It is rare to find a product that will catch this reviewer’s eye before it actually comes out. Even then, the product is often held to far too high expectations, and inevitably fails.
That is not to say that this is always the case, as can be seen with the upcoming Panasonic Viera RT2B – the world’s first all-in-one full HD 3D TV that integrates a built-in Blu-Ray Disc drive as well as a built-in HDD.
Overview
The product itself is still shrouded in some mystery (such as the US release date) making it difficult to get a good take on it. However, there are certainly some amazing aspects of the series that are worth mentioning.
For this new series, Panasonic is set to launch two PDP (Plasma Display Panel) 3D TV combos with the TH-P46RT2B (46-inch) and the TH-P42RT2B (42-inch). The screen panel is an amazing 5m:1 contrast ratio combined with a full black PDP panel is bound to create an incredible picture. The set will come with a pair of Panasonic’s state of the art 3D glasses which, unlike the last television sets they paired with, will work great as this new series comes with 2D to 3D conversion.
Speaking of 3D glasses, the company is also simultaneously releasing 3 new varieties of the lenses, in a small/medium/large format. They all run on li-ion batteries allowing for about 30 hours of use per charge, and each size can output in Full 1080p 3D.
You may be wondering at this point “Mr. Expert, isn’t this what Sony, Toshiba, and Samsung already offer?” And though those big names do not have Panasonic’s glasses, you are right. Those features alone might not enable Panasonic to surpass what Sony alone has already produced.
Luckily, the Viera RT2B goes beyond the normal features.
Along with the usual features of a Viera television, Panasonic is integrating a Blu-Ray Disc drive and an HDD recorder. This all-in-one feature is miniscule compared to the price of buying a television and the recorders separately, and they will undoubtedly have the Panasonic quality we have come to know and love. So now along with watching everything in full HD 1080p 3D, you can record it and watch it later.
Nitpicking
The mystery element of the Viera RT2B not being released yet certainly adds some skepticism to the mix. First, one needs to consider the fact that there has yet to be a US release date put out. Japan gets the screen on August 27th and we don’t know if that is worldwide or solely in Japan.
Also, with this media release it can be almost confidently said that the big companies will be designing some new screens to compete with Panasonic. If they go similar to the first series releases, then Panasonic could be in serious trouble.
There is no word on price of the Viera RT2B, but TechOn reported that the street price the 42″ and 46″ models are ¥390,000 and ¥440,000 (approx US$5,072), respectively. While it is considered reasonable with the case where a 3D TV and a BD/HDD recorder are separately purchased - it is still a television. And five grand for a 3D TV is a slot of money.
Last Word
Overall, it seems like Panasonic has quite an amazing product in store for us. Left unchallenged, it could certainly take over the competitive market for 3D television. Unfortunately for us, there are still many unanswered questions. However, you can expect a proper review of the product once it is released.
