SONY INTRODUCES TWO NEW 1080p SXRD FRONT HOME THEATER PROJECTORS

DENVER, Sept. 3, 2008 (CEDIA Booth #600) – Sony Electronics today unveiled two full high-definition 1080p BRAVIA® projectors (models VPL-VW70 and VPL-HW10) offering more choices for customers looking for the ultimate home theater viewing experience.

The new 1920 x 1080 progressive Silicon X-tal Reflective Display (SXRD™) projectors feature 24p True Cinema™ technology, delivering film-like performance.

Built for the home theater enthusiast, the VPL-VW70 features 60,000:1 dynamic contrast, brightness of 800 ANSI lumens.

The model can accept an external anamorphic lens (sold separately) that, when paired with Sony’s Anamorphic Zoom Mode, allows users to take full advantage of panel resolution and screen size while watching a movie with native aspect ratio of 2:32:1. When Anamorphic Zoom is selected through the remote, the VPL-VW70 will output a trigger signal that can be used to activate the optional lens and screen transition to maximize the theater experience with a 2.35:1 movie.

For customers looking to enter the full HD home theater at a value, Sony’s VPL-HW10 model features a 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 1000 ANSI lumens for brighter room applications.

Specifically designed with the custom installation market in mind, the projectors are also equipped with a panel alignment adjustment function that aligns each red, green and blue pixel for precise images. The adjustment range is +/-1 pixel in 1/10 pixel steps. The VPL-VW70 takes it a step further with panel zone alignment allowing users to further calibrate the picture. The model also adds a unique automatic lens cover that helps protect the lens from dust.

Both models feature the BRAVIA Engine™ all-digital video signal processing engine with unique algorithms for noise reduction and color enhancement to deliver sharp, vibrant images.

The VPL-VW70 projector will be available in November for about $8,000, while the VPL-HW10 unit will be available in September for about $3,500. Both models will be offered direct at Sony Style® retail stores nationwide and authorized dealers around the country.

PANASONIC LAUNCHES NEW 1080p FULL HIGH-DEFINTION LCD HOME THEATER PROJECTOR

New PT-AE3000 Provides A Bright and Dynamic Widescreen Home Viewing Experience with Crisp Motion Images Via Frame Creation Technology

DENVER – CEDIA Expo – Sept. 3, 2008 – Panasonic Projector Systems Company, Unit of Panasonic Corporation of North America, announced today the debut of its newest LCD home theater projector, the PT-AE3000. With full high-definition 1080p (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) native resolution, the PT-AE3000 gives home theater enthusiasts a higher level of picture quality entertainment, producing crisp and clear images through new state-of-the-art projection technology.

As an evolution of its award winning predecessor the PT-AE2000, the PT-AE3000 delivers a captivating 1,600 lumen brightness and powerful 60,000:1 contrast ratio. To achieve sharp and detailed reproduction of fast moving motion images, Panasonic has developed and equipped the PT-AE3000 with new Frame Creation Technology optimized for large screen viewing. And for easy adjustment to different widescreen movie formats like 21:9 or 16:9, the projector is also upgraded with a Lens Memory Load feature which is capable of memorizing and restoring zoom/focus positions for multiple aspect ratio flexibility.

Higher Picture Quality with Brightness Upgrade
The dramatic increase in the contrast-ratio and dynamic range was made possible by the newly engineered Pure Contrast Plate technology that effectively blocks unwanted light from the path of projection. In addition, the polarization filter system surrounding the Pure Contrast Plates has been redesigned to achieve the PT-AE3000’s higher level of brightness.

Together with a host of carefully engineered Panasonic technologies including the high precision optical lens unit, Dynamic Iris and Smooth Screen technology, the PT-AE3000 truly distinguishes itself against its competition and as a projector solution that home theater enthusiasts will thoroughly enjoy.

“Each year with advances in our AE Home Theater series, we continue to strive for the best ‘real theater’ environment for our customers,” said Rena Yotsu, home theater specialist, Panasonic Projector Systems Company. “To reach this goal, Panasonic Projector Systems Company engineers have designed many innovative technologies and have collaborated side-by-side with Hollywood colorists and image experts to manufacture our outstanding, upgraded PT-AE3000 home theater projector.”

Crisp and Clear Details for In-Motion Images
The PT-AE3000 now incorporates a Frame Creation technology that interpolates an additional frame by analyzing the characteristics of two adjacent frames, creating sharp and clear images of fast moving scenes in sports and action movies, especially for large screen viewing. For crisp motion images with high resolution, users may set their frame count preference to 120 frames/1 sec from 60 frames/1 sec for 60Hz video signal input, while 24frames/sec (24p) signals are quadrupled to 96frames/1sec by interpolating three additional frames to allow natural frame-to-frame transitions.

The new and advanced Detail Clarity Processor V2.0 allows the projectors’ digital processing engine to extract information of the low, mid, high, and even the super-high frequency components. The ability to apply these different degrees of sharpness permits the PT-AE3000 to reproduce natural, lifelike images with exceptional clarity and three-dimensionality to the smallest details.

The PT-AE3000 comes equipped with professional-level features that let users personalize the images they see on the screen. First, the projector’s Split Adjust mode allows users to split the screen into two halves; one to make picture adjustments and one to see those adjustments as a baseline reference. Second, the PT-AE3000’s waveform monitor—seen mostly on professional video and film equipment—measures the level of brightness output from a given video signal source. This feature also automatically verifies that the source device is outputting at full dynamic range, and quickly makes adjustments to optimize it for the home theater setting. Users can easily see a graphical representation of any changes made to the unit’s color settings.

