With the TH58PZ850U plasma TV, Panasonic has achieved picture quality that’s sure to blow you away. The increased native contrast ratio of 30,000:1 ensures exceptionally rich blacks and stunning whites. An anti-reflective filter keeps unwanted reflections to a minimum. The result is arguably the most detailed plasma TV in the world. The TH-58PZ850U includes a built-in NTSC/ATSC/QAM digital tuner to receive standard definition, high definition, and digital cable content. The set includes 4 HDMI connections, which enables the transfer of high definition video and audio via a single cable. That means you can enjoy HD entertainment without the inconvenience of numerous tangled cables.

And speaking of less inconvenience, how about Panasonic’s VIERA Link®? You can operate (through HDMI connections) all your home theater components by pressing one button on the TV remote. An HDMI cable carries not only digital video and audio signals, but control signals too. For example, use your VIERA remote to control a recording operation with your DVD recorder or to start and stop playback of scenes from a video camera. With VIERA, extra ease and convenience are part of the entertainment package.

x.v. Color extended gamut video color spacing is the new standard for high definition color. Roy G. Biv, the old mnemonic device for the hues in the visible spectrum (red/orange/yellow/green/blue/indigo/violet) just doesn’t cut it anymore. With x.v. Color, you see 1.8 times more reds, greens, and blues than with the standard RGB video color spacing. Working together with x.v. Color, Deep Color (30/36/48-bit color depths) gives you more vivid and accurate colors with fewer artifacts. Display of x.v. Color and Deep Color video signals is made possible by HDMI v1.3 (thank you very much).

The best images you can ever view on a Panasonic plasma don’t have anything to do with HDTV. Share your own JPEG photos taken with an SD Memory Card-compatible digital camera on the TH58PZ850U through the set’s SD card slot. Simply insert the SD card, which is about the size of a postage stamp, into the SD slot on the TV and enjoy a photo slideshow. Panasonic also includes with this set GalleryPlayer, which allows you to enjoy the world’s finest high definition art and photography on your HD plasma TV. Use the free GalleryPlayer software to purchase and download the images you like, and then play them on your Panasonic HDTV right from your PC. Sign-up is easy and free. Plus, you get a free collection of high definition images to enjoy right away in your home or office. And the TH58PZ850U gives you AVCHD/MPEG2 playback capability (H.264), file formats other TVs with SD card slots can’t read.

Panasonic’s 24p Playback (2:3) and 24p Cinematic Playback achieve exceptionally faithful movie reproduction through a sophisticated analog-to-digital conversion. Movies on film are converted to NTSC interlaced video (480i) for television by a process known as telecine conversion, in which the 24 frame-per-second film is converted to video at 60 fields per second. The fields are then paired to create 30-frame-per-second 480i video. Some of the frames will contain dissimilar pairs of fields derived from two different frames of the original film, which causes artifacts. 24p Playback converts 480i video to 480p while restoring the original frames of the film for a more authentic movie reproduction. This widescreen TV features a width-to-height ratio similar to movie theater screens, providing a theater-like experience at home.

The V-Chip allows users to block programming that may be inappropriate for certain viewers. Using program ratings embedded in TV broadcasts, the V-Chip lets parents decide the programming to which their children have access. Blocked program material is accessible only by entering a 4-digit code that parents create.

Rather than having friends and family crowd around your 13" laptop screen to view videos or cool internet sites, just plug your laptop into your new 58" plasma complete with a PC input. If you have a presentation to make beyond the YouTube world, the TH-58PZ850U serves as the perfect assistant with its PC-friendly capabilities. And with VIERA Cast IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) capability, you can receive TV content directly from your broadband Internet connection.

Incredibly slim and elegant, you’d never guess that the TH-58PZ850U includes an integrated 31-watt, four speaker audio system for maximum stereo separation. But just wait until you turn it on and crank it up. BBE ViVA HD3D Sound creates an authentic and exciting surround sound effect from only the two stereo speakers on each side while preserving the clarity and definition. This expansive audio provides a fitting complement to the incredible picture quality of Panasonic’s plasma TV.