout featuring two plasma TVs (Panasonic and Samsung’s), and two LED-backlit LCD TVs (Samsung and LG’s).

Concludes senior writer Philip Wong: “Sadly, there’s no clear winner among the four models. The Samsung was plagued by prominent double images, or crosstalk, which you’ll be hearing frequently about for 3DTVs. Panasonic’s 3D picture quality was slightly softer than the rest, with LG middle-of-the-road.”

Panasonic NZ expects to be selling two Full-HD 3D-capable Viera plasma TVs here by July/August.

TV and Blu-ray products manager Grant Shaw told ScreenScribe.tv initially two sizes will be offered: 50 inches and 65 inches.

Pricing hasn’t been disclosed but the premium they’ll command won’t be as steep as that of Panasonic’s wireless Z1 plasma ($10,000) over the company’s comparable wired models in the V series (the 50-inch costs $4000 and the 58-inch, $8000).

Shaw isn’t bothered by statements from Sky TV boss John Fellet that he has “no friggin’ idea” when the satcaster will broadcast in 3D here, even though Britain’s BSkyB will offer a 3D channel from April and Australia’s Foxtel plans one for next year.

Instead, he argues consumers will be buying an exceptional 2D display that has 3D as a feature.

They will be among the first Panasonic sets to benefit from the input of the engineers who made Kuro plasma TVs hands-down the best in the world until Pioneer quit their production.

Moreover, to deliver 3D images, Panasonic’s had to develop new, faster screen phosphors. Coupled with their 600Hz sub-field drive, the new displays output alternating imagery at 60 frames a second to each eye. The brain then combines the images and interprets them as 3D.

“Our factories have worked very hard at improving plasma technology,” Shaw says. “So even if you don’t run 3D [content], they’re still superb 2D sets.”

He acknowledges broadcast content will be scarce and that initially the only Full-HD 3D product will be on Blu-ray movies.

Panasonic will launch its first 3D Blu-ray player at the same time as the Viera TVs. Walt Disney has announced its first slate of 3D Blu-ray movies and you can bet the blockbuster that’s driven excitement about 3D at home, Avatar, won’t be far behind.

Both the 3D player and plasma TV won Innovations Awards at the Consumer Electronics Show, and Panasonic will include a pair of its 3D shutter glasses with every TV it sells.

The first 3D TVs from Samsung could go on sale in NZ as early as April.

“We are thrilled that the new 3D TVs will be in the New Zealand market some time during the second quarter,” Samsung’s NZ director of marketing, Rachael Cotton-Bronte, said after the company announced it was the first in the world to start mass producing 3D LED and LCD panels.

Also due here by mid-year are the three LED back-lit HDTVs, one plasma HDTV, three Blu-ray players and the home theatre system that Samsung showcased this month at the Consumer Electronics Show, where it won 23 Innovation Awards.

“We will be providing additional [3D TV] details as the release date draws near,” Cotton-Bronte said.

Samsung is making LED- and LCD-compatible panels for 40-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch full-HD 3D TVs using 3D Active Glasses and “exclusive” true 240Hz technology.  (3D Active Glasses was selected as an official term by the Glasses Standardisation Working Group of the Consumer Electronics Association earlier this year.)

Because its panels operate at 240 frames a second, Samsung claims they deliver a more lifelike picture with alternating left and right eye images through the use of 3D Active Glasses technology.

Samsung says it has cut the response time of its LCD and LED panels by 20 percent to fewer than four milliseconds, eliminating interference between left and right eye images.

“With this improved response time, Samsung is able to achieve natural 3D images and also deliver 2D pictures capturing rapid movement with exceptional clarity,” the company’s press statement said.

“Samsung’s new 3D Active Glasses technology first blocks the left and then right lens, causing a momentary lag when images are shown to each eye to achieve more lifelike 3D images.”

The polarised glass method previously used in 3D glasses produced separate images for the left and right eyes, resulting in half the resolution of two-dimensional pictures as only half of the screen can be viewed through each polarised filter; brightness was also lowered because of the polarised filter.

