Panasonic HZ1000 (TX-55HZ1000) OLED TV Review & Comments

Phil Hinton

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I recently changed my FZ802 for one of these at home and the improvements in posturisation and motion handing are significant, plus the addition of Dolby Vision of course. Its definitely the best TV ive had at home and probably the best ive ever had.

Dan
 
Thanks for the review, I think this will be my next tv purchase. Do you know if it can passthrough Truehd/Atmos/DTS-HD/DTS-X via eARC.
 
Thanks for the excellent review Phil :thumbsup:

Just took delivery of the 55HZ1500 which is for the main bedroom. Was going to get it calibrated but after reading your review think I’ll save myself a few hundred and just put it into Filmmaker mode...;):D
 
I recently changed my FZ802 for one of these at home and the improvements in posturisation and motion handing are significant, plus the addition of Dolby Vision of course. Its definitely the best TV ive had at home and probably the best ive ever had.

Dan
Hi Dan, I also have the FZ, can you explain in more detail what you mean regarding the improvements in motion? Do you use any IFC settings at all? Interested in your comparison.
 
Will also be keeping an eye on this thread. The HZ1000 is the front runner for me currently but the Philips 805 OLED is the dark horse.
Panasonic has the best near black performance and proper whites, 2 issues which annoy me quite a bit with my current LG B7 OLED.
The Philips 805 also appears to have very good near black performance plus excellent HDR performance with almost 150 nits brighter highlights over the Panny.

Phil, are the whites on the Philips 805 cyan tinted as I didn't see it mentioned in the review?
 
A question not focussed on specific this oled... But, I looked at the brightness-levels in the listed window-sizes in this review. I see that 1 %, 2 %, 5 % and 10 % are all equal at the same level.. 650 nits
So I think that even smaller little spots that are below 1 % window.. are also at this level 652 nits..
I was thinking that little spots could get brighter.. But I see that with 10 % window the the pixels are allready on their max.. Okay,.
I question this.. Because I always automatically took 1 % window as small. But if you think about it I find that it is allready BIG.. because a 55 inch tv has 123 cm width so as 10 x 10 = 100,.. Means that 1 % is a tenth of 123 cm,.. so 12,3 cm's wide.. That's a lot bigger than a candle light in the picture for instance..

But the review of the hisense U8QF showed even lower in 1 % window at 550 nits.. Although it had 1.250 nits at 10 % window. On 2 % the Hisense reached the 650 nits just like the panasonic oled does. But then the panasonic oled has 650 nits at 1 % and 2 % against absolute zero nits in the blacks..
And the hisense will have even lower max nits in a smaller window-size of a candle or a lamp in the image than 550 nits that it has in 1 %.
 
A question not focussed on specific this oled... But, I looked at the brightness-levels in the listed window-sizes in this review. I see that 1 %, 2 %, 5 % and 10 % are all equal at the same level.. 650 nits
So I think that even smaller little spots that are below 1 % window.. are also at this level 652 nits..
I was thinking that little spots could get brighter.. But I see that with 10 % window the the pixels are allready on their max.. Okay,.
I question this.. Because I always automatically took 1 % window as small. But if you think about it I find that it is allready BIG.. because a 55 inch tv has 123 cm width so as 10 x 10 = 100,.. Means that 1 % is a tenth of 123 cm,.. so 12,3 cm's wide.. That's a lot bigger than a candle light in the picture for instance..

But the review of the hisense U8QF showed even lower in 1 % window at 550 nits.. Although it had 1.250 nits at 10 % window. On 2 % the Hisense reached the 650 nits just like the panasonic oled does. But then the panasonic oled has 650 nits at 1 % and 2 % against absolute zero nits in the blacks..
And the hisense will have even lower max nits in a smaller window-size of a candle or a lamp in the image than 550 nits that it has in 1 %.

Ignore the U8QF as that has a FALD backlight and the algorithm also suppresses blooming, meaning that smaller windows or objects are deliberately suppressed to reduce blooming. This is common for all FALD sets with local dimming algorithms. This is why the smaller windows have a lower nit performance than 10 and 25% which are very bright.

In terms of the window measurements, it is important to remember that this is just one small part of what makes up an HDR image and that the tone mapping employed also makes a big difference. You are right that very small areas of the image are supposed to be where peak brightness and dynamic range helps to create very bright, but also detailed highlights.
 
Phil, are the whites on the Philips 805 cyan tinted as I didn't see it mentioned in the review?
Yes, the OLED805 has the cyan tint to whites seen with all WRGB panels (except the Panasonic)
 
A question not focussed on specific this oled... But, I looked at the brightness-levels in the listed window-sizes in this review. I see that 1 %, 2 %, 5 % and 10 % are all equal at the same level.. 650 nits
So I think that even smaller little spots that are below 1 % window.. are also at this level 652 nits..
I was thinking that little spots could get brighter.. But I see that with 10 % window the the pixels are allready on their max.. Okay,.
I question this.. Because I always automatically took 1 % window as small. But if you think about it I find that it is allready BIG.. because a 55 inch tv has 123 cm width so as 10 x 10 = 100,.. Means that 1 % is a tenth of 123 cm,.. so 12,3 cm's wide.. That's a lot bigger than a candle light in the picture for instance..

