In case you weren't already familiar, the 103-inch Panasonic Plasma is a behemoth that requires 12 fans, sucks up 1500 watts of juice at 220v (which is why we're looking for an electrician!), and is so big, that when you crank up split-screen multiplayer gaming on the thing, you essentially have your own television.

So this year, we're gonna be playing plenty of Call of Duty: World at War, Beatles Rock Band, Halo: ODST, Street Fighter IV, and whatever other HD goodness we (or you) can think of (Sorry, Chen...no porn). That said, I don't care if they're not HD, I'm playing some PunchOut! and Metroid Trilogy on the damn thing.

When we're not gaming, we'll be showing exclusive art and behind-the-scenes content from the Star Trek movie, which should make you Klingon-loving Trektards salivate profusely. So why not stop by and behead a few Nazi Zombies while peeping out electric motobikes and getting your laptop laser etched, eh?

Gizmodo Gallery 2009
Groupe
267 Elizabeth Street
New York, NY 10012

Gallery Dates:
September 23rd-27th

Times:

9/22 Tuesday
Media Day by appointment only. For info please contact gallery@gizmodo.com.

9/23 Wednesday
12-8

9/24 Thursday
12-8

9/25 Friday
12-8

9/26 Saturday
11-8
9-? - Live Musical Performance

9/27 Sunday
11-6

Read more about our Giz Gallery 09 here, follow @gizgallery on Twitter and see what else we'll be playing with at the event. And special thanks to Toyota's Prius — without their sponsorship, there would be no Gizmodo Gallery.

We've got all kinds of schemes for the 103-incher already, but we'd love to hear your ideas—because hey, if the Gallery is all about turning Giz's homepage into a real, tangible thing, the pics and videos you guys frequently drop in the comments should be a part of this. But this time think big—103" is a lot of real estate to fill. If you're a pro film maker, happen to have a RED camera you use to take stunning vids, or just have some good stuff that would look on a big screen, let us know!

In addition, we're looking for last minute additions to the already great door prizes we have for people who come to the Gallery, since the entire event is both our gift to our readers in NYC and a fund raiser for Toys For Tots, the more people that come through the door the better it is for the kids. So if any of you NYC folks have a line on some cool gear we could offer for a good cause, let us know.

And although our lineup is filled with amazing gadgetry, we're always open to displaying truly rare and wonderful electronics you may have in your own collection. Brian and Chris, the two strapping dudes who carried the 103" all the way from Secaucus on their backs, are your men to contacts. Let em know if you feel like helping out the Giz Gallery this season. Email Brian and Chris here. See you at the gallery. [Gizmodo Gallery]

[Thanks to REED ANNEX and thanks to our benefactor gizmine.com]

Gizmodo Gallery
Reed Annex
151 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002

Gizmodo Gallery Reader Meetup
The reader meetup takes place across the street from the Gallery, at a place called The Annex (not to be confused with REED ANNEX where the gallery is hosted.) The address is 152 Orchard Street and we'll be there at 9 PM SHARP on Friday December 5th.

Gallery Dates:
December 4th-7th

Times:
12/4 Thursday
12-8

12/5 Friday
12-8

12/6 Saturday
11-8

12/7 Sunday
11-4

[Read more about our Gizmodo Gallery here and see what else we'll be playing with at the event.]

Its official name is TH-103PZ600U, and it's technically part of a plasma line that emerged last year. If you want to buy what could be more or less considered a 50-inch version of it—screen wise one quarter of the area—you'd pay just $2,100 at Amazon.

But as you have already seen, that extra 53 diagonal inches came straight from heaven, and with it came some burdens. It's the same 4,000:1 contrast ratio, nice and rich as plasma tends to be when compared to similar LCD technologies. Live action is great with no blur or jitters, as we had expected given what we've seen of Panasonic's smaller plasmas.

But those smaller plasmas didn't require 12 low-RPM fans running at all times, like this bad boy did. To be fair, I've had desktop computers with noisier fans, and the 8" wall mount didn't have any sort of special exhaust system to help the heat dissipate. In fact, as you can see in the gallery, Panasonic national product manager Karl DeManss had no problem standing up inside the wall mount:

Nevertheless, the TV does take a 220V wall socket, like a freakin' clothes dryer, so you gotta consider the impact to the electrical bill. (Then again, if you're in the market for a $70,000 TV, maybe you don't.)

Input-wise, the unit we got to play with had RGB, component video and DVI/HDMI, but picture only. There are no speakers, though it does have little 3-watt amps for BYO speakers. As I noted in the uncrating, it is a modular system, much like the commercial displays from Panasonic and Pioneer: you tell them which inputs you want, and they sock them in. I believe there were four proprietary slots in the strip, which you can see in the gallery. Each slot could take at least one input.

Contrary to our own concerns, the warm-up time was imperceptible—the screen went on straight away. Also, the pixels themselves were not as visible as we had feared. I was anticipating "screen door" like crazy, but for most of us, the pixels disappeared at about 70 inches of distance (for me, they disappeared around 80 inches). And you're definitely not going to want to stand as close as Adam was during his Bioshock frenzy. After a while, he had to sit down to keep from falling over.

Have a look at the gallery to see some of the specifics of our hands-on. Note the hallowed "dime test" to gauge pixel size, and the tape measure—held by Panasonic displays president Andrew Nelkin and me—to guarantee that it was in fact 103", when we had heard through the grapevine that it may, in reality, be a 102-incher. (The overall dimensions are 56" high by 95" across by 5" deep.)

Bottom line: Would I want one? Nope. WHAAA?? Okay, so yeah, I would love one. But Sharp told me that its goal is to have wall-sized LCDs in the coming years. And if Panasonic is as competitive as I think, it will start pushing the limits too. Bottom line is either bigger sets or cheaper 103s. Either way, we win. Hang on tight, cuz it's going to be a wild ride.

In case you missed the "uncrating" feature over the weekend, check it out.

Panasonic 103-inch plasma smashed at CeBIT Sydney [Gizmodo Australia]
Thanks Séamus!

First of all, the screen (which has a 1080p resolution) kicks out deep black tones and excellent shadow details. High-def DVDs looked stunning and Xbox 360 games looked equally sharp. The only problem, aside from its $63k price, is that standard def sources looked like 103-inches of crap. That's not the TV's fault, but definitely something to keep in mind when buying mammoth TVs.

Overall, they claim the TV is worth dipping into your Swiss bank account, and I don't doubt them at all, but me, I'm sticking with my 42-incher for now. – Louis Ramirez

Panasonic TH-103PF9 103in Plasma TV [Trusted Reviews via Born Rich]