Panasonic’s 54 inch Z1 NeoPDP wireless 1080p and only 2.54 cm thin

Panasonic has boosted plasma’s profile as a display technology by previewing five ‘NeoPDP’ (Next Generation plasma Display Panel) televisions. The new models include the one inch thick ‘ultra-thin’ 54 inch (2.54mm) Z1 wireless TV, the two inch thick (5.08cm) ‘super-thin’ 50 inch V10, and the G10 ‘full HD’ series.

The Neo PDPs provide a contrast ratio of more than two million to one and employ 600Hz Sub-field Drive technology. According to Panasonic, this detects and displays each frame and creates 12 shorter sub-frames for each 50Hz frame to produce the sharpest, fast-moving high definition images. The Z1 and V10 series are also THX certified, for a picture that most closely replicates that of a cinema presentation.

The 54 inch (137 cm) Z1 comes with a separate tuner box, which transmits full HD 1080p pictures and sound wirelessly to the panel from up to 15 metres away, albeit through the use of chunky transmitter/receiver units on each of the components. (Sony’s implementation of wireless HD on its LCD TV is invisible, but supports only the lower 1080i video standard). Panasonic employs what it calls ‘beam steering technology’ to prevent interruptions to the signal path through people passing between the display and the tuner box.

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The Z1 and V10 are expected on sale in September and August respectively, with pricing yet to be announced. The 42, 46 and 50 inch (106, 117, 127cm) G10 models have an RRP of $2749, $3299 and $3799 respectively, and are onsale from June.