But the review of the hisense U8QF showed even lower in 1 % window at 550 nits.. Although it had 1.250 nits at 10 % window. On 2 % the Hisense reached the 650 nits just like the panasonic oled does. But then the panasonic oled has 650 nits at 1 % and 2 % against absolute zero nits in the blacks..
And the hisense will have even lower max nits in a smaller window-size of a candle or a lamp in the image than 550 nits that it has in 1 %.
One very important aspect you're not considering is power management and that's exactly what the Panasonic is using to dictate the panel's light output, when displaying the various patch sizes measured. Hisense clearly uses a different approach.

I think your maths are off but, if you think about the patch sizes differently, a 1% patch is equal to 83000 pixels being displayed.

Paul
 
Hi Dan, I also have the FZ, can you explain in more detail what you mean regarding the improvements in motion? Do you use any IFC settings at all? Interested in your comparison.
I always found the vertical motion an issue, but also IFC was aggressive on the old set even on its lowest setting. It seems to be a lot less "soapy" even on the low setting and I also find the BFI helps a lot. The main thing for me was the posturisation which I thought was poor on the old set. I've really not seen any on the HZ1000. So both issues I felt were letting it down were addressed, cant say more than that. Plus obviously the addition of DV.
 
I always found the vertical motion an issue, but also IFC was aggressive on the old set even on its lowest setting. It seems to be a lot less "soapy" even on the low setting and I also find the BFI helps a lot. The main thing for me was the posturisation which I thought was poor on the old set. I've really not seen any on the HZ1000. So both issues I felt were letting it down were addressed, cant say more than that. Plus obviously the addition of DV.
Previous years models suffered from very light frame skipping or judder. Many don’t notice it, and it certainly become better in recent years, but I wonder if you notice anything at all?
 
What an awfully awful fugly stand. If they are paying the guy who designed that atrocity, I wanna apply for the position right now because I think he should be fired.
 
What an awfully awful fugly stand. If they are paying the guy who designed that atrocity, I wanna apply for the position right now because I think he should be fired.

For me the stand ruins the aesthetic of the television.

The stand looks like an afterthought, as though it belongs on an older, cheaper model. It reminds me of my G10 plasma's stand all those years ago. Others may like the stand, or consider it a non issue.

As petty as it probably seems, the stand is the reason I won't buy this TV and wish I'd bought a GZ950 at outgoing prices.
 
What an awfully awful fugly stand. If they are paying the guy who designed that atrocity, I wanna apply for the position right now because I think he should be fired.
Yeah the stand makes it look more like a £189 set than an £1899 one. Thankfully I wall mount so it doesn't bother me much.
 
One very important aspect you're not considering is power management and that's exactly what the Panasonic is using to dictate the panel's light output, when displaying the various patch sizes measured. Hisense clearly uses a different approach.

I think your maths are off but, if you think about the patch sizes differently, a 1% patch is equal to 83000 pixels being displayed.

Paul
If you think my maths about the patch sizes are off. Please correct me.. If I read 1 % window... I think it's 1 percent of the total square-size. So it will be 1/100 part. And 10 x 10 = 100 ! So,.. 100 parts of 1/10th of width and height.. And that's a reasonable big part of the screen.. Not a candle light or star !
 
Possibly the wrong forum but the auto-brightness without materially impacting the picture; is that an option on the previous GZ range or new to this model year?
Reason for asking in my signature :)
 
Is the 65” the end of the line then?

No 75” due soon?

Seems odd...
 
Previous years models suffered from very light frame skipping or judder. Many don’t notice it, and it certainly become better in recent years, but I wonder if you notice anything at all?
Im very sensitive to refresh rates, I didn't notice the frame skip issue on either the FZ or this one. For me it is a total non issue.

Dan
 
I would like to know about this as well @Phil Hinton
Thanks...
After a bit of research, I'd say it definitely doesn't passthrough DTS-X. I don't think any current tv does but Sony & Philips tv's may be able to in the near future.
My guess is that the Panasonic's like a lot of current models, will only passthrough Dolby Digital & Dolby Digital+ (Lossy Atmos).
For me it totally defeats the purpose of advertising eARC as most people won't even use it now due to tv manufacturers refusing to support the required Audio Codec's.
 
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After a bit of research, I'd say it definitely doesn't passthrough DTS-X. I don't think any current tv does but Sony & Philips tv's maybe able to in the near future.
My guess is that the Panasonic's like a lot of current models, will only passthrough Dolby Digital & Dolby Digital+ (Lossy Atmos).
For me it totally defeats the purpose of advertising eARC as most people won't even use it now due to tv manufacturers refusing to support the required Audio Codec's.
Thanks for that, I suppose there is no point on relying on today's Smart TVs to do this as none of the streaming services offer Atmos in lossless anyway, it's just Dolby Digital Plus. And for the proper Dolby Atmos content you would have already invested in an AVR/Amp, Blu-ray Player and speaker system anyway.
 

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