I can't decide if it's the subtle piano playing in the background or the slow, seductive movement of this 225kg., 103-inch plasma that's got me all hot and bothered today. I guess I could care less either way, because this dancing television is all sorts of wonderfulness. And it's practical too, as the 180-degree rotation makes any room in the crib the best seat in the house. [Ballerhouse]

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Tuesday was a big day in the Broughall household. After years of having to unpack, setup, review, repack, and send back countless flat panel TVs, I finally had my very own plasma delivered and installed. But despite being more fortunate than most consumers in having previously tested plenty of TVs in the comfort of my own loungeroom, there were still a large number of lessons to be learned from the experience of wall-mounting for the first time.

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...

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The results of Canon's Digital Lifestyle Index were released today, and despite all the recent economic doom and gloom, the situation doesn't look too bad for consumer tech companies in Australia. In the first half of this year, we Aussies spent a total of $2.424 billion on gadgets, which is a 12.1% increase on the same period in 2007.

More and more games consoles, digital music players, digital cameras and multifunction devices are being sold than ever before, but at the same time, DVD players and single-function inkjet printers seem to be dying a painful death, mostly due to market saturation.

Flat-panel TVs are the biggest earners, thanks to dropping prices and big events like the Olympics. LCD accounts for more revenue than plasma (not really a big surprise there) and digital cameras are actually worth a crapload of money each year, considering their low cost relative to TVs.

The full press release is below the fold. It's fascinating reading if you've got a few minutes to spare:

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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.

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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?

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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...

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HD Guru Gary Merson has outdone his own ambitious track record, reviewing 125 TVs for a single story. He doesn't go into the aesthetic design of each model, or even measure contrast and colour depth. Instead, he boils it down to some criteria you won't find on corporate sites or press releases.

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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.

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The current state of the economy is unfortunate, but there is a silver lining if you are in the market for an HDTV. According to HD Guru, many HDTV manufacturers have started rolling out discounts to help increase sales. Sony, LG and Samsung are among those offering up to $US200 off on select models, while other companies are quietly offering "instant rebates" to dealers with the expectation that savings will be passed on to consumers in the form of sales. As one store manager HD Guru spoke with commented: "this has been the slowest week since 9/11!" Stay classy dude...stay classy. [HD Guru]

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Pioneer introduced two new plasma TVs with panels designed for incredibly deep blacks at an industry event in Tokyo. Are these the same Kuro gen 2 panels that are currently shipping in the US? Or are they the even better ones we saw in prototype form at CES? The guys at Akihabara News were able to check out the company's new 60-inch and 50-inch sets at Tokyo's Miyako Hotel. Pioneer said that the black levels were five times deeper than its previous KURO panels. How black? When you turn out the lights, you can't tell where the TV ends and the rest of the room begins.

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