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New Panasonic Blu-ray players add streaming capabiliy

13 January 2009 1:45 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 7 comments

Panasonic hasn't had the high profile among Blu-ray backers that the formats other major backers have. In fact just based on their decision to let others, such as Sony and Disney, take the lead in marketing it you might not realize they have as much to gain from its success as anyone. After all they own as many patents for the format as any other company and more than any besides Sony.

This year they seem determined to make more of a market impact, starting with the introduction of new Blu-ray players capable of streaming video from online sources like Amazon and YouTube. Support for the Netflix streaming video service is conspicuously absent.

The company has also added other improvements to their line of players.Perhaps one of the most interesting is the addition of a VHS deck to one model.

�With the expansion of the unique VIERA Cast functionality and the introduction of the industry�s first dual VHS-Blu-ray deck, Panasonic�s 2009 line cements our position as technology leaders and places Panasonic in the forefront of the Blu-ray arena,� said Richard Simone, Director, Panasonic, the Entertainment Group.

The new players also feature support for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio

Permalink to this article | Topics: Blu-ray Home Theater Online video

Dolby and Chinese Blu-ray makers sign licensing deals (27 March 2009)

Panasonic to push thinner, more energy-efficient Plasma (4 February 2009)

Disney tries to give Blu-ray a headstart (26 January 2009)

Free YouTube videos lead to increased DVD sales (25 January 2009)

YouTube coming for Wii, PS3 (16 January 2009)

Streaming technology makes its presence known at CES (13 January 2009)

LG and Vizio to sell Netflix compatible HDTVs (12 January 2009)

Blu-ray disc sales jump in Q4 2008 (9 January 2009)

CES 2009: Pioneer introduced a trio of BD players (9 January 2009)

CES 2009: JVC revealed their first Blu-ray player (9 January 2009)

Dolby bringing 3-D to Blu-ray (5 January 2009)

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mike.m (Member) 13 January 2009 4:00
*Quote:* ...they own as many patents for the format as any other company and more than any besides Sony. When blu-ray came out, many thought it was made by Sony. When it fact they were mostly just a contributor to the format. It's nice to hear the other companies finally get some credit for it. *Quote:* Panasonic�s 2009 line cements our position as technology leaders and places Panasonic in the forefront of the Blu-ray arena. I hope these players don't make me regret already buying a Sony S550, I would have picked the Panny 55, but it was too expensive for me. I heard the 55 is better in quality than the S550, who knows how good these ones are going to be. [ + quote]
Hunt720 (Junior Member) 13 January 2009 9:23
OOOH! a Blu-Ray Player with a VHS deck included!!! That sounds increadibly useful! I could put that in my entertainment center next to my CD/vinyl combo player! [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 13 January 2009 14:10
*Quote:* *Quote:* ...they own as many patents for the format as any other company and more than any besides Sony. When blu-ray came out, many thought it was made by Sony. When it fact they were mostly just a contributor to the format. It's nice to hear the other companies finally get some credit for it. *Quote:* Panasonic�s 2009 line cements our position as technology leaders and places Panasonic in the forefront of the Blu-ray arena. I hope these players don't make me regret already buying a Sony S550, I would have picked the Panny 55, but it was too expensive for me. I heard the 55 is better in quality than the S550, who knows how good these ones are going to be. With what sony spent to get studios.....with the PS3 hanging on its success....it is for all practical terms sonys baby..... [ + quote]
H_Seldon (Newbie) 13 January 2009 16:13
I like Panasonic. They're better than the crappy broken Sony products I've had to deal with over the last several years. Good luck to them - I hope it's a success. [ + quote]
afterenoo (Newbie) 15 January 2009 4:06
Now I am also confused what is blue-ray [ + quote]
H_Seldon (Newbie) 15 January 2009 12:03
Start here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray http://www.videohelp.com/hd Hari [ + quote]
BenLigeri (Newbie) 16 January 2009 14:22
"streaming video from online sources like Amazon and YouTube" YouTube doesn't stream video, and I didn't know Amazon even had video. Definitely not the ones you should mention. I would mention BetterStream and Hulu next time [ + quote]