Panasonic reveals first tru2way capable televisions

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Panasonic has unveiled it's new line of Viera plasma televisions which are the first to support tru2way technology. The technology, developed by both Panasonic and Comcast and overseen by Cablelabs, allows any equipped television set to have full access to all cable television features, such as on screen guides and video on demand services without the need of a cable box. Because the technology has been approved by Cablelabs, it will be an accepted standard that all future television manufacturers can implement in their designs, though there's surely some licensing fees that Panasonic and Comcast are eager to collect.

The first tru2way televisions from Panasonic will be the 42" 1080p TH-42PZ80Q and the larger 50" 1080p TH-42PZ80Q. The former will have a MSRP of $1599.95 US and the larger latter set will come in around $2,299.95 US. As stated, both sets will provide a full 1080p image along with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a built in SD card slot for access to digital photos. They should be available for purchase later this fall.

(2 replies) #1 Orlando Rays on 16 Oct 2008 - 13:01

Next step: 1984.

#1.1 bangbang023 on 16 Oct 2008 - 13:03

Say what? All this does is allow you to have full cable functionality without a cablecard or cable box. Afterall, cable box rental fees are around $10 a month here.

#1.2 Yuxi on 16 Oct 2008 - 17:50

That's what I thought at first...didn't Apple patent something like that? Forgot the name, but "tru2way" reminds me of that.

#2 +littleneutrino on 16 Oct 2008 - 13:07

i have never had cable before so i am unaware of such things however i know it would be rather cool to have a Tele that would allow for not having a box for directv

(6 replies) #3 neufuse on 16 Oct 2008 - 14:53

Finally the tru2way tv's are coming out... Comcast rental fees suck for cable boxes.. its going up to $15 a month for DVR now and if you have two it could be as high as $20 a month with the "additional outlet fee" and a standard digital box is $10 a month to $15 depending on how many you have! this would eliminate that fee completely and as for the 1984 comment above... um this does NOTHING new that your current cable box doesnt already do... it's just a programmable tv set that your cable provider can put their encryption and cable box software onto without having to rent you a cable box...

#3.1 bangbang023 on 16 Oct 2008 - 17:42

The only thing I wonder is if the cable companies will charge anyway, something like a "software maintenance" fee. Hell, I even pay monthly for my remote.

#3.2 clotz2000 on 16 Oct 2008 - 18:12

The only thing is without the Comcast box, no DVR unless you go out and purchase a Tivo or something but even that costs. Having the ability to go to OnDemand and other cable features without the box is a waste of time, no point to include it in a Television set. Although if they made new TV's with Hard Drives in them to get the DVR functionality than that would be a different story but they would probably include a crappy 120GB Western Digital drive or something and it would break and 120GB is not enough storage for anything. On the other hand if they made a door that opens on the side of the TV to change hard drives and the ability to Format them with the TV software than I would be happy.

Last edited by clotz2000 on 16 Oct 2008 - 18:17

#3.3 neufuse on 16 Oct 2008 - 21:22

clotz2000 said,

Wow, if you seriously think this is a waste of time and has no point, then you dont have comcast, or Timewarner cable... because they are switching to all digital and switched video... and without a cable box you cant use either of those! the channels are all encrypted except for "OTA" channels... also a lot of these tv's will have eSATA ports on them to attach storage to turn the TV into a DVR... this is not a pointless change, this is the change that should of happened at the start of the digital switch for cable TV... right now on a lot of comcast systems, TV's with QAM and NTSC tuners can't get any channels except unencrypted QAM channels which are just well the "Basic" channels... without a box, and this is the solution to that problem...

#3.4 clotz2000 on 16 Oct 2008 - 22:29

neufuse said,

Hmm, I do have Comcast but I use cable boxes, I don't think the TV's will have enough features to replace the boxes completely at this moment, maybe eventually but these high priced TV's are not going to be a sought after item right now. I know everything is switching to Digital in 09 but who honestly has Comcast and plugs their TV straight into the wall with no boxes?? Personally I would rather just have the boxes than to spend $2000 on a new TV when I and several hundred thousand other people already have a perfectly fine 1080p TV.

#3.5 neufuse on 16 Oct 2008 - 23:49

Millions of people don't have cable boxes on their TV's... with analog cable you don't need one... and these TV's will have 100% the features plus more then the current boxes... and 1080p tv? there is not one station that broadcasts in 1080p, heck half the HD stations currently broadcast in 720p... but seriously look at tru2way tv's and what they have, you'd be impressed by the interface, how they work and how much better they are then any of the SciAtl (SARA Guide) and Motorola (iGuide) boxes out there... they are pure junk compared to tru2way, and the ability to upgrade virtually every tru2way set to a DVR enabled system via an external esata add on hard drive makes them much better then even the DVR boxes currently offered by comcast (they all have their expansion esata ports disabled on them) so you could technically put a 1TB drive on a tru2way TV and record days of HD programs

you might want to look at the guide interface also... this is on a samsung tru2way box... http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/SamsungTru...demo/1003458893 that's the UI comcast setup for their networks... it looks MUCH better and more refined and in true HD unlike the SD guides the current comcast boxes have...

#3.6 clotz2000 on 17 Oct 2008 - 09:11

I will check them out, looks better than I thought.

(1 reply) #4 PGHammer on 16 Oct 2008 - 18:14

As much as you whine and complain about the leasing fees, the features and convenience of the STB/DVR boxes is enough of a winner for you that you suck it up and pay them though, isn't it? Now, while you are jumping up and cheering over tru2way, realize it's going to add $400 minimum to the price of the set!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...=1202650462402- The same 42" set without tru2way

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1200703056434 - The same 50" HDTV without tru2way

And I went strictly by SRP (both sets are being clearanced to make room for the tru2way models).

#4.1 neufuse on 16 Oct 2008 - 21:24

PGHammer said,

and this will eventually come down too... its new tech, like all tech it costs more at first... are you just going around to forums posting that same thing? this is the second one now I've seen that posted in... hey while you are at it, I guess LCD and Plasma TV's where pointless too when they came out, because they where thousands more then CRT.... and where are you getting $400 more? The link you gave me lists the price at 2,199.99 for the 50" and the article says $2,299.99 thats umm $100 more not $400 and im going by MSRP not sale prices... everything goes on sale at some point

(2 replies) #5 war on 16 Oct 2008 - 18:18

In fact, I bet, the fee will rise because of this. How nice!

#5.1 neufuse on 16 Oct 2008 - 21:25

war said,

Comcast hasn't stated a fee, but I've heard it might be as low as $1 per TV for the "connection"

#5.2 bangbang023 on 16 Oct 2008 - 22:09

If that's the case, then that's awesome. I hope this catches on because these cable boxes from Cablevision are terribly slow. My girl has Time Warner and their UI is ten times more polished and still runs more smoothly.

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