Panasonic Expands 3D TV Line, Adds Two LCD Models

LAS VEGAS -- Panasonic is adding two LED-based LCD TVs to its line of 3D Viera TVs as part of an overall expansion of its 3D TV line for 2011, Senior Vice President James Sanduski said at the company’s CES news conference. The LCD models are “targeted toward gamers,” and will ship in spring, he said. Pricing wasn’t provided. The company is also expanding its line of Viera plasma 3D TVs to 12 models this year from last year’s eight, it said.

Panasonic will also be making games from publishers including Gameloft available for its 2011 line of Viera Connect TVs, the companies said. The Gameloft titles will feature 3D graphics and include Asphalt 5, N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance and Uno, they said. The first game, Asphalt 5, was demonstrated at the news conference by Gameloft Chairman and President Michel Guillemot, and will become available via Panasonic’s new Viera Connect Marketplace at the launch of that service in the first half of this year, he said. More than 20 million copies of games in Gameloft’s Asphalt series have been sold to date, the publisher said.

Panasonic, meanwhile, stressed its continued commitment to finding a universal standard for 3D glasses. At the same time, it expanded the number of 3D-compatible Blu-ray players in its line from one to three this year and also boosted the number of 3D HD camcorders to five. Panasonic expects that 3D “will gather momentum” as more content becomes available, said Shiro Kitajima, president of Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company.

The company will also field a Viera Tablet that it said was designed “to enable easy access to a variety of cloud services in conjunction with” its Viera TVs. The device will ship globally “within this year,” and “marks Panasonic’s first step toward cloud-based services including video streaming and e-books,” it said. Prototypes will be exhibited at CES this week, it said.