Panasonic Intros New Vertical Blu-ray Home Theater System

Panasonic's new SC-BTX70 may not look like a Blu-ray home theater system with its upright stance, but it is that…and more. It includes a Blu-ray Disc player, an iPod dock, an SD memory card slot and a USB terminal, all in its front panel.

The SC-BTX70 is a 2.1 system, yet gives you virtual 7.1 channel sound using Panasonic's advanced proprietary surround technology that delivers Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD virtual 7.1-channel surround sound through the two speakers and subwoofer. The system's 96-kHz Surround Re-master function even enhances the sound quality of CDs and raises the quality of the multi-channel audio data on Blu-ray Discs and DVDs for realistic sounds.

The SC-BTX70 also has Panasonic's PHL Chroma Processor Plus and High Precision 4:4:4 for original cinema quality playback of Blu-ray discs. Also, connecting the SC-BTX70 to the Internet, you can view videos on YouTube, photos on Picasa as well as access the Amazon Video-on-Demand (VOD) online movie rental service. Internet games can also be played and Blu-ray Disc bonus content can be downloaded with the BD-Live feature.

The system will be available in September 2009 for $999.95.