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Since our last post on what Panasonic TV model numbers mean, Panasonic have changed the way they use model numbers.  Here is a quick guide to decoding the new product numbers, part of our ongoing series on understanding TV model names.

The first two letters are no longer a simple guide to the type of screen.  In the new system, both plasma and LCD screen model numbers start with TX.  Older plasma screen models start with TH.

- TH is used for older plasma screens (pre-2009)
- TX for LCD screens and newer plasma screens (2009 onwards)

The third letter refers to the type of screen

- P for plasma
- L for LCD

The first two numbers refer to the screen size in inches.

The next numbers and letters are the series. Full details of the newly launched series can be found at Panasonic’s website: click here for information on Panasonic’s new LCD TVs or click here for information on their new plasma TVs.

Finally, the B that’s sometimes included in the product name stands for region B – the UK.

Today we’re continuing our guide to understanding TV model names. At first glance, TV product names are generally pretty complicated, unmemorable and unpronounceable combinations of letters and numbers. To the uninitiated this doesn’t help when you’re trying to find your way around the large television market.

However, closer inspection does often reveal some logic behind the names manufacturers give to their latest gift to the world. Today I’m going to walk through Sharp’s naming conventions, with the help of the friendly guys at Sharp.

- The first letters show the type of screen: LC for LC, which is currently the only kind of TV Sharp Aquos makes

- The first two numbers refer to the screen size in inches

- The next letters and numbers are the series. Higher numbers mean better models. For example:

LC19D1E - 19″ HD ready Freeview built-in
LC26D44E - 26″ HD ready Freeview built-in
LC46D65E - 46″ HD ready 1080p Freeview built-in
LC42DH77E - 42″ HD ready 1080p Freeview built-in 100Hz

- All of Sharp’s UK models end in E.

Today we’re continuing our guide to understanding TV model names. At first glance, TV product names are generally pretty complicated, unmemorable and unpronouncable combinations of letters and numbers. To the uninitiated this doesn’t help when you’re trying to find your way around the large television market.

However, closer inspection does often reveal some logic behind the names manufacturers give to their latest gift to the world. Today I’m going to walk through Sony’s naming conventions.

Our example product is the Sony Bravia KDL-32V4000.

Sony gives the KDL letters to all its LCD TVs. Sony makes no plasma TVs, and makes one cutting-edge OLED TV, the XEL-1.

The first two numbers refer to the screen size in inches.

The next letters indicate the series. Sony has a large number of different series. I’ve collected all the current series below, along with descriptions about each series series from Sony and the range of screen sizes the series is available in.

The final numbers refer to smaller variations within a series - so do check the detailed specifications!

You can browse Sony TVs on Reevoo.

Grim news today for home cinema fans, as the credit crunch really begins to show its teeth in the AV world. Pioneer, who make the highly-regarded Kuro range of premium TVs, will cease production this time next year in order to focus on in-car entertainment and less competitive home entertainment areas - like DJ kit.

Pioneer will also cut 30% of its workforce - a cool 10,000 jobs - and reduce its manufacturing capacity by 30%. Today’s news comes after Pioneer posted a £1bn expected loss for the year’s operations.

Until last year Pioneer focused exclusively on high quality plasma TVs, which were renouned for their deep black levels. The warning signs came in 2008, when Pioneer stopped making the plasma panels it was so well known for, instead using Panasonic panels, and releasing a new range of LCD TVs.

Pioneer remained a premium brand however. In 2008, Reevoo found that Pioneer was the most expensive TV manufacturer, with an average cost per TV of £1,258. That put the Kuro experience out of range of most TV shoppers, and may have put paid to Pioneer’s TV business.

As I said on Pioneer’s blog, this looks like an instance where the credit cruch has cut both ways. In the notoriously competive television market, the credit crunch has made it harder for Pioneer to manufacture their TVs at relatively small volumes, and it’s made it harder for shoppers to justify the Pioneer premium.

I’m sure there will be more details emerging over the next few days, but for now the message for shoppers is that 2009 could be your last chance to get your hands on a Pioneer TV, such as the Pioneer 5090 or a classic Pioneer Kuro PDP4280XD.

See Reevoo to buy, or just gaze at, the other Pioneer Kuros.

NB - this guide has been updated.  See the updated Panasonic TV model numbers post.

Today we’re continuing our guide to understanding TV model names. At first glance, TV product names are generally pretty complicated, unmemorable and unpronouncable combinations of letters and numbers. To the uninitiated this doesn’t help when you’re trying to find your way around the large television market.

However, closer inspection does often reveal some logic behind the names manufacturers give to their latest gift to the world. Today I’m going to walk through Panasonic’s naming conventions.

The first letters tell you a little about the type of screen:

- TH for plasma
- TX for LCD

The first two numbers refer to the screen size in inches.

