Panasonic TH-65EZ950U (65")

Good got even better – In a fit of tech lust we splashed out on a sparkly new TV & not just any TV but one of the largest OLED Smart TVs available at the time! Coming from a tech background ourselves we understood OLED commands a serious price premium over conventional LCD/LED but hadn't been around long enough to establish market cred for longevity or servicability. It… Read more ·  1

was bit of a leap in faith not to be left with an orphan but for us the image quality & cinema "wow" experience were compelling enough reasons. We chose Panasonic over the equivalent LG (even though LG makes & supplies actual panels to all other OLED brands) due to customer service coverage & maturity of japanese brands especially if residing outside major metro cities. So it was some relief when just outside 12 month warranty the TV started displaying anomalies with computer generated graphics such as the menu & program guide being distorted (broadcast reception was unaffected) & we contacted Panasonic for assistance. Panasonic worked with us for remote diagnosis including photos & video evidence of the anomalies and organised a repair agent to pick up the TV, replace an offending PCB, return & reinstall. No stuffing around, no passing the buck, no blaming the customer they just got on with ensuring an already good product experience also became a +ve customer service experience. Whilst we would prefer not to have any product glitches, having a glitch & how it's resolved really sharpens & defines our brand respect. 5 years later the Panasonic is still going strong which helped guide our next appliance purchase. ps: for any audio philes out there, the inbuilt speakers are good enuff for casual viewing but for full movie experience we still route audio thru a home cinema system.

Very good over all – I am 80% satisfied with this tv, it only has one main fault and that is that images burn easily on to the screen, leaving a black mark in all other programes. It is a beautiful big tv to wnjoy any sort of programme and has fantastic clarity and sound.  Show details

Fantastic OLED TV – We bought this because it was OLED and were not disappointed. It's a very stylish TV that fits easily on an entertainment unit as the stand is not too deep. The blacks are so black that movies are very immersive, and the colours are vibrant. The menus are also very comprehensive and easy to use - it's a great smart TV all round.  Show details

Good tv – Very good tv with lots of good tech features n good sound aspects. Picture is great n size just right. Quality overall very good. Can watch sport n movies to good effect. Can change screen for particular modes of what you’re watching. Would buy this tv again in the future.  Show details

An excellent 4K OLED TV that needs some minor setting tweaks out of the box – The picture quality is absolutely superb out of this TV on all inputs; BluRay (HD), Foxtel (HD) and Netflix (Ultra HD/4K, HDR). However, you do need to adjust the settings rather than stick with the default picture setting "Normal". The "THX Cinema" & "Professional 1" are much better in their default settings compared to "Normal". The blacks… Read more

are astounding, so much that you cannot tell where the screen finishes and the plastic frame surround starts when the screen edges are showing black.

Also make sure Intelligent Frame Creation is off as it can make the picture look like a cheap video (also known as the Soap-Opera Effect) due to its hyper-smooth motion. Hard to describe unless you see it (some may like it).

I thought the picture in all modes was a little too black in dimly lit scenes which required me to calibrate the picture.

*** The TV will benefit immensely from a little calibration *** I know this might sound a little over the top but you will get your money's worth back in spades if you use the Spears & Munsil calibration tool. http://spearsandmunsil.com/portfolio/hd-benchmark-2-0/ This is a pretty easy to follow BluRay disc that will help you adjust the TV for the best picture. I thought the picture could not get any better until I used the calibration disc.

My experience is the screen will improve the picture from any HD source (Foxtel and Free to Air). It excels with 4K Netflix using the built-in app (has many other App capabilities). Just as an aside, as I understand it, Netflix transmits 4K video at around 16-18Mbps. A 4K Bluray disc actually delivers 48Mbps (higher audio quality as well) so I assume if you wanted to drop an additional $1000 on a 4K BluRay player you would have the complete setup but I am not sure whether the picture would be $1000 better than what I see :-)

The colours pop out at you due to the High dynamic Range (HDR). Most OLED screens are manufactured by LG which, if I am not mistaken, the Panasonic uses. However the real magic in the TV is the electronics that go into driving the screen. THX compliant, that is why it is called a "Pro" screen.

If you are in the market, buy one, use the calibration tool and you will be amazed.

More than meets the eye – We purchased this TV after our LG 65" unfortunately suffered damage during a move. They make these darn things so slim these days that they are very fragile to screen flex! I loved most things about the LG, but the fragility was of great concern, so I looked at other models including the Panasonic. Two things that attracted me straight away -… Read more

firstly, the section of razor thin panel which is left sticking out at the top of the unit is far smaller on the Panasonic than on the LG. This provides a sturdier base section for wall mount brackets and also makes it easier to handle. The second immediate benefit I saw was that the majority of outlet ports on the back were facing towards the side. If you are wall mounting the TV, you will want this feature. The LG always had issues with clearance when cables were plugged into the back.

I don't need to go into a review of picture or panel quality. Lots of professional reviews online will show you that this is a fantastic picture. The OLED definitely stands out from any LCD. So from a user experience, here's my list of pro's and cons for the 950U:

Negatives:

- The Dragon UI on this set is substandard in my view. Coming from an LG, this seemed like a step backwards. TV guide turns off all audio and picture for example. The apps panel does more of less the same and seems outdated and awkward. It's only in the last month that they put the Amazon app support into the set.

- You can't get the TV to switch channels automatically by scheduling your next viewing preference (e.g. from the built in tv guide or via Freeview)

- The smartphone app is very clunky - with multiple screens and giant buttons that don't support push & hold (e.g. for volume) and no selectable channel list. There are some minor hidden gems however (see Positives below)

- The anti reflective coating is very red. Quite noticeable when viewed from the side in a well lit room. The LG OLED panels look much better in that regard.

- The built-in speakers are terrible compared to the Harmon Kardon in the LG (but not a huge issue; if you have the funds to buy one of these, get a sound bar or hook it up to your audio system)

- You do get two remotes (one touch remote and a standard button version) but neither version is anything special in this price category. The touch remote looks flash and gets a microphone for voice search and control but is otherwise clunky and of limited use.

- When connecting the TV to a wired network (via the RJ45 port), you don't get to control it with the wireless smartphone app on the same network. Thankfully the wireless connectivity works well.

Positives:

- Brilliant picture quality; OLED panel from LG - enough said.

- This set has two digital tuners. Incredible - a feature that every high-end TV had twenty years ago is making a comback ?!. Anyway, it's great since it allows for some really neat features, such as streaming live TV to your smartphone and side-by side viewing of two channels (would have been nice to have had picture-in-picture or resizable screens, but no).

- The TV can be set to act as a DLNA server, whereby it broadcasts not only content from the recorder or USB devices, but also the available TV channels from the 2nd tuner! Although it's limited to streaming to one device, this means you can watch any other TV channel on another media device (e.g. a smartphone, computer / laptop, a game console etc.), even when the main TV panel is turned off. Easily one of the best features in any smart TV.

- By holding the home button you can display an overlay of live previews for other channels, weather, or web browser content on the side of the picture.

- The smartphone app has a superb color adjustment feature for very detailed settings.

Overall there's some room for improvement on the user interface and smart TV functions, but this is a great television and one you will definitely enjoy watching.