Panasonic TH-58PZ700A
The Panasonic Viera TH-58PZ700A claims to be Australia's first 58-inch plasma TV, and boasts a high contrast ratio and better compatibility with Pana's camcorders.
Last year, Blu-ray was the next big thing, and this year it's Full HD -- at least if you're listening to Panasonic. The company has released four new 1080p plasma panels from 42-inch to a massive 65 inches, with barely a word about content and what is now a hotly contested battle for the successor to DVD.
Upside
The entire PZ700A range features a native 1080p resolution, HD tuner, and a massive 100,000 hour life. Three HDMI inputs come as standard, including a front-mounted port for connecting a compatible camera or console.
If you're used to the plasma panels of old with their dodgy gradations of colour then the Panasonic will come as a welcome surprise -- there are supposedly 4,096 gradations of colour, which means no more "banding". This brings the claimed total number of visible colours to a whopping 68.7 billion. Of course this is much higher than the number of colours you'll see through your average HD broadcast, but good to know the capability is there.
Downside
Outlook