Updates and differences in the 2020 Panasonic TV lineup: More Hollywood to more homes!

Panasonic presented its new TV products at the CES 2020 in Las Vegas. The focus was primarily on the high-end TV HZ2000 OLED. In general the slogan is “more Hollywood to more homes”.

Panasonic OLED TVs

Panasonic HZ2000 OLED

Panasonic is focusing on the Filmmaker Mode and Dolby Vision IQDynamic HDR-format with a color depth of up to 12 Bits and Mastering of up to 10,000 Nits, which can adapt to the ambient brightness in its new flagship model OLED HZ2000. Both use the Ambient Sensor to adapt the image to the environment. So far, the HZ2000 is confirmed in 55 and 65 inches.

Improved 2020 OLED Panel

The HZ2000 will use a 2020 OLED panel from LG-Display and, like its predecessor the OLED GZ2000, will again deliver higher maximum brightness than the competition. Panasonic achieves this through a better distribution of heat off the panel. According to Panasonic, the OLED can thus become about 20% brighter than OLEDs from other manufacturers, both in terms of maximum and average brightness. It is also characterised by a very high degree of colour accuracy.

Panasonic in 2020 with HDMI 2.1?

Of the HDMI 2.1 specifications, only the Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLMAuto Low Latency Mode - Automatically detects connected consoles and keeps input lag as low as possible.), as in the previous year, and for the first time HDMI eARC is supported. The variable refresh rateHertz is the derived SI-unit of frequency with 1Hz=1/s - When talking about TVs this means how many different pictures a TV can display in one second. or [email protected] will probably not be supported.

Black Frame Insertion

For better motion handling, the Black Frame Insertion (BFI) feature has also been revised. With the 2020 model, the length of the black frames of the 120Hz BFI can now be determined by the user. This eliminates the problem that the picture becomes noticeably darker or flickering when the BFI is activated.

Integrated Dolby Atmos

The Panasonic HZ2000 comes with an integrated Dolby AtmosObject-based surround sound format with 3D-Sound from any direction speaker system from Technics. Especially the Atmos channels have been improved, as the upfiring speakers responsible for these are located at the top of the screen.

Panasonic OLED HZ1500 & HZ1000

The two cheaper Panasonic OLED TVs come without the tuned panel, so they have the same panel as the LG CX, for example. The screen of both TVs can be swiveled on the center stand. Apart from that, they only differ from the flagship by the built-in speakers. The HZ1500 has an 80W 2.1.2 channel sound system and the HZ1000 only has 30W stereo speakers. But if you connect the TV to a AV-R or a Soundbar anyways, the HZ1000 is the cheaper and therefore more attractive OLED.

Panasonic LCD TVs

Panasonic will support both Dolby VisionDynamic HDR-format with a color depth of up to 12 Bits and Mastering of up to 10,000 Nits and HDR10+License-free, dynamic HDR-format in competition with Dolby Vision on all 2020 TVs. Dolby Atmos is also included on all TVs. All 2020 Panasonic LCDLCD = Liquid Crystal Display - a type of screen using liquid crystals for creating the image TVs will have an edge lit backlight.

Panasonic HX940

The best LCD TV from Panasonic, the HX940 has the same HCX Pro Intelligent processor as the OLED TVs. All sizes except 75 inch have IPSIn-Plane Switching, type of LCD Panel panels. The 75 inch version has a VA-LCD panel. The feet can be placed further inside as well as further outside. Only the largest 75 inch model is different; it has a central stand. Moreover, unlike the other 2020 Panasonic LCD TVs, the HX940 has a 120Hz panel instead of a 60Hz panel.

Dolby Vision IQ & Filmmaker Mode

Intelligent Sensing uses the Ambient Light Sensor to measure the brightness of the environment and analyzes the material so that the image processing can be adapted accordingly. For Dolby Vision material this works with Dolby Vision IQ and for all other HDRHigh Dynamic Range - image/video with more dynamic range (contrast range) formats with the intelligent Filmmaker Mode. This means that the image is always dynamically adapted to the environment, regardless of the type of content. The point is to always display the movies exactly the way the creators intended.

Hard Clipping

With the 2020 Panasonic HZ2000 you can switch off the Tone Mapping completely. This means that the EOTF curve is no longer adjusted, but follows the desired curve until the maximum brightness of the TV is reached. This maximum limit can even be set by the user (= hard clipping).

Also, more calibration options for very dark areas have been added to improve near-black performance.

2020 Panasonic TV lineup

This post is also available in: Deutsch