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Posted by Nick Broughall at 11:30 AM on October 9, 2008
So if you're planning on buying a new flat-panel TV, or thinking of sticking your current screen up on the wall, there are plenty of important factors you'll need to consider. Luckily, I've just been through the process, so you can learn from my mistakes...
It's been a big week for Panasonic: The company founded by Konosuke Matsushita turned 90, celebrating by both finally swapping the founder's surname in favour of the more well-known Panasonic Corp, and by building its 300 millionth TV set. Apparently this is a record even Sony can't touch, unless the company announces tomorrow that it will focus entirely on plasma sets that are 150 inches and above. I dunno, 90-year-olds can be quite unpredictable sometimes. Anyway, happy birthday, Panasonic—or are you going by just Panny now? [Panasonic on Giz]
Panasonic demoed their Smart Home concept at CEATEC this week. Smart Home seems to be an integrated system that controls the electronics in your house, from lighting to air conditioning to multimedia. Even the television will slide to follow you around, which actually looks sort of creepy and desperate.
Remote controls might not be the sexiest of gadgets to overhaul, but Panasonic's done a pretty neat job with this recent revamp. The company demoed a touch-sensitive remote at CEATEC, which features a touchpad on each end of the device and a crowd of buttons in the middle. Instead of using a touchscreen like many of its high-end ilk, the EZ Touch Remote superimposes an image of a traditional remote control on the television screen.
If only the ancient Chinese Had Panasonic's LifeWall, they could have fended off nomadic tribes with HDTV instead of bricks and battlements. But since we live in the future, we can shut out the rest of the world with television that not only stretches from floor to ceiling, it follows people around the room. Panasonic's prototype LifeWall, exhibited at CEATEC outside Tokyo, is a room-sized screen that tracks and remembers users with face recognition, which the firm calls You-Know-Me-TV.
Meet Dorothy. At 150 inches diagonal, she's the world's largest plasma screen and the biggest direct-view TV ever made, built (and named) by Panasonic. We got to play with her recently and as you've seen, it was mind-meltingly awesome. Even though firsthand experiences with Dorothy are akin to filling a leaf blower with nitrous oxide to jet-huff directly into your brain, Dorothy's backstory is almost as incredible, especially when it comes to manufacturing, shipping and yes, managing all the electricity needed to fire her up. So even though you will absolutely never own one--except for you Giz-reading NBA stars and platinum-selling rappers--the story of the world's most advanced television is a thrill, and serves as a crystal ball to the future of all TV. Come, talk to her. She's intimidating, but it'll be good for you.
How big is too big? That's the question that you inevitably ask yourself once you spend any amount of time with Panasonic's new 150-inch plasma TV prototype. We visited it in Panasonic's towering warehouse in Secaucus, New Jersey last Friday, running it through its paces with 4K footage, Blu-ray movies and Playstation 3 games. After spending a day with it, was it the type of thing I honestly wanted to set up in my living room?
Apparently a fan of Jetsons-like living spaces, Panasonic is showing off a living room/kitchen area at CEATEC that puts all home gadgets and appliances on an interconnected network. Though we've seen numerous integrated home living concepts before, Panasonic's added a "Family Wellness Solution" that's kind of like a really advanced version of Wii Fit.
Posted by Nick Broughall at 12:00 PM on September 30, 2008
My opinion on this particular TV can be summed up in the following anecdote: Last weekend I went down to my local Harvey Norman store and bought one of my own...
On Friday, Mahoney and I went to Panasonic HQ to check out one of the first prototypes of their ludicrous 150-inch plasma TV. This thing puts the 103-incher that I checked out last year to shame. It's a metric ton of overkill, and we hooked up our PS3 and suffered through playing a bunch of video games on it to report back to you. You're welcome! Today, a taste, with me sizing up a weighted companion cube in Portal, above, and, after the jump, seeing what a 42-inch steering wheel on Gran Turismo would be like in real life and learning the ropes in Call of Duty 4. Check back tomorrow for a full report.
If only the ancient Chinese Had Panasonic's LifeWall, they could have fended off nomadic tribes with HDTV instead of bricks and battlements. But since we live in the future, we can shut out the rest of the world with television that not only stretches from floor to ceiling, it follows people around the room. Panasonic's prototype LifeWall, exhibited at CEATEC outside Tokyo, is a room-sized screen that tracks and remembers users with face recognition, which the firm calls You-Know-Me-TV.