In the wake of so many 1080p display announcements in September, Panasonic has declared the company’s 1080p plasma line up. It includes the 65-inch TH-65PF9UK, which is shipping now, the 103-inch TH-103PF9UK, scheduled to ship at the end of the month, and the 50-inch TH-50PF9UK, schedule for November.
The panels are specified at 2.07 million pixels (1,920 x 1,080) resolution, contrast ratio of 5000:1, and 16-bit processing resulting in 4,096 steps of gradation. For the full 1080p models, Panasonic developed a Super Cinema mode that adjusts the white balance and does gamma correction as the image changes. There is also a new Motion Pattern Noise Reduction system to keep images sharp during fast-paced scenes, a Contrast Management system, and a 1:1 pixel mode, which maps the 1920 x 1080 one-to-one to 1080p pixels to display 100% of the original content.

The 1080p HD plasmas can display a full range of HD/SD signals including 1080/60p/50p, 1080/60i/50i/24p/24sF/25p/30p, 1080/50i, 720/60p/50p 480/60i/p, and 575/50i/p. The 1080p models also feature Advanced Dual Picture Mode, which allows users to combine video/audio clips with text from a computer in picture-in-picture and picture-out-picture modes for presentations. For easy setup of multi-screen systems, the 1080p plasmas feature a built-in image-enlarging functions to enlarge images up to four times normal size vertically and horizontally, and can be configured in a variety of different combinations (from 1×4 to 2×3, up to a 4×4 construction).

Also, with the new PLUG-VC251 PC board, Panasonic’s 1080p plasmas can become a turnkey computer system. With the PC board, these large screen displays can be updated with content and control instructions from a centrally located system. The PC board is compatible with Windows XP and XP-embedded operations systems and a wide variety of Windows-based applications software.

And, the new CAT5e transmitter with a switcher function (model KE811CT) allows a user to send high-resolution video signals to a 1080p plasma up to 500 feet away from a separate command center, as well as to control up to 128 plasmas simultaneously from a single location. A new CAT5e switcher allows the user to change the plasma display’s input from presentations to live video and more. When equipped with the HD-SDI board, the 1080p plasmas can be integrated into broadcast systems that use HD-SDI in their studio or control rooms.

The 65” TH-65PF9UK is available now at a suggested list price of $10,995. The 103” TH-103PF9UK will be available by the end of the month at a suggested list price of $69,999.95. The 50” TH-50PF9UK will be available in November at a suggested list price of $5,995.

For more information about Panasonic plasmas, visit here.