Panasonic TH-65VX300U Plasma Display Preview

There have been some very impressive displays this year at CEDIA, and one of the great ones was Panasonic's TH-65VX300U HD Professional plasma display. The system does away with any of the "frills" like streaming media and focuses squarely on reference-level quality. The display is 65" and uses "ultra high-speed drive technology" to power both 2D and 3D content accurately. They also boasted that their advanced drive provides a much smoother gradation, actually doubling the smoothness of conventional models. This really shows up during super-dark passages of video and it looks great so far.

The TH-65VX30U plasma also includes the ability to bypass the scalar, so you can use an external solution - a rare feature indeed, but one that is absolutely brilliant when you consider the potential for using this as a reference display for television and film production, or mastering.

Physically, we loved the look of the new TV, though it's target is more of a commercial or industrial environment rather than a home theater. It's housed in a durable, brushed aluminum frame, giving it a high-end look that matches virtually any room decor. For post production houses or mastering studios, the television supports the ability to adjust the color reference standard to various targets (such as Rec 601, 709, etc). On top of that you have adjustment menus such as five gamma curve options, white balance settings, and an advanced memory function that allows users to name and save equalized data. And there's even more. You've got the ability to independent switch off each RGB color to check secondary colors or monochrome images, aiding in calibrating each individual color. The TH-65VX300U even includes a built-in waveform to monitor the incoming video signal.

The TH-65VX300u features SLOT 2.0 for greater display convenience and system flexibility when using optional HD-SDI and DVI-D terminals. The TH-65VX300U has a list price of $6,250 and will be available in October.

For more information on Panasonic’s flat-panel display solutions go to http://www.panasonic.com/business/flat-panel-displays/index.asp.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.