Review: Panasonic VIERA TH-P50ST60D - The Last Of The Plasmas Can Still Hold Its Own

Panasonic VIERA TH-P50ST60D

MRP: Rs 1,25,000 (market price starting at Rs 1,00,000)

Television technology has come a long way with LED-backlit TVs currently being the TV technology of popular choice. However, Plasma TV technology continues to hold its own purely because of its inherently superior image quality. Panasonic has been one of the main proponents of this ageing technology and is still one of the largest Plasma TV makers in the market. The company has got the VIERA TH-P50ST60D belonging to the ST60 series, which is its 2013 mid-range offering. However, the performance surprised me. Read on.

Sharp Unleashes The World's Largest "3D Internet LED TV" For Rs 20,00,000

Sharp has launched the LC-90LE740X, which is the largest 3D LED TV in the world with 4-colour Quattron Technology. In case you are wondering, what about the Samsung UN110S9 TV with a 110" screen that was launched at CES this year; that is a 4K TV, while the one from Sharp is Full HD, which is a quarter of the number of pixels as on a 4K TV. As mentioned, the Sharp TV supports active shutter 3D at 120 Hz, making it compatible with every 3D Blu-ray player, 3D game console, and NVIDIA 3D Vision products. Of course, the 1920x1080 pixel dimensions are somewhat of a let-down at such a large screen size as the pixels would be large enough to be readily visible, unless you view it from quite afar. With an aluminium frame, this TV is a real looker that should dominate any room.

VU Shows Off World's First Customisable Luxury TVs In India

VU held India's first Television Trunk Show in Mumbai today to show off the world's first customisable luxury televisions. The event was held at the Four Season's hotels at Worli and I was invited. The company showcased its 50", 55", 65", and 84" LED-backlit LCD TVs, of which the 84" is the recently launched 3D model sporting Ultra HD or 4K panel with 3840x2160 pixels. Of course, there were also smaller screen models with touch screen just to take a look. The purpose of the event was to allow consumers and reviewers to not only get up, close, and personal with the various VU TV models, but also avail the one-day-only discounted price offers such as a 50" LED TV free on purchase of the 84" model.

Gravity: Scientific Hits And Misses

Gravity - the new sci-fi space disaster/survival thriller by Alfonso Cuaron, featuring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney is arguably one of the best movies this year. Without going too much into details and spoilers (although there may be some unavoidable spoilers: you have been warned), the premise of the movie is about things going wrong on a routine space mission and the quest for survival in the seemingly hopeless void of space. Sandra Bullock plays bio-medical engineer Dr Ryan Stone, who is on her maiden space shuttle mission as a Mission Specialist, while George Clooney plays veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski, in final mission of his career. While everything seems to be going just fine during an EVA (extra vehicular activity), space debris from a Russian missile strike aimed to destroy its defunct satellite, results in a chain reaction that destroys the space shuttle with several other astronauts, leaving our two protagonist astronauts stranded in space, only tethered to each other, being only be able to communicate with each other as the contact with Mission Control is lost.