Matsushita and Panasonic parent Matsushita are to extend their flat-panel display development deal.

The two Japanese giants said today they will work together on “superthin” plasma panels for TVs and combine their efforts to make such screens more energy efficient.

Hitachi will also buy Matsushita-made glass panels and use them in the production of its plasma TVs from April 2009 onwards. That will costs its own production operation ¥40bn ($382.6m) in lost sales, but the company claimed that won’t impact its current earnings forecast.

The two said they would also work more closely on LCD TV development and production – something they already do through their jointly owned IPS Alpha Technology venture. But they did not go into details.

Both plasma and LCD plans are about increasing the ability of both firms to stay competitive in a world where plasma and LCD TV screens are falling in price and so many suppliers are punting products to consumers. Plasma makers are finding it particularly hard to keep up with the runaway success of LCD.

That’s why Fujitsu, the first company to introduce plasma screens, ditched the TV technology back in December 2007.

In March 2008, Pioneer said it was getting out of plasma production and would instead buy in panels from another supplier. The following month, it named Matsushita as that partner.

Panasonic announces three new plasma televisions which will grace its PZR900 lineup of Plasma TVs. Available in 42, 46 and 50 inches, these stunning beauties feature magnificent 1 Terabyte hard drive.

The Panasonic PZR900 plasma televisions equip a full HD (1920 x 1080) panel, digital TV tuner and can be used with Viera link doorphones and surveillance cameras.

General specs:

* 1920 x 1080 HD res
* 30,000:1 contrast ratio
* YouTube compatibility
* 3 HDMI inputs
* Optical digital output

Continue Reading…

Panasonic TX-32LXD80

Anyone who demands only the blackest of on-screen blacks may have thought a Pioneer Kuro was the only option. Not so, says Panasonic, which has stepped into the darkness with rival screen.

Although Pioneer’s Kuro plasma range boasts a 42in, 50in and 60in options, Panasonic only appears to be testing the “blacker than black” water at the moment. So its latest LCD telly – the TX-32LXD80 – only comes in one size: 32in.

Nonetheless, the firm boasts that the TX-32LXD80 will provide “life-like blacks” that it claims are deepened by expanding the screen’s backlight tuning area. Continue Reading…

Toshiba Matsushita Display is about to mass-produce OLED screens that could be used for a wide range of portable devices, according to a report from Japan’s Nikkei BP. The joint venture between Toshiba and Matsushita (Panasonic) is claimed to be producing as many as one million 2.5-inch organic screens per month starting from Autumn of 2009 and would be the first Japanese company to do so.

The development would be primarily targeted at cellphones, GPS navigators, and other handhelds, the newspaper says, though no specific products have been announced. The screen size is also commonly used for portable media players such as the iPod classic and Zune 80. Continue Reading…

Sony, Canon, Kodak, Hitachi, Victor Company of Japan, KDDI, Kenwood, Panasonic, Nikon, Olympus, Pioneer, Samsung, Seiko Epson, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba today announced an agreement to form a consortium to develop specifications for interconnecting products using TransferJet a new interoperable wireless transfer technology that enables rapid transfer of high resolution video, music and images.

Sony Trasferjet

TransferJet wireless technology enables a high speed data transmission rate of 560Mbps, while eliminating the need for complex setup and operation. Directly touching two compliant electronic products together allows files to be transferred automatically, without the need for an access point. Continue Reading…

Panasonic will not bring a 37-inch OLED TV to market by 2011 as reported on Tuesday, according to the company. Panasonic executives are instead hinting its OLED TVs will be sold to consumers closer to 2015, although they are officially keeping tight-lipped about specific timelines, saying only that research and development is ongoing in Japan.

Recent reports have Panasonic mass-producing OLED panels at the Himeji production facility of its subsidiary IPS Alpha, which is slated to open at the beginning of 2010. The manufacturers’ latest response to the rumors has at least confirmed that the Himeji facility will eventually produce OLED panels. Another plant, based in Mobara, was also reported to get dedicated OLED production lines, though the company made no mention of that facility.

Matsushita will officially be called Panasonic this October, and the names have been used interchangeably to date. [source Tech-On]

Panasonic have recently come with an exceptional piece of news for all those in search for the newest and niftiest trends in multimedia: the SC-BT100 home theater system, a full and rich package boasting a Blu-ray drive and wireless, surround sound architecture and a heap of other great features to integrate your multimedia needs. And if you think that such a contraption will burn a hole into your budget, you’d better think again, as the Panasonic SC-BT100 is one truly affordable thing to go for.

If you’re looking for a high-complexity multimedia system to offer you a great sound experience while at the same time bring the basic essentials of modern man, the Panasonic SC-BT100 might be one of the best choices available.

We’re talking about a 5.1 home theater in a box, ready to play from the moment you’ve finished installing it: with the wireless speakers, installing has never been easier, especially as the SC-BT100 comes with dedicated signal transmitters, making connecting everything almost a child’s play. And if you’re demanding something extra, upgrading to 7.1 has never been easier, with optional side-speakers widely available. Continue Reading…

While most receivers have offered HDMI switching for quite awhile, the new Onkyo TX-SA606X is the first to utilize HDMI’s Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) protocol to allow the receiver to work with Panasonic’s Viera Link, Toshiba’s REGZA Link and Sharp’s AQUOS Link. Additionally, the TX-SA606X’s full HDMI 1.3a capabilities allow for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD/Master Audio decoding, xvYCC “Deep Color” support, and SACD and DVD-A playback. The TX-SA606X also sports a new amplifier that produces a healthy 185 watts x 7 at 6 Ohms. The TX-SA606X will be available in Japan in silver and gold finishes at the end of April, priced at ¥84,000 ($839).

The well-known Japanese consumer electronics giant, Panasonic has introduced its new D-Snap music player, named as D-Snap SV-SD870N, offering cool ambient noise cancellation feature (like the Sony Walkman NW-S705) to enhance your music experience.

Key Features Of Panasonic D-Snap SV-SD870N:

• Noise cancellation feature to reduce ambient noise with as much as 83% in the frequency spectrum of 300Hz
• Supports approximately 100 hours of music playback at a single charge.
• Direct recording directly from music source to SD card when plugged into its docking station.

The new Panasonic D-Snap SV-SD870N DAP (Digital Audio Player) which measures 35×90×11.4mm and weights only 40g will hit Japanese market on April 18th but no words on its availability at other areas yet.