Panasonic Rolls Out 3D Blu-ray Disc Home Theatre Systems

  • Can be connected to iPad/iPod/iPhone
  • DLNA compatible
  • Use smartphone as remote

Panasonic is offering up Full HD 3D Blu-ray Disc Home Theatre Systems with a range of smart networking functions.

The new models’ connectivity features include Smartphone Remote Control, Viera Connect, enhanced DLNAfunctionality, Skype video and voice calls, built-in wifi, wireless LAN capability and iPod/iPhone/iPad connection.

All units are equipped with 3D Cinema Surround as a standard feature, which is a technology that produces theatre-like surround sound through real and virtual speakers. All new models feature an anti-jitter digital amplifier, reducing jitter and distortion.

Via built-in wifi and wireless LAN on the new SC-BTT790 and SC-BTT490, and wifi compatibility ontheSC-BTT190, these systemsallow users to access Panasonic’s Viera Connect. The new Viera Connectoffers access to a range of applications such as Yahoo!7’s Plus7, ABC iView and Twitter, as well as the YouTube, Facebook and Skype platforms.

Using built in wifi users can also access DLNA functionality, which allows Home Theatre Systems to ‘communicate’ with other devices around the home. For example, users can wirelessly stream multimedia – such as music and photos stored on their iPhone, iPad or a DLNA-compatible server such as a PC or Blu-ray disc recorder – to their home theatre system.

All three systems are also compatible with smartphone remote control. This new feature allows viewers to control their system by tapping and swiping on their smartphone. Users can input characters with the keypad on their smartphone, and set up their favourite sound effects as well as browse for additional entertainment and movie information.

The SC-BTT790 and SC-BTT490 systems feature a convenient dock for iPod/iPhone, which has a digital connection to minimise sound degradation, which allows users to play back music and videos, as well as enjoy high quality audio from an iPod/iPhone.

An intuitive GUI screen allows up to four user profiles, so the family can enjoy personalising and saving favourite settings including registering a favourite photo as wallpaper on the home screen.

The SC-BTT790 and SC-BTT490 are equipped with two HDMI inputs in addition to one HDMI output dedicated for gaming consoles and set-top box connections. Since the HDMI inputs feature a Standby Pass Through function, signals from the connected devices can pass through the unit even when the Home Theatre System is switched off. All models offer USB connectivity and are compatible with most external hard disk drives (HDDs), including FAT32 and NTFS formatted HDDs, for access to a greater selection of multimedia files.

The SC-BTT790 Blu-ray Home Theatre System does not require wiring between the main component and rear speakers and also features what is claimed to be an ultra-slim design.

RRP
SC-BTT790 $799
SC-BTT490 $599
SC-BTT190 $399