Market research firm DisplaySearch expects the 3D display market is expected to grow from $902 million in 2008 to $22 billion in 2018.

Specifically, the 3D TV market is expected to expand to a $US17-billion market, with sales rising from 200,000 units in 2009 to 64 million in 2018.

THX marks the sweet spot of Panasonic’s new V and Z range of plasma TVs.

A shortcoming of Panasonic’s Viera flat-screen TVs has been their limited picture tweaking options.

But engage any of the new models in THX mode and fine-tuning becomes irrelevant, so accurate is the colour.

Just as it set the standard for high-fidelity sound, THX increasingly is being used to optimise video quality in everything from TVs to projectors to digital video recorders.

I’ve appraised several of Panasonic’s top-end consumer plasma TVs over the past few years and none has come close to nailing the natural look that THX delivers.

It shines with high definition movies and sports broadcasts alike. Golf fans will especially appreciate seeing fairways and greens that look like grass rather than gaudy Astroturf.

The true benefits of THX may be lost on the shop floor, where harsh lighting can wash out its strengths and subtleties. But at home, in subdued lighting, the HD images are immaculate.

Panasonic offers THX in its three V models, which range in size from 50 inches to 65 inches, and its wireless, 54-inch Z1 display.

At $3999, the TH-P50V10Z is the most affordable. It’s one of Panasonic’s new-generation NeoPDP Full HD panels that combines improved brightness and energy efficiency with excellent contrast, four HDMI inputs, a PC input, a FreeviewHD tuner and an SD Card slot with a “Viera Image Viewer” for viewing digital photographs.

But it’s not only the technology that makes this a tour-de-force TV: almost as eye-catching as its performance are the cosmetics.

Panasonic may make some of the best plasma TVs but traditionally it’s been a company run by engineers rather than designers. The V series, however, imbues the company’s Corolla reliability with at least a hint of Lexus styling.

The one-sheet glass appearance is sleek and chic while the lippy look of last year’s horizontal arch on the high-end PZ and PY models has been smartly streamlined into a slimmer frame with a narrower bezel that doesn’t reflect as much light as its predecessors.

Best of all, the connections are on the rear, or to the side, of the display; no longer does Panasonic spoil the front of its TVs with a flap under the screen that, when raised, exposes connections from which unsightly cables trail.

Having four HDMI connections is good but barely meets the needs of households with MySky HDi, TiVo, a Blu-ray or DVD player, and a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

Panasonic has refined its remote control and at last relocated the volume key from the left side to the right, in line with other manufacturers.

Auto-tuning is a breeze and while the easy-to-adjust menu includes gamma settings, which is rare for a Panasonic display in this market, it still offers fewer customisable options than many rivals.

Although the THX mode largely mitigates this, using it does thwart Panasonic’s Intelligent Frame Creation (IFC) option. IFC effectively reduces judder in the Dynamic, Cinema and Normal modes but because it introduces occasional artefacts, such as slight shimmering around fast movement, it doesn’t meet THX certification demands.

This notwithstanding, IFC is one of the better motion interpolation methods, and Panasonic has improved it to the point where a ball in flight will no longer break up, as it did on the 11^th-generation Vieras. (One of the best tests for the stability of the latest IFC iteration is the opening skyscraper sequence of The Dark Knight).

Audio also is surprisingly good given the speakers are straitjacketed within a frame that’s only 84 centimetres thick and although there is some flickering on a blank screen, it’s not apparent when watching movies or TV.

Standard definition DVDs and broadcasts don’t overly suffer from being showcased on a large display but it’s with HD that the TH-P50V10Z earns an A-plus.

The Blu-ray of the first season of Fringe jumps out of the screen with almost three-dimensional oomph and while the black levels may fall short of Panasonic’s claimed dynamic contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1, the shadow detail revealed in the DVD of the Italian gangster drama, Gomorrah, is extraordinary.