This past year I've been a member of the #VieraVIPClub, a small group of online peeps who have had the chance to find out more about the Panasonic Viera range of smart televisions, and spread the Viera love. I've visited Panasonic UK's HQ, visited IFA, Europe's biggest technology showcase in Berlin, and been one of the first to hear exciting news about the world of 4K HD television. All along, I've been blogging my experiences over on my sister site, Family Tech.
As part of the Panasonic Viera VIP Club I've been putting the family-friendly features of smart TVs to the test. I've been lucky enough to pose some of my questions about the future of family viewing experiences to senior engineers at Panasonic so I shall be excited to see how the brand responds to the ever-growing demand for usability and performance as well as great image quality and an immersive viewing experience.
I've used a couple of the Viera smart TV range now and now I'm the proud owner of this beauty, the TX – 55AS740B. I'm still learning about all of the different viewing features (it shall be a while before I get used to 3D viewing) but the most overwhelming differences from my old TV are:-
- Depth of colour, especially dark colours and blacks which used to look washed out and grey in comparison.
- The mahoosive screen.
- The thin edge around the television means that more of the total size of the television is available for viewing. I think it looks very sleek. It's also surprisingly light.
- Not having to faff around with the BT box or Apple TV in order to watch BBC iPlayer or Netflix - I can do this directly though the apps on my Viera's home page.
I haven't yet set up any of the more advanced home network capabilities of the AS740B yet but I do plan to - it'll be great to be able to watch the TV remotely via TV Anywhere. Plus... I must find time to set up the voice recognition. So many things to do, so little time to do it.
I think I'll just chill out here in front of 'House'.
