YouTube clips can look surprisingly decent blown up to full size, and by entering your account info, existing favourites can be accessed easily. More VieraCast content may come in time, if Panasonic signs up other partners. Ultimately, it’s this sort of system that TV makers would like to see, rather than the BBC’s Project Canvas, which aims to provide a free and open standard for IP video on demand using TVs and set top boxes.
Panasonic's own VieraCast system provides additional content
Sunny disposition: VieraCast weather
Besides VieraCast, the V10 is also DLNA and DivX certified, and comes with a licence key for Twonky Media Server, if you don’t already have a suitable server. Media servers appear as an option on the AV input menu, with quick access from the Viera Tools bar. It’s a good idea, and if you’re a moderate consumer of content, may well be all you need.
A range of viewing options are accessed using Viera Tools
Power users will be disappointed though – playback is strictly SD, and the only video formats supported are DivX and MPEG2. We had no problem playing back a range of files, including downloaded ones, but the only MPEG2 files that worked were VOBs.
COMMENTS
NOES
Integrated Freeview receivers will be a bit of a burden next year, as more of the general public will start wanting to do DVB-T2, as Freeview HD becomes available in more than the pilot transmitter areas.
Hopefully, by then, the Humax and Topfield PVR offerings will be reasonably mature- early commercial availability of consumer T2 receivers ramping up slowly in the second half of this year and all.
Paris, because.. well, why not?
PVR?
I looked very closely at this machine before deciding that time shift capacity is crucial. I eventually bought a fairly basic Freeview TV (Toshiba) and an HDsat enabled PVR (Topfield). It's not as elegant as the TV that can do (nearly) everything, but it does mean that I can watch what I want when I want. Will trade up when Panasonic adds a hard disk to the already impressive spec.
Still missing one thing...
My LG TV has a built-in hard disk recorder, so I can do all those PVR tricks without needing a separate box.
Now that, combined with a twin freesat tuner and twin DVB tuner and all those other input modes would be pretty much complete
@ Tony Smith, David Paul Morgan
Yep, entirely correct, it's done on a 'red button' basis where HD content is available.
I think, but am not certain, that the Freesat EPG includes an icon to indicate that this is the case for a particular program, but I can't currently check as I am at work!
@David Paul Morgan
IIRC, ITV HD content is broadcast on an as-and-when basis rather than as a separate channel.
Push the red button to activate it when a programme says there's an HD version.
