April showers are bringing, well... a lot of HDTVs. A whole lot of HDTVs. Each year, we get the TV tease in early January, when new consumer electronics products are announced at CES. However, spring is typically when consumers can actually start shopping for these new models.
Hot on the heels of last week's Samsung LED and plasma news, Panasonic has announced plans to start shipping all of its 2013 HDTVs. We're going to break down some of those highlights, starting off with the company's four new LED TV lines for the year. "LED TVs?" you may ask? "I thought Panasonic was a plasma TV company!" Panasonic's Vice President of Merchandising Henry Hauser told us, "Panasonic sees market demand for both backlit (LED/LCD) and self-illuminated (plasma/OLED) displays and we want to make sure we can provide leading edge products for both categories to our customers."
On that note, picture quality remains a high priority for Panasonic, and they've made some improvements to their LED/LCD technology over last year in the areas of lighting uniformity and motion reproduction. The company was even bold enough to showcase their new WT60 series flagship LED TV head to head against Samsung's F8000 LED flagship at a launch event in New York City this week. Our editor was there and said that the Panasonic "held its own" against the Samsung (see below for details). These comments should be taken with a grain of salt, however, as the sets had not been professionally calibrated. Panasonic said they were both in default picture modes for the comparison.
All of Panasonic's 2013 LED/LCD HDTVs except the entry-level models feature edge-lit LED backlighting, as well as a new and improved customizable version of the VIERA Connect platform. That includes a new perk called My Home Screen, which provides a personalized view of your favorite apps and streaming services all on the TV's main menu. That way, you'll have quick and easy access to the content you're most interested in.
To make My Home Screen even more personalized, users can choose between having the home screen in one of three different preset formats. The Lifestyle screen delivers instant access to things that may be important to daily life, like a calendar or weather reports. The Info screen is for information junkies that like to browse the web and use social networking services while watching TV. The last option is something called Add New Screen, which allows viewers to make something truly special by adding favorite apps onto a blank grid.
Panasonic is also promising better voice control on select models, as well as a new Voice Guidance feature that will read back letters and social media messages from the screen for those who may be visually impaired or who do not want to take their eyes off the on-screen action.
Design is also becoming more important to Panasonic who are not normally known for their cutting edge looks. The new WT60 features an elegant transparent base and super-thin bezel to give the impression of an image floating in space.
Finally, look for 2013 models with Swipe & Share 2.0. This unique feature allows users to share content from a smartphone or tablet with the TV, simply by swiping that portable. Others in the room can then grab the picture from the TV to their tablet or phone with another swipe. This magical perk is part of Panasonic's new VIERA Remote 2 app which is available for Apple and Android smart phones and tablets.
Now that we've hit some of the highlights, let's take a closer peek at the four lines and the ten Smart LED TV sets we can expect to see from Panasonic this year (as well as a few dumb ones).
Smart VIERA WT60 Series
This year's top-of-the line LED TV for Panasonic is the WT60 Series, which includes 240Hz and 4200 backlight scanning technologies for improved motion resolution. It also includes a 3D-capable IPS (In Plane Switching) panel, and a dual-core Hexa processing engine. Besides all of the goodies mentioned above, this flagship line has 2D-to-3D conversion, built-in WiFi and the VIERA Touchpad Controller, which has a built-in microphone for the aforementioned voice control features. It also has a built-in camera, so users can make and take Skype video calls right on-screen.
"The WT60 LED was displayed next to a Samsung F8000 LED TV [Samsung's current flagship model LED TV], and it definitely held its own in picture quality, with better off-axis viewing due to its IPS panel," said BPBS editor, Chris Boylan, who attended this week's launch event in New York City. "The WT60 also offers much improved lighting uniformity over last year's WT50 so black levels appear more uniform and stable across the entire panel."
Other features include ISFccc calibration, DLNA support, a media player, three HDMI inputs, three USB ports, and one PC input. Panasonic is also packing each one of these sets with four pairs of 3D glasses. The WT60 Series includes the 47-inch TC-L47WT60 and the 55-inch TC-L55WT60, with MSRPs of $2499.99 and $2999.99, respectively.
Where to Buy:
Smart VIERA DT60 Series
Panasonic has packed the 55-inch TC-L55DT60 ($2199.99) and the 60-inch TC-L60DT60 ($2799.99) with the IPS LED panel, a full 1080p HD image, and passive 3D technology. It basically has a lot of the same perks listed above, including the new VIERA Connect features and Home Screen customization, the voice control and the Touchpad Controller. The big difference here is that the DT60 drops to 120Hz and 1200 backlight scanning technologies.
Other features include built-in WiFi, an ultra-narrow metal bezel, three HDMI inputs and three USB ports. This line also ships with four pairs of 3D glasses for each purchase.
Where to Buy:
Smart VIERA ET60 Series
Available as the 50-inch TC-L50ET60 ($1399.99) and 55-inch TC-L55ET60 ($1699.99), this line has all of the My Home Screen features, the Swipe & Share 2.0, the Voice Guidance, and more. It even has the IPS LED panel, a full 1080p HD image, 3D effects, and built-in WiFi. However, these two sets have 120Hz, 720 backlight scanning, don't have voice control, and clip out one input option, making it three HDMI inputs and two USB ports. Also, Panasonic is shipping each of these sets with two pairs of 3D glasses, instead of the four mentioned on the two lines above.
Where to Buy:
Smart VIERA E60 Series
The last of this year's "smart" TV models is this line, which has a total of four models. That lineup includes the 42-inch TC-L42E60 ($799.99), the 50-inch TC-L50E60 ($1149.99), the 58-inch TC-L58E60 ($1599.99), and the 65-inch TC-L65E60 ($2699.99).
This is where Panasonic drops the 3D features. However, all four of these sets have a full 1080p HD image, as well as the customizable My Home Screen, Swipe & Share 2.0, Voice Guidance, and 120Hz, 240 backlight blinking technology. Each set also has built-in WiFi, DLNA support, three HDMI inputs and two USB ports.
Where to Buy:
EM60 Series
There are no 3D effects or smart features in this year's EM60 Series. However, this line does include the 39-inch TC-L39EM60 and the 50-inch TC-L50EM60, both of which has a full 1080p image, 120Hz, 240 backlight blinking technology, a media player, two HDMI inputs and a single USB port.
Where to Buy:
XM6 & B6 Series
Currently, both of these lines just have a lone 32-incher. The TC-L32B6 is a D-LED TV, with a 720p image. 60Hz technology, two HDMI inputs, one USB port, and a $329.99 MSRP. The 32-inch TC-L32XM6, however, has a media player, two HDMI ports and two USB inputs packed into a super-slim cabinet. That one is selling for $379.99.
Where to Buy:
More About Panasonic's 2013 TVs:
