For many AV fans, OLED
has long looked like the next natural step in TV technology’s
evolution. The way each pixel in an OLED screen can make its own light
and colour presents a clear and present danger to the dominance of LCD
technology in the TV world. Unfortunately, though, difficulties
producing OLED screens in substantial numbers have severely hampered
OLED’s once seemingly irresistible rise, with only one brand - LG -
persevering with OLED TV technology into 2015.
Until now.
For after receiving rave
feedback on an OLED prototype at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show back
in January, Panasonic has now announced that it finally feels ready to
join the OLED party properly with an OLED TV you can actually buy rather
than just dream about. So real is this Panasonic OLED TV, in fact, that
it even has a model number: the TX-65CZ950.
As its name suggests, the 65CZ950 is a 65-inch TV. And as you’d expect from a cutting edge TV in 2015, its screen packs in a 4K UHD resolution of 3840x2160 pixels.
More controversially the 65CZ950’s screen follows the OLED trend of having a curved
rather than flat screen. Whatever your thoughts about this from a
viewing experience perspective, though, there’s no doubt that the curve
gives the TV a seriously stylish appearance. Especially as Panasonic has
underlined its TV’s opulent nature (we’ll come to the small matter of
its price presently) by upholstering - yes, that’s right, upholstering -
its rear in fancy artificial suede substitute Alcantara.
At which point I guess I can’t avoid the price question any longer.
So here goes: Panasonic has announced an
eye-watering UK cost for the 65CZ950 of £7999 - which converts to around
$12,350 (though Panasonic has yet to confirm US launch details for its
new flagship TV). It’s fair to say, then, that upholstering its rear in
Alcantara is the very least Panasonic needs to do if it’s to persuade us
to hand over so much money.
Especially when LG’s 65-inch 65EG9600 OLED TVs are now available for just $6,000.
Cue
Panasonic’s OLED-optimised 4K Pro video processing system. This aims to
prove that just using an OLED panel is in truth only one part of the
picture quality story; how you address and drive all those OLED pixels
is just as important.
There are a number of key elements to the
Panasonic 4K Pro engine in the 65CZ950. The first is its use of a 3D
Lookup table system for its colour reproduction that covers all three
primary and all three secondary colours to apparently deliver the sort
of tonal accuracy previously only seen on hugely expensive professional
monitors.
Also potentially critical to justifying the 65CZ950’s
cost is an advanced gradation system designed to eke out more subtle
shadow detailing and gradations in dark areas. OLED is rightly famed for
its ability to deliver an almost pure black colour, but actually the
step between complete, zero luminance brightness and merely low light
levels is very difficult to achieve convincingly. But Panasonic claims
to have cracked the problem by drawing on ‘Absolute Black’ technology
developed through its long experience of now defunct plasma technology.
This should help the 65CZ950 avoid the sort of lighting ‘bands’ and
sudden grey infusions seen at certain brightness levels on LG’s
otherwise excellent OLED TVs (like the 55EG9600 reviewed here).
To
cement Panasonic’s belief that the 65CZ950 gets closer than ever before
to the brand’s mission of reproducing pictures from TVs that look
exactly as film directors intended them to look when they created them
for the cinema, it’s called on the services of renowned Hollywood
colourist Mike Sowa to tune the 65CZ950’s colours. Sowa, whose film
credits include Oblivion and Insurgent, has also given
his official seal of approval to the 65CZ950’s overall picture quality,
with his personal settings available on the OLED TV’s True Cinema
picture preset.
The 65CZ950 is additionally the first OLED TV to receive THX certification.
While this is certainly significant with regard to the 65CZ950’s
capabilities with today’s picture quality standards, though, it’s less
exciting for me than the fact that the 65CZ950 will also play the next
generation of high dynamic range (HDR) video that’s now starting to be
streamed by Amazon and UltraFlix, and which is also a mandatory requirement of the upcoming Ultra HD Blu-ray format.
Set
to go on sale in Europe in October, the 65CZ950 will hopefully find its
way onto my test benches in the next few weeks. So watch this space if
you’re keen to find out if this potentially ground-breaking TV lives up
to the hype - and that price tag.
By John Archer
TV/Video Expert
