Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company (PCEC), has launched the first digital high definition television (HDTV) set – the PT-56WXF90 – onto the US market, in preparation for the first North American digital broadcasts this fall. The 56-inch set costs $6,000 and won’t be able to broadcast DTV pictures without a set-top decoder, such as Panasonic’s forthcoming TU-DST50 which should retail at around $1,700. When paired with a suitable decoder. The TV will display both High Definition (HDTV) 1080 line-interlaced (1080i) – although it is not yet known how many broadcasters will support this standard – and Standard Definition (SDTV) 480-line progressive (480p) and 480-line interlaced (480i) DTV formats. Without the set-top, the television will also convert conventional NTSC analog signals to 480p, without visible scan lines. Industry analysts feel that the debut of Panasonic – a division of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America – in the market, will encourage consumer confidence in the HDTV market.
