Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - Panasonic, the leading global manufacturer of consumer electronics has announced that it would be launching the latest range of VIERA plasma digital television and LUMIX digital cameras in the Middle East market.

The VIERA series boasts of a new G8 Plasma panel and 3D Colour Management System with 4 trillion colours basic processing for 8.6 billion on screen colours. The new range of LUMIX digital cameras that will be launched include: DMC- FX8, DMC- FX9
DMC- FZ30 and DMC-LX1.

"We are looking forward to introducing our high definition models of plasma televisions and the latest additions to our digital camera portfolio in the Middle East markets," said Seiji Koyanagi, Managing Director, Panasonic Marketing Middle East "The launch of these products is in line with our corporate strategy of a simultaneous worldwide launch to ensure that our consumers in all markets have access to our products at the same time."

"Both plasma television and digital cameras are one of the fastest growing product categories in the Middle East markets and Panasonic will initiate aggressive marketing activities to increase market share," he added.

The new range of VIERA plasma TVs being launched include, three high definition plasma models - the 65-inch flagship model TH-65PV500, TH-50PV500 and TH-42PV500; two high definition LCD TVs - TX-32LX500 and TX-26LX500; two standard resolution wide plasma TVs - TH-42PA50 and TH-37PA50 and two standard resolution LCD TVs - TX-23LX50 and TX-20LA5.

"With the VIERA flat screen televisions, Panasonic is going beyond the limits of conventional television and is setting new standards when it comes to picture quality, tone, networking and user-friendliness," said Kazunori Shimizu, General Manager, Panasonic, AVC Networks company , Japan. "Consumers will enjoy a whole new television viewing experience with the VIERA plasmas, and we are certain that this product is set to be a hot seller across the highly competitive Middle East markets."

The LUMIX DMC FX9 digital camera from Panasonic is the next-generation model of the highly successful MEGA O.I.S (Optical Image Stabilizer) equipped FX series. The FX9 has total effective pixels of 6-megapixel. The 2.5-inch large LCD screen of the FX9 provides superior clarity by increasing its resolution to 207K pixels. Moreover, the camera has a longer battery life that will last 270 images.

"The LUMIX range of cameras have been designed, keeping in mind various consumer needs. Constant innovation and use of the most advanced technology to offer the best photography solution to consumers remains at the core of our overall business objective. Digital photography has almost replaced the traditional film based photography, mainly because of the flexibility offered by digital cameras, and we are focused on catering to the growing demand in this segment," said Izumi Tomozawa, Manager, Panasonic AVC Networks Company, Japan.

The LUMIX DMC-FZ30 is Panasonic's latest 8 megapixel, 12x optical zoom digital camera that also adapts the MEGA O.I.S. The 12x optical zoom LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT Lens, which has been?handed down since the first launch of the FZ series, underwent further development to provide even more superb picture rendering. The newly incorporated Extra Optical Zoom extends the zoom ratio to achieve 15.3x for 5-Megapixel and 19.1x for 3-Megapixel. Two exclusive rings on the lens barrel of the FZ30 provide manual control of zooming and focusing, allowing quick and fine control that cannot be achieved with button operation. The camera has a 2-inch angle free monitor with a 235 k pixel high resolution LCD that allow the display of images even in tiny thumbnail size.

Panasonic will also be launching the DMC LX1, 8.4 megapixel, 4x optical zoom full manual compact camera. What distinguishes the DMC-LX1 from the rest is the world's first 16:9 CCD with 28mm wide angle LEICA DC Lens. The aspect ratio can be easily selected between 16:9, or 3:2 in addition to the conventional 4:3.