Panasonic Showcases the Future of Consumer Electronics at CES 2010 Booth

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Panasonic (NYSE: PC), a worldwide leader in High Definition Flat Panel TVs, will showcase its latest home entertainment products, green technologies and energy initiatives at the International Consumer Electronics Show from January 7 through January 10 in Booth 9405 located in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

At today's CES press conference, Panasonic unveiled a wide range of digital products that will be on display in its booth, unveiling its first Full HD 3D Home Theater System and a range of 3D-related products. Also announced were Panasonic's 2010 Full High Definition flat-panel VIERA TVs, Blu-ray Disc Players, LUMIX Digital Cameras, and HD Camcorders.

Panasonic revealed at today's press conference significant advances made in home networking technology including wireless data transmission of high-quality video, and a major expansion of internet connectivity for video and audio devices, for inside and outside the home, including VIERA® CAST services which will be found on many 2010 VIERA® HDTV and Blu-ray Disc Player products.

Panasonic's CES Booth will feature:

Panasonic Full HD 3D Theater

Visitors to the Panasonic booth can enter the immersive world of Full HD 3D TV technology in Panasonic's 130-seat Full HD 3D Theater. The theater, which features the world's largest 3D Plasma display (152 diagonal inches), will give guests an opportunity to experience Full HD 3D technology for the home, learn more about how the technology works and see Panasonic's entire line of Full HD 3D VIERA Plasma TVs scheduled to debut later in 2010. The theater will also be used to show a variety of special presentations by industry VIPs.

Full HD 3D End-To-End Solution Zone

Panasonic is also demonstrating its groundbreaking end-to-end Full HD 3D technology - from solutions for capturing 3D video to authoring 3D Blu-ray entertainment software to displaying 3D entertainment content on 3D home theater systems. The Full HD 3D End-to-End Zone features Panasonic's broad range of 3D consumer and professional commercial products, including:

• Full HD 3D Camcorder- The Full HD 3D Camcorder records to a SDHC/SD Memory Card instead of tape. The twin-lens Full HD 3D Camcorder has been developed for 3D filming for independent filmmakers and professional videographers.

• 3D Authoring Systems -- Panasonic is rapidly advancing the development of new 3D authoring systems, beginning with 3D image compression technology based on the MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Video Encoder, made possible by Panasonic's long history of collaboration with Hollywood movie studios.

• Full HD 3D Home Theater Systems - Panasonic heralds the birth of a new global 3D market in which TV viewing styles will evolve from just "watching" to actually "feeling." Panasonic has developed a Full HD 3D Home Theater System consisting of a VIERA® Plasma Full HD 3D TV, 3D Blu-ray Player and Active Shutter 3D Glasses which will enable consumers to enjoy the immersive and stunning world of Full HD 3D movies and TV in the comfort of their homes. Utilizing Panasonic's high-speed 3D drive technology and crosstalk reduction expertise, Panasonic's 3D system delivers a Full 1080p HD 3D image. Panasonic's Full HD 3D Plasma TVs will be available in 50", 54", 58" and 65" class sizes and will work in sync with Panasonic's 3D Blu-ray Disc Player and Panasonic's High-Precision Active Shutter Glasses to provide the most realistic images ever seen in video.

• Wireless Full 1080p HD 3D Connectivity - At CES 2009, Panasonic announced the Plasma Display "Z series" which includes a wireless transmittance module based on the standard "Wireless HD 1.0".

At this year's CES 2010, the wireless 1080p Full HD 3D transmission system being introduced represents an evolution of current Wireless HD which can transmit uncompressed 1080p Full HD 3D signals standardized by the Blu-ray Disc Association. Panasonic plans to accelerate the process of standardization of uncompressed 1080p Full HD 3D signal transmission for next generation Wireless HD using this technology.

3D Content Zone

Panasonic is showcasing a wide range of 3D entertainment that has been created by many of the world's leading Hollywood movie studios including Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney Pictures and DreamWorks for the big screen first and now for the home. In addition, Panasonic has joined forces with DIRECTV to bring consumers 3D content via DIRECTV satellite broadcasting services. Featured at the booth will be the nation's first commercial 3D broadcast made possible by the two companies' cooperation.

VIERA CAST /Internet-Enabled TV Corner

As more consumers acquire a taste for accessing the Internet while watching television, Panasonic has responded by expanding the range of its easy-to-use Internet-enabled VIERA CAST features. Since its introduction in 2008, Panasonic's VIERA CAST feature has been widely acknowledged for its distinctive internet application, allowing the consumer to view targeted sites on a large HDTV, rather than a small computer screen. VIERA CAST requires no external box or PC. VIERA Cast is accessed via a single button on the television remote control and there is no fee to use the VIERA Cast functionality.

This year, Panasonic is announcing major expansions to its offerings with Skype, Twitter, NetFlix, Fox Sports, and Pandora joining the growing list of VIERA CAST web-based offerings which already includes Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube(TM), Picasa Web Albums(TM), Bloomberg News and weather information.

Eco Corner

Since Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita first voiced the importance of "environmentally conscious development" more than 40 years ago, Panasonic has actively focused on environmental activities. The company's strong commitment to environmental preservation is highlighted within the Panasonic Eco Corner. The Eco Corner showcases a range of environmentally-friendly consumer electronics solutions as well as educates visitors on Panasonic's Energy Vision, including environmental initiatives spanning diverse global business activities, and its strong focus on achieving environmental innovation.

Luminance Efficiency

Panasonic will showcase at CES 2010, its most recent development of a new Plasma display panel (PDP) that boasts quadruple luminous efficiency(1), marking a major breakthrough in PDP technology.

The new quadruple luminous efficiency panel evolved from Panasonic's NeoPDP developed in 2008(2) and NeoPDP eco panel developed in 2009(3) with twice and triple the brightness of its 2007 models, respectively.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 7.77 trillion yen (US$78.4 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2009. The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE: PC) stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net.

For more than 20 years, Panasonic has been proud to support the Olympic Movement as an Official Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Audio and Visual Equipment category and, beginning in 2009, in the Digital Imaging category as well. Panasonic has also renewed its partnership with the International Olympic Committee for an additional eight years through the 2016 Summer Games. For more information, visit http://panasonic.net/olympic/.

Notes:

1) Compared with the panel brightness of 2007 Panasonic models at the same level of electrical power.

2) Announced on January 8, 2008.

3) Announced on January 8, 2009

SOURCE Panasonic