Panasonic Prepares Billboard-Size TV

LAS VEGAS -- Panasonic, part of the Japanese electronics parent company Matsushita Electric (MC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), has just introduced a very big plasma TV.

How big, you might ask? How about 150 inches, measured diagonally! That's 12½ feet. Panasonic says it's the biggest plasma TV in the world.

CES '08: The Biggest TV in the World

I've seen it and must admit it's very, very large. It's a lot larger than the 103-inch plasma that was introduced at last year's Consumer Electronics Show. Looking at it another way, it's the same size as nine 50-inch TVs.

Wow!

Some other random facts:

• The TV boasts four times the resolution of a full, high-definition 1080p monitor.
• I was told it weighs somewhere between 1,500 and 1,800 pounds. (Please, don't try installing one all by yourself.)
• Panasonic believes that it will be best used for billboards and displays.
• No price has been set for the jumbo screen set.
• If you're interested, it should be available in 2009.

I thought the screen looked good, but not great. Maybe that's because I wasn't standing far enough away. I've heard that, according to experts, you should calculate the optimum flat-screen TV-viewing distance by dividing the screen size by five. Your answer would be in feet.

So if you have a 37-inch screen, the optimal viewing distance is about six feet away. A 60-inch screen would be 12 feet. For a 150-inch screen you should sit 30 feet away for the best-quality picture. That means you need a really big room to fully appreciate such a large-screen TV.

Blu-Ray's Day in the Sun

The other really big news at the show is Blu-ray. Because of Time Warner's(TWX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) decision to choose Blu-ray over the Microsoft-approved HD DVD disc standard, it was hard to find any displays touting HD DVD. There were lots of displays and exhibits touting new products adhering to the Blu-ray standard.

One of the more interesting ones comes from Buffalo Technology, best known for its wired and wireless networking, storage and memory products.

Buffalo has announced the MediaStation Blu-ray HD DVD. It's an external Blu-ray and HD DVD player. But more importantly, it is the first stand-alone device that allows users to both read and write Blu-ray content.