Panasonic Reveals More Details On HDTV [Panasonic 3D Viera HDTVs Coming In May, $4k Price, Skype Functionality]

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In a press release today, Panasonic announced a release date and pricing for their lineup of 3D HDTVs. While they already had the 50-inch VT20 3D set out at Best Buys in extremely limited numbers, their upcoming line of Veira VT25 3D HDTVs looks to be out on a much wider scale – but will carry a higher price, if you can believe that.

The new Veira VT25 HDTVs will come in four different sizes, 50-inches, 54-inches, 58-inches and 60-inches. For pricing, the 50-inch starts at $2,599 MSRP while the 60-inch will cost you up to $4,299 MSRP. All of new TVs will offer a Full HD 1080p 3D picture. The sets will come with only one pair of 3D glasses. Unfortunately, the other manufacturers are usually including two – and the new glasses are steep at $149 MSRP.

Some complained about the VT20 series, so the VT25 features improved video quality. The contrast ratio has been improved to 5,000,000:1. The VT25 series will also have internet connectivity, something that we’re seeing all new HDTVs have. These will be a bit nicer as they’ll have built-in WiFi (some just have an Ethernet port).

Panasonic is calling their online service “Viera Cast WiFi” and their offering such IPTV programming as Bloomberg, Fox Sports, Netflix and Amazon VOD. They’ve also got Skype video chat too. Skype’s video chat requires you to use their own Skype-branded webcam, a bit of a rip-off if you ask me, but the rest of the functionality seems nice.

All of these new TVs are going to be out next week. Panasonic surely recommends that you get their 3D HD Blu-Ray players to go with your new 3D HDTVs.