The new 50-inch and 42-inch professional plasmas from Panasonic are now shipping. The TH-50PH9UK and TH-42PH9UK are high definition models with 16-bit processing specified at 10000:1 contrast ratio. These are part of the new 9 Series first shown at InfoComm.

The 50″ and 42″ 9-Series are designed for professional applications in an AV, PC or interactive environment, with three multi-function input slots concealed at the back so users can connect different combinations of optional terminal boards and customize the displays. The 50″ and 42″ displays come standard with a TY-FB9BD Dual video board and a TY-42TM6A component video board occupying two of the input slots.

Panasonic says the improved CAT5 transmitter now includes a new switcher function (model KE811CT) that allows users to change the plasma displays from up to eight individual sources, and control up to 128 plasmas at the same time from a single location. The new PLUG-VC251 PC terminal board, a plug-in PC that lets users run Windows XP operation systems and software directly from the plasma, has been updated with a faster processor.

The 9-Series plasma displays also feature new built-in image-enlarging functions for customized multi-screen displays systems and can now be configured in a variety of combinations from 1×4, 2×3 up to a 4×4 construction (16 displays).

The 50″ TH-50PH9UK and 42″ TH-42PH9UK have a suggested list price of $3,995 and $2,995 respectively.