Our good friends at FormatWarCentral has kicked off a new Blu-ray player undressing series with the recently-updated Panasonic DMP-BD30K. Not a lot of big surprises behind the sheet metal kimono -- there's a lot of air inside the chassis. Click on through for photos of the sparsely populated circuit boards, which are a pretty good indication that the engineering and design of these Profile 1.1 players are pretty mature. All that empty space also bodes well for some price-cutting possibilities, we hope. Of course, the real excitement will come as more players go through the FormatWarCentral lab -- rebadgers/rebranders, beware!

[Image courtesy FormatWarCentral]

Further capitalizing on its new 45nm process, Panasonic unveiled a version of its UniPhier chip family meant for digital TVs capable of decoding MPEG-4 AVC and h.264 streams, and Dolby digital audio in order to meet European broadcast requirements. This design is apparently compatible with 98% of the world's digital TV standards, including Japan and US cable providers, meaning no matter where you get your next Panasonic, it'll be a MN2WS0052 inside. Sample shipments are starting any day now so we'll wait for the next refresh of Panasonic's HDTVs to see exactly what it's capable of.

[Via AV Watch]

One of the most highly anticipated new Blu-ray players is the Panasonic DMP-BD50 and after months and months of waiting it is starting to show up as in stock on various obscure online retailers. A quick search online shows that the big box stores have yet to receive their initial shipments, but it is safe to assume that when the likes of 6th Ave and Rainbow Electronics has them, widespread availability can't be too far behind. The first full featured Blu-ray that includes everything from BD Live, to internal DTS-HD MA decoders won't come cheap though, the initial prices are right at the retail of $699.

[Via Blu-ray Stats]

Look no further for the follow-up to last year's multi-region Blu-ray players, with Bluraymods.com advertising a completely region free Panasonic DMP-BD30, available in either pre-modified or DIY kit formats. That's all 6 DVD regions and three Blu-ray regions for those keeping count, and it claims to still work with any firmware updates. The good news for import lovers is a price of €499, considerably less than previous hardware, or €69 for a mod kit. We're still not sure how well this will play with future DRM updates, but taking the leap appears to be getting cheaper and more convenient.

We're thinking a round or two of golf claps are in order here, no? Since going on sale (in Japan) in July of 2006, Panasonic's gigantic 103-inch plasma has been purchased 3,000 times. If our math is even close to correct, that means that Panny has managed to move around 130 of these bad boys each month, which isn't too shabby given the original $70,000 sticker. If you're curious as to where these things actually go, you'll probably be disappointed to hear some rather expected answers: nightclubs, sports arena, resorts, universities, casinos and high-brow offices in big name cities. Looking for the most in one place? Head on down to Las Vegas' own Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall, where 15 of these beasts were placed in its newly remodeled $20-million Race and Sports Book room.

No, really... more rumors of Panasonic shifting R&D yen into OLED televisions? Oh you betcha, albeit this time with the specifics of a 37-inch OLED targeted for a retail launch in the next three years. Japanese newspaper, Sankei Shimbu, is reporting that the OLED panels will be produced on a parallel assembly line at Panasonic's new IPS Alpha factory. Without offering any specifics, Panny did have the decency to confirm that it's working on OLED technology -- something we already knew about. With consumers and editors alike awestruck by OLED display technology and Sony and Samsung already official committed to delivering medium to large panels in 2009/2010, only the chatter of Panasonic not pursuing OLED as a future panel technology would surprise us.

Don't know how this one slipped by us, but better later than never. The Plasma Display Coalition, made up of Hitachi, LG, Panasonic and Pioneer, recently surveyed plasma owners to find out what drew them to the technology. No big surprise in the results -- 98-percent cited "excellent" or "good" picture quality. Taking the lesson to heart, the coalition has put together a brochure for retail trainers entitled "Plasma HDTV: Simply the Best Picture." As LCD increases its dominance, manufacturers will have to justify keeping plasma displays in their lineups. The titles for "thinnest" and "greenest" are out of reach; so for plasma's sake, let's hope the coalition members leave aside "biggest" bragging rights in favor of "best PQ for normal people."

Hmmph. Outside of Samsung's blisteringly hot SP-A800B, we're fairly certain Panasonic's latest duo are the most impressive at InfoComm. Putting those XGA / WXGA units to shame, the PT-DZ12000U packs a drool-worthy WUXGA resolution (1,920 x 1,200) and 12,000 lumens to boot. The PT-D12000U checks in with the same three-chip DLP engine and lumen count, but eases up on the pixels with just 1,400 x 1,050. Furthermore, both units boast a System Daylight View to keep things visible even in well lit rooms, and the built-in Ethernet port enables remote monitoring and control through a web browser. Just one problem with all of this, though: the $69,000 (PT-DZ12000U) / $59,000 (PT-D12000U) price tags. Must be that Auto Cleaning Robot -- good help is hard to find these days.

