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Panasonic has really been pulling out all the stops on their HDTV department, releasing 8 new models of plasma and LCD TVs with the ZR900 and PZ800 series. 

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A study conducted by Australian consumer agency Choice said that video game consoles and plasma flat-screen TVs are the biggest energy users which shoot up consumers power bills.

From among the 16 electronic devices that were tested during the course of the study, both the Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 were found to consume the most energy. The study also noted that these game consoles still consume energy even if they are on stand-by mode. Following the Playstation 3 and Microsoft Xbox are devices such as laptops, stereo systems, DVD players and plasma TV’s.

In addition, the report also suggested that consumers switch off their electronic devices from the source and not from the remote control. As shutting it off using the remote control does not totally turn off the power. In fact, when left in power mode for a certain period of time, the study found out that the Playstation 3’s consumption is five times more than the energy consumption of a refrigerator.

Now that you know, we think it would be better to lower our console gaming time or better yet, to save more, we might as well stop using our game consoles. But of course this will be hard to do, especially if you are a hard core gamer. So, we guess the best thing to do then is to reduce the number of hours you use these electronic gadgets.

Read [Yahoo! News]

During CES 2008, Samsung announced twenty-seven new LCD and plasma TV’s, all of which had not received price tags, until now. These new models range in size anywhere from a small 18.9-inches to the large 63-inch model.

Beginning with the Series 4 LCD models, which are lower-end 720p TV’s. These range in size from an 18.9-inch model up to 39.9-inches and retail from $429 up to $1,299. Next, we have the Series 5 LCD models, which are low-end 1080p models. These range in size from 31.5-inches up to a 52.2-inch model. They are priced from $1,099 up to $2,799. Next up is the Series 6 LCD models, which are the high-end 1080p models. These range in size from a small 19-inch up to the large 52.2-incher and are priced from $479 up to $3,199. Finishing up with the LCD models we have the Series 7 line-up and they range in size from 39.9-inches up to 52-inches. They retail from $2,599 and top out at $3,499. 

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Hitachi has launched nine new models for its Wooo HDTV series, of which six are LCD’s while the ramaining three are plasma TV’s.

The first three of the new LCD’s belong to the Wooo UT series and are available in a 32-inch model with a 1366 x 768 resolution and a 37 and 42-inch model, both of which have a 1920 x 1080 resolution. These three LCD’s are slim with just about a 1.38-inch thickness and are loaded with 250GB internal hard drive, iV port for iVDR HDD cartridges, compatible with DLNA, support HD video in 1080p, and have DeepColor and x.v. support. The three LCD’s in the Wooo UT series all come with an external box that holds a dual TV tuner.

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In the hopes of recovering from its losing trend, Pioneer Corp. of Japan have announced they will stop producing plasma display panels (PDPs) and will resort to buying its requirements for the product from rival company, Panasonic.

In an issued official statement, Pioneer said that the company has judged that maintaining the cost competitiveness of PDPs against projected sales volumes will impede the company’s growth. What was once a strong contender in the electronics industry, Pioneer fell behind rival companies such as Panasonic’s Matsuhista and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., as well as LG Electronics.

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Imagine if your TV was strong enough to withstand any Wii-mote strikes, you could then indulge in your favorite Wii games wholeheartedly without worrying about accidentally damaging your expensive TV. Panasonic has unveiled a new line of Wii-proof plasma TVs at its HD Networking Conference in Valencia, Spain.

Panasonic claims that the plasmas can resist up to 4 joules of energy, which is enough to protect it from a flying Wii-mote unless it is purposely thrown with great force…

Read [Gamertell]

At and earlier CES Panasonic had revealed their 103-inch plasma screen. It sold for $80,000 and has been available since 2006. Panasonic has now revealed their sales numbers on that model. And guess what? The demand for $80,000 televisions isn’t all that large. Panasonic has sold exactly fifteen total units and five of those went to one customer in the middle east.

I think we all appreciate that a TV this large isn’t going to move any serious numbers. A flat panel set over a hundred inches is really just to gain industry attention, but you have to wonder if this kind of attention-grab is worth it when you only sell fifteen total sets.

Read [TG Daily]

Vizio continues with their busy CES announcements with two additions to the intriguingly named “Black Tie” range of LCD HDTV’s. The SV42LF 42-inch LCD and SV47LF 47-inch, both have 4 HDMI connections, full 1080p resolution, 120Hz processing and a side access HD game port with HDMI.

Te real differentiator though is the MEMC (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation) that they both feature, which is a “breakthrough” in video processing that eliminates motion blur.

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Pioneer has just announced a 50 inch HD Plasma TV that is only 9 millimeters thin.  It’s lightweight, and is unfortunately just a concept model at this point.  They will have the concept models on the show floor this week.  Look out for a Peep Show coming soon.

“You will not see this in 2008”, according to Russ Johnston, Executive Vice President of Pioneer.

Pioneer has an insane deal going on where you can buy one 50-inch Plasma TV, and get one for free.  Did you catch that?  They’re running a buy-one-get-one-free promotion that when you buy their $8,000 Plasma TV, you get a free cheaper one!  Check out the details below:

For a limited time only, purchase a Pioneer® Elite® Model PRO-FHD1 from a participating authorized Elite Dealer in the 50 United States and receive a 50” High Definition Plasma from that same dealer, model Pioneer PDP-5016HD, for FREE. This is for consumer purchases only.

The PRO-FHD1 is a full HD, 1080p Plasma (1920 x 1080 pixels) that will cost you big bucks.  So if you’ve got the cash to lay down for one of these bad boys, then consider yourself the proud owner of two!

Promotion Page [Pioneer] Via [Gizmodo, HDGuru]