Viera Cast is a

Smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features, which allows users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TVs are a techn ...

platform by

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

that makes it possible to stream

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

content from the Internet directly into select Viera

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

s and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

players. It was announced during the January 2008 exhibition of the

Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event t ...

(CES) in Las Vegas and began rolling out in Panasonic Viera TVs several months later.

Development

Panasonic initially partnered with

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

to make it possible for YouTube videos and

Picasa Picasa was a cross-platform image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos, integrated with a now defunct photo-sharing website, originally created by a company named Lifescape (which at that time was incubated by I ...

Web Album photos to be used within the product, while

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

and

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...

were also available. Beginning in 2009, Amazon Video on Demand service was added. The first Viera HDTVs with Viera Cast, the TH-PZ850U series, appeared in May 2008. Panasonic introduced Netflix video streaming service and Skype to its Viera Cast line-up beginning with the 2010 model year. Panasonic TV's with Viera Cast from the 2008 or 2009 model years are not able to access Netflix or Skype. Mid-2010 a Twitter service was added. The Viera HDTVs and Blu-ray players featuring Viera Cast have a built-in

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...

interface; many models also have

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...

connectivity and thus no external box or PC is required. The service is accessed via a single button on the HDTV remote. Viera announced that it would extend the feature to three series of the company's 2009 Viera G, V and Z series of HDTVs. Panasonic also has three new stand-alone players and a portable

player that support the technology.

Availability

Availability of services differs per region/country/language. For example: In the Netherlands, it is mostly English content/services, but also some German (Bild.de, Tageschau). In Poland, users of the Viera Cast-enabled devices can access around 1,500 movies for free after Panasonic partnered with Polish Internet portal Iplex.pl as part of the company's bid to increase the uptake of interconnected television in the country. In Australia, 7plus is available on most models and Bloombergs sharemarket service was discontinued starting August 2011. The Viera Cast service is being replaced by a new platform called Viera Connect which is not backward compatible. However, if the television supported Viera Cast, it can be upgraded to the new smart TV as long as it is at least a 2010 model. The new service had an improved number of applications on offer as the platform is open to third-party developers. New features also include a remote app for easier text input and navigation using a smartphone or a tablet as well as a Viera Connect Market app store where users can download games and online services. In 2012, Panasonic added the UK

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

service to the Viera Connect. This new content is part of the larger upgrade to the platform, which - according to the company - allowed a more robust and interactive connected TV experience.

References

External links

Panasonic plasma TV streams YouTube, accesses Picasa photosPresentation On Viera Cast + Basic OverviewFine Print from Panasonic's U.S. website about the availability of Netflix and Skype on Viera Cast model TV's from the 2008 or 2009 model years
{{Panasonic Panasonic Interactive television

Development

Availability

See also

References

External links