So, you picked up a 6x Blu-ray burner earlier this month did you? Too bad there isn't any media available to cope with that write speed. Oh sure, TDK has been kicking a 6x disc around trade shows for years, but Panasonic will apparently be the first to market when its 25GB and 50GB 6x BD-R discs hit Japan on July 10th. Unfortunately for our Japanese brethren, Panasonic says that, "Blu-ray disc drives compatible with 6X write-once Blu-ray discs are planned to be commercialized in Japan by the end of September 2008." Funny, with those 6x BD-R burners from LG already released in the US, could it be that US (and Korean) Blu-ray interests have finally jumped ahead of Japan's -- the birthplace of Blu? Perhaps, but Panasonic hasn't provided a date for its Stateside 6x media release... yet.

Whittling down the amount of remotes in one's living room has long since been a challenge for the amateur home theater builder, and while there are some decent universal solutions on the market, the RF4CE Consortium is hoping to make things painfully simple. The group has been formed in order to "drive the adoption of an open radio frequency (RF) entertainment control specification based on IEEE 802.15.4." If you'll recall, this isn't the first time we've heard that standard called, as it's also used in MaxStream's XBee Xtender. Notably, Freescale is hoping to incorporate its Synkro technology into the specification, and in an ideal world, we'd see said protocol filter into DVD players, AV receivers, set-top-boxes and all manners of components. Let the IR-to-RF transition begin, we say.

Read - Sony's RF4CE Consortium release
Read - Freescale's RF4CE Consortium release

There's just something about a new firmware update that brings a smile to ours faces. Maybe it's the rush of not knowing what new features are just a click away. Maybe it's the anticipation of that nagging quirk finally vanishing. Or maybe it's a healthy mix of both. Either way, Panasonic DMP-BD30 owners can go ahead and get excited, because the outfit just loosed the v1.8 update. Curiously, Panny didn't bother telling us what the upgrade was for, and without a changelog in sight, we're really at a loss as to what alterations are in store. For you brave souls willing to give it a go, be sure and let the rest of us know what all goes right / wrong.

[Thanks, Jerry]

Uh oh -- it looks like early-adopter Panasonic has hit some choppy waters in its tru2way TV efforts. The first sets subjected to CableLabs testing showed several bugs in the implementation, and talk coming from insiders indicates that no-nos like disabling Emergency Alert System messages slipped through. For its part, CableLabs is being professional and not making any comments on the Panasonic results. Panasonic is also putting a brave face on things, and is not retreating from its goal of delivering tru2way TVs to retail shelves in time for the 2008 holiday season. We wouldn't rule it out, either -- Panasonic has some serious resources it can throw at the problem; but this does throw a major wrench into the works. We're still optimistic about tru2way, and are willing to wait a few more months to get things right. Introduction of new technology and/or standards is always challenging, so we hope this setback doesn't have a chilling effect on other tru2way players -- quite the contrary, it could spur more aggressive development to claim the "first tru2way TV" title.

Joining Sony & six major cable companies in signing a memorandum of understanding of understanding regarding tru2way technology this week were Intel, ADB, Digeo, Panasonic and Samsung. As these companies have already announced work on compatible technology, some of which we've seen recently at The Cable Show, the names there aren't the surprise, it's the one that isn't (yet), LG. While they -- and presumably other companies -- look over the agreement, details haven't yet been released, but Multichannel News notes some elements include that the MSOs (Comcast. Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision and Bright House) deploy at least 20% tru2way set-top boxes until 10 million are deployed and they've committed to supporting the technology by specific dates. Another element that might concern some companies, according to Cable Digital News, is a "monitor application" that the cable company uses to control how devices use processing resources. All the same, once these details have been hammered out and are out in the open, it should lead to a much smoother roll out of tru2way than its CableCard 1.0 predecessor and ensure everyone's equipment works as planned.

[Via Multichannel News and Cable Digital News]

Panasonic's pricey Profile 2.0-compliant DMP-BD50 can't really be worth that much more than the PlayStation 3, can it? According to a review over at CNET, the answer is likely no, but if you can somehow overlook the sticker, there's a really solid Blu-ray player behind it. Phrases like "excellent image quality" and "outstanding soundtrack support" dominated the review, but even though it was deemed the "most recommendable standalone Blu-ray player to date," critics still couldn't deny that the PS3 was simply "better and cheaper." After all, standard DVD performance was seen as lackluster and operational speed was "sluggish" compared to Sony's latest console, leaving us to wonder how in the world Panny justified such a price tag. Nevertheless, the full review (video included) is waiting just down there, but if you weren't sold already, we doubt this will sway you.