Panasonic has launched is flagship OLED TV for 2022, the LZ2000, which is available in 55”, 65” and a new 77”.
For comfortable viewing, the LZ2000 uses advanced sensors to detect the ambient room light colour temperature and discretely adjusts the picture for a more natural picture. The new sensor works together with the HCX Pro AI processor to adjust each tone individually in the most realistic way based on the ambient light.
This new feature builds on Panasonic’s Auto AI mode, introduced last year, which uses AI to identify in real time the content being played to automatically optimise the picture and sound quality for the specific content, meaning that the viewer does not have to manually adjust the settings for different content styles.
For 2022, Panasonic has introduced a third size option – 77”. The company is calling the new size “Master OLED Pro – Cinema Size”.
All three sizes use the latest 2022 generation “Master OLED Pro” configuration, which has been custom engineered by Panasonic to deliver a brighter image through improvements in picture processing. This results in improved accuracy in reproducing details in brighter areas, enhancing the HDR.
The LZ2000 supports a range of HDR formats, including Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Vision, Filmmaker Mode, HDR10+ Adaptive, and HLG Photo.
Complementing the image, the LZ2000 has introduced directional sound in addition to Panasonic’s 360° Soundscape all-in-one TV audio package capable of delivering Dolby Atmos immersive audio experiences. The multiple built-in upward-firing, side-firing, and front-firing speaker units produce a spatial soundstage with Dolby Atmos content.
This year, the front-firing speakers have been replaced with array speakers (multiple speakers arranged in a row) which run the entire length of the TV behind the front speaker grille. This gives multiple benefits, including a wider sound stage and more precise, clear audio, as well as directional sound for an immersive experience.
Utilising an intuitive and easy-to-use GUI, the LZ2000 allows users to adjust the relative loudness of the audio in different parts of the room through three modes: “Pinpoint” mode allows the sound to be directed to one specific area; “Area” mode allows users to shift the sound to a group of people in a specific area of the room; and “Spot” mode boosts the volume in one particular spot while others can still hear the sound.
This directional sound feature gives multiple usability benefits. Parents with young children sleeping behind a wall on one side of the room can direct sound away from them to allow them to sleep while the parents still experience great sound. In addition, the volume can be boosted for a viewer who is hard of hearing while remaining normal for other viewers.
The LZ2000 also brings multiple gaming improvements. A new feature called Game Control Board collects all relevant game settings and information in one place and presents them as an overlay over the game so that gamers do not need to leave the game to access them.
The Game Control Board provides fast access to key features and data in real time. The Information option displays all the information coming from the source game, such as frame rate, HDR metadata, and chroma sub-sampling data. The Dark Visibility Enhancer allows the gamer to granularly adjust the near black portion of dark scenes, making it easier to see the route forward or detect enemies hiding in the shadows.
The HDR Tonemap shows the current HDR tone mapping settings, including Off (if the game console is managing the tone mapping); On (if the TV is managing the tone mapping); or Dynamic (TV analyses incoming frames in real time and produces dynamic tone mapping on a scene-by-scene basis, even when the source is static HDR).
Input Lag and VRR allows users to view and adjust the settings. Viewing Mode allows the gamer in real time to change the viewing mode and see the effect live in order to select the appearance they prefer.
Other new features include SPD Auto Game Mode, the automatic detection of compatible HDMI2.1 4K HFR/VRR-supporting NVIDIA GPUs, allowing the LZ2000 to automatically optimise both the input lag and VRR settings to deliver high performing gameplay.
Panasonic has also further reduced the input lag for 60Hz games, which are supported by most gaming consoles through the new 60Hz Refresh Mode.
The latest iteration of Panasonic’s smart TV OS, My Home Screen 7.0, is featured on the LZ2000, supporting major video streaming services and including some improvements in terms of accessibility and also to the myScenery function. The myScenery function allows users to choose a selection of restful images and videos, with more still imagery and a set of relaxing nature sounds from the Joy Foundation inc. having been added.
Users can access all related accessibility settings through a quick menu, which also triggers voice guidance. Voice control, audio descriptions, audio dialogue enhancement and hard-of-hearing subtitles can be configured easily.