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Panasonic showed off two distinct approaches to flat-panel color reproduction yesterday at a New York press event. This was just one facet of a sweeping presentation that covered new LCD as well as plasma lines, all rebranded with the name Viera, much of which will reach the market in a "critical mass" slated for April.

Panasonic's first THX-certified plasmas are part of the PZ800 series, including the 42-inch TH-42PZ800, 46-inch TH-46PZ800, 50-inch TH-50PZ800, and 58-inch TH-58PZ800 (available in spring, pricing n/a). All meet THX Certified Display specs for color, luminance, and video processing, with a special THX Movie Mode whose color settings precisely match the ATSC color standard. The press release included this footnote in tiny type: "THX certification is pending final testing and approval by THX, Ltd."

In the color wars, Panasonic's biggest competitor may be--well, Panasonic, because the company is also rolling out Digital Cinema Color in its flagship PZ850 plasma line. This proprietary technology originated at Panasonic Hollywood Labs at the request of the major motion picture studios. It remaps the color of the incoming signal to provide a color gamut that's 120 percent of the ATSC standard. The prime beneficiaries are said to be red, gold, and yellow. A quick A/B demo showed more intensely saturated colors in flowers, strawberries, and the like. Whether they were more realistic was hard to say. Note that THX Certified Display and Digital Cinema Color are mutually exclusive. You can't buy them both in the same product.

Other highlights: The various plasma lines include a new 46-inch class. In the LCD line there is also a new 37-inch class. All are 1080p except for two models in the plasma line and three in the LCD line--though the LCDs do include 1080p in both the 37- and 32-inch sizes. None of Panasonic's LCD sets goes above 37 inches, presumably to avoid overlap with the plasmas.

Some 42- and 50-inch models will eventually be bidirectional digital cable ready, not only replacing the cable box but also allowing video on demand (unlike the unidirectional and more widely used CableCard standard). HDMI CEC component-interoperation control is called Viera Link in Panasonic products. In the future, the PZ850 line will support a Viera Cast IPTV feature that'll allow the TVs to access YouTube, the Weather Channel, Google Picasa pictures, and Bloomberg business news.

Although Panasonic was showing off both new plasmas and new LCDs, it continued to stress the advantages of plasma over LCD, including a 178-degree viewing angle and greater "moving resolution," 900 vs. 350 lines. Panasonic plasmas are rated to last 100,000 hours using half brightness as the criterion.

Oh, and the plasmas have an exterior glass protective panel that can take an impact of one joule. This was demonstrated with the hinged ball bearing shown in the picture above. It swung down and smacked the set with a loud crack. The set did not break. Presumably the plexiglas cage was there to keep the lawyers happy. Imagine what would have happened if the set had actually shattered with reporters present and no cage. I'd have sunk to my knees clapping both hands to my face and screaming "my eyes, my eyes!"

No comment was made about reports that Panasonic would take over making plasma panels for Pioneer-branded product except for Pioneer's already stated "currently in discussions" line.

The Viera lines had previously been announced at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. See press releases for model numbers and features.