Panasonic Z1 Is Ultra Thin.. Ultra Expensive

The one thing that was going through my mind when I saw this was ‘Didn’t Panasonic see what happened to Pioneer and their Plasmas?’ The price point was just released on this hot little number, and your wallet will be just as thin as the new ‘Z1’ Panasonic Plasma is. The new flagship in only 1-inch thick and has a MSRP of $5,999. That’s a little rich considering that most high end LCD’s offer just as good if not better picture at less than half the price.

This is due out in June for all you ballers who the recession hasn’t hit yet.

[Crunchgear]

Pioneer Getting Out Of The TV Business

The makers of the greatest Plasma TV's has decided to call it quits as of March 2010. Pioneer has made it official that they will exit the TV business. Pioneer had originally stated that they would move their manufacturing of the plasma sets to the new Panasonic factory that was scheduled for construction. But with the had economic times Panasonic has put the factory on hold for now, forcing Pioneer to end its best-in-class plasma display Kuro line production.

Pioneer makes some of the sweetest HDTV's out there, but most people can't afford the 4 to 5 thousand dollar price tag that comes with it. This has forced many consumers to look at LCD as a better choice, and considering that the displays are almost equal to plasma, it has become a no brainer.

[Cnet]

Halo 3 Full-Size Plasma Weapons

Found these over at ThinkGeek.com.

Plasma Pistol - $79.99
Features: Laser tag battle action; game accurate lights and sounds; overheat function with pop up panel; regular and super shot; LCD ammo counter; force feedback recoil with each shot fired; separate target/shield generator unit with belt clip
Batteries Pistol: 4 AA (included); Target/Shield Generator: 3 AA (not included)
Dimensions: approx. 11.5" x 8.5" x 3"

Plasma Rifle - $129.99
Features: Laser tag battle action; game accurate lights and sounds; overheat function with pop out panel; rapid fire shooting; LCD ammo counter; force feedback recoil with each shot fired; separate target/shield generator unit with belt clip
Batteries Rifle: 4 C (included); Target/Shield Generator: 3 AA (not included)
Dimensions: approx. 21" x 12" x 5"

Samsung Set To Release 3D Plasmas

Samsung is set to release their 3D plasma sets next month, which was all the rage at the CES last month. The sets will come in two sizes, 42 and 50-inch versions which will also have the capability to also show 2D images in glorious HD. Crunchgear had a chance to check these out, and they state that they're pretty amazing.

No price has been announced yet, but Samsung states that they won't cost much more than standard plasmas of the same size.

[Crunchgear]

Samsung Wireless Plasma HDTV

Look at this thing!!!

This is Samsung 94 Series plasma TV. What?! So what is the big deal about it?

Well my friends this little set is wireless!!! That's right! It only has the power cord in the back, so mounting on the wall is easier when hiding only one cord. It communicates with a hidden receiver, and it does this with a built-in 802.11n connection that has the range of 200 feet. Check the quote:

"Rather than plug various home theater components into the back of the HDTV, such as Blu-ray/DVD players, home theater in a box systems and cable boxes, consumers can instead connect them to a receiver, leaving only the HDTV’s power cable to hide. With a range of up to 200 feet, the receiver then wirelessly transmits the audio and video signals - up to 1080i HD resolution - directly to the television set. The receiver features a number of connectivity options for easy home theater expansion including three HDMI 1.3 ports with CEC technology. Over-the-air HDTV channels can be viewed with the built-in NTSC/ATSC/QAM digital tuner."

These Samsung babies will come it at 50-inch and 58-inch, and run you $3599 and $5299.
They're totally out of my budget, but maybe not for you.

Hit the jump to read the Samsung pdf press release. [via Crunchgear]

Pioneer's 8th Gen Plasma HDTVs

Pioneer just unveiled details on their 8th generation HDTV today.

But the most important detail is the "new deep encased cell structure, crystal emissive layer and first surface colour filter." What that means is the new sets, part of Project Kuro have a black level 80% deeper than 7th generation Pioneer plasma.

They have 60 and 50 inch 1080p display, with the 20,000:1 contrast ratio, "Digital Colour Filter III Plus" for the "most accurate colour reproduction in commercially available flat screen TVs" and a street date of September.

Ghetto Ambilight HDTV

If you've ever seen the Philips Ambilight HDTV you know how cool it looks, and that the soft glow behind the TV actually has a function. If you watch TV or game in low-light conditions, the back light reduces eye strain.

But if you don't want to pony up the money for the Philips HDTV you can get the same effect for your HDTV ghetto style!!!

Thanks to our friends at instructables they show us how to get the same effect on the cheap.

Step 1: Buy Cheap LED Light strips from IKEA.

Step 2: Attach it to the back of your LCD/Plasma/or DLP.

And that's the way you do it!!!