Panasonic Rolls Out smaller LED 3D TV: Introducing the Viera DT30

If you have been following the development of in home 3D technology you have no doubt heard about or seen Panasonic’s 3D plasma TV’s. Plasma technology has a quick refresh rate making it ideal for projecting the separate left and right images necessary for the 3D effect. Unfortunately, plasma technology is only cost effective in larger TVs, so if you wanted a 3D television it was 42″ and up.

This year Panasonic introduced a smaller LCD television that is fully 3D capable. The Viera DT30 series (TX-L37DT30B) is a great looking television that gives you reasonable 3D picture quality in the smaller and cheaper LED format. Available in both 32″ and 37″ classes, Panasonic spent a lot of time developing features for this TV to overcome the usual LCD drawbacks.

First off the basics: 1080 lines of Full resolution, sleek beautiful design (great for wall mounting). There are 3 USD ports, 4 HDMI ports and 1 VGA PC input.

Viewing Panel: The IPS Alpha viewing panel delivers a pretty wide viewing angle (178 degrees), so almost any seat in the room can enjoy the picture with only a little bit of fading from the oblique angles. The DT30 series also incorporates a new LED backlight technology that places backlights in top and bottom of the panel and uses a series of diffusers to spread the light over the entire panel. Typical LED TVs have to have the entire back of the panel covered in LED’s. This technology lets Panasonic keep the DT30 very thin and light.

Image Processing: Another feature that Panasonic is touting with the DT30 series is their 2ms/400 hrz processing. This response time processing helps reduce motion blurring, off-axis loss of contrast as well as cross talk (a common problem with LCD 3D screens). At least that is the claim. While there is significantly less cross talk in 3D mode and motion blurring in 2D than with other LCD screens, there is still some. But that is one of the payoffs for opting for LCD.

Gaming Mode: The DT30 when in game mode will automatically choose the ideal settings for optimal image and response. This helps reduce lag while you play.

USB Hard Drive recording: If you don’t have a DVR and don’t want to get one, you can actually hook up a hard drive via one of the 3 USB ports and record directly to the external drive. You can also play video files off of an external usb device as well.

IPTV: The DT30 series also includes Panasonic’s integrated IPTV technology called Viera Connect. This alows you to access Netflix, Pandora and other movie sites directly from your television.

Shutter Glasses: the DT30 comes with one pair of their shutter glasses where the left and right eyes actually close one at a time in conjunction with the 3D images projected on the screen. This happen way faster than the eye can see, so you don’t even notice it. They are not too heavy, fit reasonably well over glasses and have a mini USB port for charging.

Right now the 37″ model retails for about $1,300 and the 32″ model for $1,200 though you can find both for less online. To be honest, most people who are going to be investing in in-home 3D technology are going to be looking for a larger screen and willing to pay a higher price. However, if you want to see the full capabilities of your 3D Blu-ray DVD’s or 3D satellite programming on the cheap (relative to plasma screens) the Panasonic DT30 series will not disappoint.