OSAKA, JAPAN: Panasonic this week set the date for the market debut of its first 3DTV plasmas. The company said it’s 50- and 54-inch Viera VT2 series 3D sets will become available in Japan April 23. The two TVs will retail for around 430,000 yen (US$4,800) and 530,000 yen (US$5,900) respectively. 3D-capable, Blu-ray recorders and a player will also be rolled out.
The plasma displays employ a technology that enables full-resolution 1,920-by-1,080 pixel HD, 60 fps images for both the left- and right-eye views. Panasonic showed a 152-inch full, hi-def 3D plasma display at the Consumer Electronics Show last month in Las Vegas.
A Panasonic executive told reporters yesterday that about 10 percent of TVs 37 inches or more will likely be 3DTV sets this year, or about 500,000 TVs sold in Japan. He said Panasonic was going after a 50 percent market share.