Ease of Set-up and Use
Many movies come in aspects that are even wider than the projector’s 16:9 aspect ratio to match the image size 21:9 seen at movie theaters. More and more projector customers are using the 21:9 wide screens to mirror the movie theater experience. The PT-AE3000 enables users to pre-set three different zoom/focus positions and enables easy recall of those positions with the Lens Memory Load function.

Initial set-up and installation are quick and simple, as the 2.0x zoom can cast a 120-inch diagonal image from as short as 3.6 meters (about 11 feet) to 7 meters (24 feet) from the screen. The projector’s lens shift capability enables 100 percent vertical adjustment and 40 percent horizontal adjustment so that viewers can suspend the projector either close to the ceiling or on wall mounts. The lens-centered design and maintenance features such as the replaceable side filter and top lamp, make the projector easy to install and maintain.

The projector is also equipped with an abundant selection of connections; including three HDMI 1.3 inputs and two component input terminals. The three HDMI 1.3 inputs are all Deep Color and x.v.Color compliant. The Deep Color supports 10 bit (over 1.07 billion) and 12 bit (over 68.7 billion) color depths for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors, while the x.v.Color compliance realizes accurate reproduction of actual, true-to-life images.

Eco-Friendly Intelligence
In addition to its outstanding features, the new PT-AE3000 is also an ecologically conscious product. The intelligent power management system within the projector reduces the lamp power to the exact required level of brightness depending on what content is displayed. Other than in scenes where full brightness is required, the lamp intelligently determines the necessary power output by analyzing more than 3 billion different image patterns. This advanced analysis process reduces the main power consumption by as much as 10 percent when the dynamic iris function is in operation, thus saving energy.

Other ecological considerations include an off-timer that reduces wasteful power consumption, as well as an extremely low standby power consumption of 0.08 W , which is the lowest in its class.

The Panasonic PT-AE3000 LCD home theater projector will be made in Japan, available starting in October 2008 to authorized presentation systems dealers with an MSRP of $3,499. To learn more about this projector, please visit http://www.panasonic.com/projectors or http://panasonic.net/pavc/projector/.

PANASONIC PREVIEWS LARGER SIZE INTERNET ENABLED VIERA PLASMAS AT 2008 CEDIA CONVENTION

Industry Leader Panasonic Premieres 58-inch And 65-inch VIERA Plasma Displays to Custom Installers

Denver, CO (September 3, 2008) – Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal U.S. subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE:MC), the industry leader in high definition and Plasma televison, today introduced attendees to the 2008 CEDIA convention to the latest additions in the company’s already acclaimed internet enabled Plasma line, the PZ850 series. Joining the TH-50PZ850 and the TH-46PZ850, the industry’s first internet enabled TVs, are the 58-inch class (58-inches measured diagonally) and the TH-65PZ850 class (64.7-inches measured diagonally), giving Panasonic a wide breadth of screen sizes in the flagship series of high performance Plasma TVs. Building upon the market and critical success of Panasonic’s previous Plasma models, the 2008 PZ850 series includes a number of step-up features that will further strengthen Panasonic’s leadership position.

The introduction of the IP enabled televisions, a technology that provides access to on-line content directly from the televison with VIERA CAST™ technology, is one of many advances found in the PZ850 line. VIERA CAST is a revolutionary new feature that streams web content directly to your VIERA HDTV without the need for an external box or a PC. The consumer can access the unlimited YouTube™ library, share digital photos from Picasa™ Web Albums with friends and family, get local weather updates and gain access to financial data from Bloomberg. There is no fee for VIERA Cast and the feature automatically updates itself as new web content becomes available.

“We’re very excited about the technological advances that have been incorporated into VIERA’s PZ850 series and the bigger screen sizes should prove extremely beneficial to both Panasonic and the CEDIA membership.,” said Bob Perry, Senior Vice President, Panasonic Display Products Company. “The 58-inch and 65-inch now stand beside their smaller brethren to provide the installer with a number of screen size options. IPTV in particular is a technology that by providing access to on-line content directly from the TV, allows the consumer to optimize his or her options and use the VIERA Plasma for more than entertainment. Now the consumer has a large screen TV that is also the source of an endless stream of internet information.”

The state-of-the-art technology that is inherent in the PZ850 series provides the consumer with detailed images, high moving-picture resolution, advanced networking and excellent compatibility with other AV devices. The PZ850 series features a Pro Setting Menu, allowing the user to access professional calibration software; an improved native resolution contrast ratio of 30,000:1 and a dynamic ratio of 1,000,000:1; Digital Cinema Color Re-Mastering; 24p native reproduction; Game Mode; an SD memory Card slot; RS-232C connection; four HDMI connections; increased luminous efficiency; lead free panels; 100,000 hours to half brightness and a PC input. The 850 series further expands the capabilities of the SD Card feature by utilizing the H.264 codec to display high definition video recorded on a HD camcorder equipped with the H.264 codec.

Recognizing the growing use of Plasma HD televisions in the gaming world, Panasonic created the Game Mode, which minimizes the time lag when displaying game images on the Plasma screen. The Mode synchronizes the response of the game image to the player’s operation, thereby producing an extremely clear image with no motion artifacts.

Digital Cinema Color Re-Mastering is a value added technology that creates a wide color gamut covering 120% of the conventional HDTV color standard , enabling VIERA displays to reproduce the essential colors for viewing movies. 24p native reproduction, which negates the need for 3:2 pulldown, resulting in a smoother picture, is another feature that provides the best possible viewing experience.

Also: The quick-glance spec sheet we ran in May still appears to be valid.

Some added BD300 specs:
Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding
USB Media Plus - MP3, JPEG, etc.
BD-Live and BonusView
Full 1080p output including DVD upconverting
Netflix current content: 12,000 movies and TV shows streaming