The new range – the VIERA VT60, ST60 and S60 – includes five Full HD 3D models and one Full HD 2D model, ranging in size from 65 inches down to 50 inches. The design of this year’s VIERA Plasma range is clean and simple, with the top of the range VT series incorporating a stunning single sheet of glass design.

Panasonic Australia VIERA product marketing manager Maetham Roomi says, “The new range of Smart VIERA Plasma TVs has evolved to a more personalised experience in the home. Viewers can now choose how they create, enjoy and share content like never before. With a new clean and simple design they will complement any Australian home.”

The new Plasma range has improvements to networking functions such as “My Home Screen” which provides instant access to users’ favourite content on a personalised TV screen. “Voice Interaction” lets users intuitively control the TV and “Swipe and Share 2.0” makes it easy to link the TV with a smartphone or tablet and share photos, videos, and web pages with family and friends. Apple’s IOS and Android support mean almost any smart phone or tablet can be used to swipe and share content within the home.

The VT60 and ST60 feature Panasonic’s internet platform, VIERA Connect. Panasonic’s cloud-based architecture, VIERA Connect, allows an almost infinite number of apps. Content providers include; Quickflix, offering unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows directly to your TV; Telstra BigPond Movies, with a library of 4,000 titles on demand; SBS ON DEMAND; ABC iView and Ovation as well as popular social networking sites.

My Home Screen

My Home Screen – which serves as the face of a redesigned Smart TV interface can be personalised to meet the needs of each viewer. Users can line up their apps in order of preference, add a calendar, clock, weather report or their favourite web content. With the in-built camera available on the VT60 series, the VIERA TV recognises each user’s face, and can display the home screen that is relevant for that person.

Voice Interaction and Guidance

With Smart VIERA’s Voice Interaction function, users can search for items on the web by simply saying the word they want to search for, bringing related information on the web as well as on an external HDD or in a USB memory stick at the same time. Voice guidance verbally reads out the text on web pages and various TV settings which are often difficult to see from a distance. This is also a helpful feature for people with impaired vision.

When you’re seated at a distance from the TV or when the room is noisy, users can use the Touch Pad Remote Controller on the VT series or smartphone for easy voice input.

Swipe and share 2.0

Swipe and Share 2.0 lets users swipe a photo or video that is saved on a tablet or smartphone with a single finger for instant display on the VIERA TV. Sending it to a large screen is ideal when a group of people want to view the images together. In addition, by swiping content with two fingers, it is now possible to save content directly to an external HDD or USB memory stick. Also, if viewers enjoy content that another person has swiped to the Smart VIERA TV, they can swipe it back to their own device. Apple’s IOS and Android support mean almost any smart phone or tablet can be used to swipe and share content within the home.

High picture quality

The top of the range VT60 features 3,000Hz Focused Field Drive for crisp, clear moving pictures and a combination of original phosphors and drive technologies enabling high motion-image performance.

Increasing the number of sub-fields on the VT series allows control of the emitted light in 30,720 steps for smoother gradation. The light emission of each individual cell is precisely controlled to achieve highly nuanced gradation. From jet black to brilliant white, you get rich textures and smooth gradation.

A dramatic improvement in the colour purity of the red phosphor on the VT series has further expanded the color gamut. It now covers 98% of DCI studio standards and 122% of ITU standards.

Infinite Black, available on the VT and ST series, offers the ultimate in deep blacks. Improvements to the pre-discharge control, which can cause blocked shadows, have enabled deeper, jet-black shades. Even in brightly lit living rooms, deep areas and fine textures in dark scenes are rendered with meticulous detail.