Panasonic has used its opening keynote speech at CES 2013 to announce two new additions to its product lineup; a 56in 4K OLED TV and a 4K 20in Windows 8 tablet.
Both products are at an early enough stage in their development that neither yet has an official name but both are sure to excite those looking for either a premium tablet or top notch TV.
4K refers to the resolution of the products which is 3840 x 2160 pixels or four times that of HD Ready (1280 x 720). In comparison Full HD has 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Panasonic 56in 4K OLED TV
The 4K OLED TV isn’t the first we’ve seen as Sony unveiled its own version just yesterday, January 8th 2013, but it’s still a staggeringly impressive piece of technology. It’s just 0.5in thick and has been created using 3D printing.
OLED is being talked up as the next generation TV technology thanks to its infinite contrast and viewing angles, incredibly colour saturation, low power usage and slenderness. LG and Samsung debuted their first large OLED TVs at CES 2012 but those 55in sets still haven’t made it to market so it remains to be seen how long Panasonic may take with this model.
Panasonic is working in partnership with Sony on its OLED TV range so it’s no surpise that both companies have displayed identical sized 4K TVs a day after each other. However, no statement has yet been made on whether the panel is actually the same.
Panasonic 4K 20in Windows 8 tablet
Another prototype, Panasonic’s 4K 20in Windows 8 tablet doesn’t use OLED technology but with its stunningly high resolution it is sure to appeal to graphics professionals and those that simply appreciate a good quality screen when they see it.
Aside from its impressive screen this prototype tablet has an intel Core i5 processor, microUSB, microSD and Wi-Fi, plus an internal battery will keep this machine running for up to two hours.
Neither the TV nor tablet are anywhere close enough to being finished to yet have a price or release date but there’s a reasonable chance we’ll see finalised and ready-for-market versions of these products at IFA in September.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
