Panasonic adds 58-inch, 65-inch plasma HDTVs to Viera V10 series

With plasma prices plunging, the amount you used to spend on an upper-tier 50-inch set can now net you an even larger model. Panasonic has already added the 54-inch size to its 2009 lineup, and it's just introduced two larger sizes to its acclaimed Viera V10 series. These aren't the great bargains you see for 720p plasmas that are selling for under $1,000, but the $2,699.95 58-inch TC-P58V10 and the $3,999.95 65-inch TC-P65V10 are competitively priced considering that 58-inch LCDs aren't available and 65-inch models are generally more expensive.

The V10 series throws in most of Panasonic's current bells and whistles, including THX Certified Display and VieraCast. The former uses THX technology to automatically optimize any source material, while the latter is the company's version of Internet TV, using the built-in Ethernet connection to allows viewers to access YouTube, Amazon Video On Demand and other widgets. It's not as robust as some competitors' offerings, however—no Netflix streaming option, for example. The sets make up for that by offering what our sister site CNET called in its review of the V10 series "the overall best picture quality of any flat-panel HDTV we've tested so far this year."