NEC Pimps-Out Your Home Theater System

Although not as famous as some other players on the rather large plasma display panels' market, the people over at NEC Display Solutions have launched quite a few interesting products over time, including plasma displays, LCD desktop and commercial large-screen LCDs, as well as several projectors. However, the latest announcement from the company refers to the first category listed above, namely PDPs, as NEC has just announced the launch of a whole new product line-up, dubbed PlasmaSync Residential Series, which includes, for the time being, the 42XC10, 50XC10 and 60XC10 models.

The new series represents a replacement for the company's Showcase Series and, according to NEC, is designed for custom installations in the home theater, media center and home entertainment environments. The three plasma panels provide high-quality images, with the blacks appearing deeper than previous generations of plasma screens, thus delivering greater detail and producing a higher contrast ratio. In addition, a robust input panel provides HDMI with HDCP inputs and the RS-232 input and output control provides easy setup to control systems.

Design-wise, the devices from the PlasmaSync Series resemble the NEC Display LCD product lines, with brushed aluminum top and bottom bezel designs. The displays also have removable top and bottom bezels, which allow for easy transformation to an all-black unit, with optional speakers and stands available as well.

Despite having difference sizes, the 42XC10, 50XC10 and 60XC10 models include several interesting common features, as for example enhanced picture-in-picture, which allows two sources to be displayed on the screen at one time with multiple configurations and sizes available for both sources, a VESA Standard wall mount hole pattern, which enables compatibility with universal mounts, multiple aspect ratio control and advanced AccuBlend technology, which converts non-native resolutions to the resolution of the display. Moreover, the panels are specially designed to work in good conditions at high altitudes as well, an issue commonly known to affect PDPs.

The three new plasma panels will become available PlasmaSync 50XC10 and 60XC10 will be available for September shipment. The 42XC10 will be available for October shipment, but, unfortunately, the company has not provided any pricing details regarding its upcoming line-up.

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