The next letters and numbers are the series:

- P series are always plamsas
- L series are always LCDs
- A Z means the TV is Full HD
- An X means the TV is HD Ready, but not Full HD

Panasonic currently has the following series:

Panasonic Full HD LCD TVs:

- LZD800 (37″)
- LZD81 (32″, 37″)
- LZD85 (32″, 37″)
- LZD80 (32″, 37″)

Panasonic HD Ready LCD TVs:

- LXD85 (32″)
- LXD80 (26″, 32″)
- LXD8 (19″, 26″, 32″)

Panasonic Full HD plasma TVs:

- PZ800 (42″, 50″, 58″, 65″)
- PZ81 (42″, 46″, 50″)
- PZ85 (42″, 46″)
- PZ80 (42″, 46″)
- PZ8 (42″, 46″)

Panasonic HD Ready plasma TVs:

- PX80 (37″, 42″)
- PX8 (37″, 42″, 50″)

You can find out more about each series in Panasonic’s brochure (10mb pdf)

Finally, the B that’s sometimes included in the product name stands for region B – the UK.

Time for another question from a reader:

I am looking to buy a new tv of around 37 to 40in and I am considering the Panasonic TH-37PX80B or Sony’s KDL 40V4000.

I will be watching standard defintion via Sky+ and DVDs. I do not intend to move to HD for some time.

I watch a lot of sport and I am concerned that the Sony could be subject to motion blur.

The awards in What HiFi have the Panasonic as the best 37in and the Sony as the best 40in.

My problem is which to chose between the tv?

- Paul, 51, Nottinghamshire. (’Man Utd fan’)

The main difference between these TVs, apart from the screen size, is that for ~£100 extra, the Sony is Full HD and has a higher reported contrast - but neither feature is particularly important if you’re planning to watch a lot of sport.

The Sony is also more highly rated than the Panasonic by confirmed purchasers on Reevoo.

A couple of the Sony reviewers did mention that this TV might not be great for watching football, but several of the reviews of the Panasonic mention positively that it doesn’s suffer from motion blur.

For me it would be the Panasonic of those two, but you should also consider the other highly rated 37 inch TV options.

For example this LG 37LG510 gets a good rating for image quality, with no-one reporting motion blur problems, and its even cheaper than the Pana.

There are 15 days to go before the Beijing Olympic games and this year will be the first time we can watch them in HD in the UK. Pretty exciting stuff. For those of you who don’t know, HD is high-definition and it’s all about more pixels and much clearer pictures for our TV sets.  It makes watching sports events, wildlife programmes - well, anything really - way better.

We’ve looked at all the full HD TV reviews over on Reevoo to find the best ones. TVs are rated on their design, sound quality, image quality and value for money. People are then asked if they would recommend the TV set.

Here’s the top five:

1.    Sony Bravia KDL40X2000 - £999
2.    Panasonic TX-32LZD80 - £724
3.    Samsung LE37A656A - £679
4.    Panasonic TH42PZ80 - £724
5.    Panasonic TH42PZ85B - £864

And here’s how we got there:

So top of the list was the Sony Bravia KDL40X2000 but interestingly, it lost out to the Panasonic TH42PZ80 for image quality and the Samsung LE37A656A for design.

If you’re looking for a top all-rounder, the Sony is obviously the one to go for but it’s also the most expensive. The Panasonic TH42PZ80 leads the pack for image quality, which should be one of the top considerations when buying an HD TV. It’s also over £200 cheaper and it’s been recommended by 96% of the people who bought it. This would be my choice.

If you’re not convinced about HD, there are lots of other TVs around. You can check out all of the TV reviews over on Reevoo.

Casio has decided that we all need a bit of big screen love in our cameras so their new EXILIM EX-Z150 comes with a whopping three inch LCD display. Pretty out of the ordinary for a low-end model. But if you thought the huge screen would create a clumpy camera, you’d be wrong - it’s only 20.1-mm, tapering down to 18.9-mm and it’s slim and stylish exterior comes in silver, black, red, pink and bright green.

To add to the goodies, they’ve also packed in:
- 8.1 megapixels
- 4x optical zoom
- CCD-shift image stabilisation
- 28-mm wide angle lens
- 17.9MB built in memory
- face detection function

If that wasn’t enough, you can use SDHCs, SDs, MultiMediacards and MultiMediaCardplus memory cards. There’s also ‘YouTube mode’ which is a setting that will give you 640 x 480 quality at 30fps (frames per second) for up to 10 minutes at a time.

We’re not sure when the EXILIM EX-Z150 will be available, or how much it will be but we’ll let you know when we do.

If you want to look through other Casio reviews, you can read them all here.

[Far East Gizmos]