Panasonic's top-of-the-line VT25-series plasma TVs are expected to arrive in Canadian stores in late May or early June. Their big claim to fame is 3D capability; but (not coincidentally) they also perform magnificently with 2D fare. Panasonic is not the first vendor to deliver 3D HDTV in Canada. That honour belongs to Samsung, whose C7000-series of 3D-capable LED-edgelit LCDs hit Canadian stores in late March. I will be reviewing one of these sets over the next few days.

While Panasonic's TC-P54VT25 isn't the first 3D TV to hit Canadian stores, it's the first to arrive in my home theatre. For the past week, I've been watching a limited range of 3D and wide range of 2D HDTV programming on this 54-inch plasma, which will retail for $3,500. While my loaner unit was a technical sample as opposed to a production model, it appears to be working perfectly, so I'm comfortable writing a full review on the product.

The VT25 series also includes 50-, 58- and 65-inch models for $3,000, $4,000 and $5,000 respectively. Included with each TV is one pair of active-shutter LCD glasses. Additional glasses are available for $150. Along with the TV, Panasonic supplied its DMP-BDT350 3D-capable Blu-ray player ($600).

The TC-P54VT25 is a very handsome TV. It sits on a stylish black rectangular base with silver trim along the perimeter. The screen is framed in a black bezel that appears to have a subtle espresso tinge. All V25-series plasmas are deeper than last year's V10 series: 90mm compared to 55mm. They come with an easy-to-use remote with large, well-labeled keys, which are backlit so they're easy to find in the dark.

Cosmetically, the DMP-BDT350 Blu-ray player is fairly non-descript: it looks like a standard-issue black-box Blu-ray/DVD player. Compared to earlier players, this 3D model is pretty speedy. It powers up in 24 seconds, and loads our calibration Blu-ray disc in 25 seconds. The remote is easy to understand, but unfortunately lacks backlighting. It has dual HDMI outputs, which is very useful for 3D viewing. For 3D, all components need to support the latest iteration of the HDMI spec: Version 1.4. Of course, all 3D Blu-ray players and 3D TVs have HDMI 1.4 connectivity. But what if you have a surround-sound receiver with an earlier version of HDMI. That will be a very common situation; which you can address by connecting the main HDMI output to your 3D TV, and the secondary HDMI output (which is intended for audio) to your A/V receiver.