Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Panasonic's First 3DTV (Viera TH-P54VT) Priced at $5,900 [3dTv]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_dBd7YqAhqc/panasonics-first-3dtv-viera-th+p54vt-priced-at-5900

At CES, we determined that if you insist on buying a 3DTV this year, Panasonic should be on the very short list. Now, the company has priced a 3DTV for the first time—$5,900 when converted from yen.

Though Panasonic announced that they'd be selling 3D plasmas in the US starting this year, they'd never spoken of price until a recent press conference in Japan where they stated that their 54-inch, 3D-capable Viera TH-P54VT will run the equivalent of $5,900.

That's a lot of money. However, the TH-P54VT won't be the cheapest model available from Panasonic this year, as Panasonic promised 3D models as small as 50-inches.

CrunchGear
notes that Panasonic seems to be pricing 3D as an $800 upsell over their premium 2D plasmas, though from piecing together prices, even that estimate may have been a bit conservative.

In truth, there's no way 99% of the population will drop $5k on any TV when you can finally score a decent quality, 46-inch LCD or plasma for well under a grand. If Panasonic wants glasses-based 3D to take off, they need to price the tech to sell. [Panasonic via CrunchGear]