Theater Design Northwest has always been proud to be an authorized Panasonic Presentation systems dealer. Their great customer service and leading edge, high quality product lineup makes Panasonic video gear so easy to recommend. In 2010, we have enjoyed great success and created some very satisfied clients designing entertainment setups based around their flagship VT25 series full HD 3D plasma display- rated the best HDTV of 2010. Those ISF test patterns never displayed better than on this awesome set. 

A challenge we often encounter in dedicated theater designs is the video display. Many clients simply do not have the proper dedicated, light-controlled space available for a traditional front projection home theater setup. An HDTV display is a popular compromise and brings the benefit of lower maintenance costs as there are no bulbs to replace. But available HDTV sizes have been a limitation for larger theater spaces until now, as the largest practical size available has been a 65″, which at viewing distances greater than 12′ is not a true cinema-size experience. Rear projection DLPs do come in the larger sizes, but like front projectors are very reactive to lighting conditions, need periodic bulb replacement and also just have a lot of moving parts to wear like color wheels, etc.

But have no fear, 2011 brings the game-changing large format display products to the table:

Mitsubishi offers one solution with their very nice Lazervue DLP sets finally in full production, with a 75″ display at a very attractive price point. These sets display excellent resolution and color saturation and because they use laser as the light source, the troublesome color wheel/bulb technology of traditional DLP is no more. And in the evaluation session by our staff this HDTV proved itself by maintaining image clarity well in ambient lighting conditions. This is a very nice large format set that displays more accurate images than many of the LCD/LED sets that we have seen.

Not to be outdone though, Panasonic has just announced their entry into the large format commercial, digital signage and home cinema display arena using the reference quality plasma technology they are known for. In 2011, Panasonic is shipping full HD 3D plasma displays available in sizes up to 152″ diagonal (that’s a viewing area just over 11 feet wide X 6 feet high in full HD 3D!!) for commercial and home cinema applications.  With the lifespan of Panasonic plasma tech now at 100,000 hours, new anti glare technology that works so well and top-notch service from a company you know will always be there, these new Panasonic plasma displays have just changed the game in high end display applications forever.