First Blu-ray burner only for France

Panasonic has launched the first Blu-ray HD recorder to come to Europe – but it will only be sold in France.

Michael Friedrich, product marketing manager for Panasonic Europe’s Home AV division, said recorders were already available in Japan and Australia.

“It is Panasonic’s policy only to sell into countries where there are enough free-to-air HD broadcasts available. Without that the benefit to customers is limited,” he told a press launch at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.

The DMR-BW500 recorder has an integrated twin terrestrial digital HD tuner, allowing it to record two programmes simultaneously.

Panasonic also displayed an 150in plasma screen and announced that its new thin Neo PDP plasma screens, which halve power consumption compared to previous models, are now market ready. It showed a 58in example that is just 2.47cm thick.

Images of a 60GHz Wireless HD link for connecting an HD player to a TV were also shown and the firm announced that from next spring its new TVs will be able to access a free IPTV service called Viera Cast via a broadband connection.