Panasonic, a major maker of consumer electronics, demonstrated a prototype of a 20” tablet PC with 4K-class screen resolution at CES trade-show earlier this month. The product comes with Intel Core i5 microprocessor as well as discrete Nvidia GeForce graphics chip. The slate conceptually resembles Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon table PC that is set to be released in mid-2013, but will unlikely reach stores until late in the year.

Panasonic’s prototype of 20” tablet with 3840*2560 screen resolution is based on Intel Core i7 3427U (1.8GHz) “Ivy Bridge” microprocessor and is equipped with an unknown Nvidia GeForce graphics adapter capable of 4K resolution, 4GB DDR3 RAM (expandable to 16GB), 128GB solid-state drive, stereo speakers, microphone, 720p web-cam, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, microSD card reader and so on. The device weighs 2.4 kilograms (5.3lbs), just like a mainstream 15” notebook.

“Panasonic is gearing itself up to propose new business value this feature-rich device will offer to its customers in a wide range of industries. […] 20” 4K IPS Alpha LCD Panel combines a high precision Anoto Live digital pen with it for super precise input, something valued by an architect, engineer or 3D multimedia content creator, not to mention the photo-video editing or digital painting gurus,” wrote Nebojsa Novakovic, who has seen the device in action, in a story at the Bright Side of News web-site.

^{Image by Bright Side of News}

The 20” LCD panel with 3840*2560 and unique aspect ratio of 15:10, the tablet can display an A3-size paper in almost full size, making it ideal to show content such as newspapers and magazines, as well as pictures with the same aspect ratio. Moreover, the pen input, with a resolution as high as the panel itself, enables natural handwriting on the tablet.

Panasonic’s big replacement for iPad is supposed to hit the market this year, but the price is clearly unknown.

Tags: Panasonic, Microsoft, Windows, Windows 8