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Panasonic's new OLED TVs offer improved sound and gaming features
- The Panasonic LZ2000 packs a ton of great gaming features.
- The TV offers AI-driven, automatic ambient light temperature picture optimization.
- Panasonic added an array of speakers with directional audio, as well as multiple side-firing speakers to generate Dolby Atmos sound.
Panasonic announced the Panasonic LZ2000 OLED TV at CES 2022. This is its new flagship TV that will come in 55-inch, 65-inch, and — for the first time — a 77-inch size. Panasonic says it took special care to improve the set’s color tuning. Meanwhile, it enhanced gaming and audio capabilities in order to appeal to a wider range of potential buyers.
Panasonic LZ2000: A broader palette
Panasonic employed two main tools to optimize the LZ2000’s color reproduction. It tackled AI-based ambient light detection and worked directly with movie colorists to fine-tune how the LZ2000 handles brightness.
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Like many of today’s smartphones, the LZ2000 includes an ambient light sensor. This, combined with Panasonic’s new HCX Pro artificial intelligence chip, assesses the amount of light in the viewing space as well as that light’s overall tone. It then uses Panasonic’s Auto AI mode to identify the content being played on the set and adjust on the fly to create the most natural-looking picture.
For example, the Panasonic LZ2000 can seamlessly switch to cinema mode when watching movies. Likewise, it can auto-switch to sports mode when watching live sports. In other words, no more manual switching between TV picture modes.
The LZ2000 also makes use of what Panasonic calls Master OLED Pro configuration to push brightness in certain segments of the backlight. The company says this results in a mid-level brightness jump. It simultaneously improves HDR while also boosting accuracy in bright regions of the set. It did this by teaming with Company 3, a California-based firm that helps movie studios create color palettes for their films.
Taking direction
Panasonic added more speakers to the LZ2000 OLED TV to further enhance the audio experience available to viewers in their living rooms.
The company started with its Panasonic 360-degree Soundscape audio package. This already includes Dolby Atmos-quality speakers. Additionally, the LZ2000 has upward-, side-, and front-firing speakers that create a wide soundstage. For 2022, Panasonic has a new array of speakers that run the entire length of the TV set. The company says this broad array can offer more precise audio that is clearer.
Moreover, using new easy-to-adjust software, owners can adjust relative loudness from any given speaker to provide different volume levels in different parts of the room. This lets people pinpoint sound to a specific spot, shift sound to a group of people in a given area, or raise the volume in one spot while keeping it level in other areas. The idea is to let people adjust the audio of their set to accommodate, for example, viewers who may be hard of hearing.
Monitoring the game
The Panasonic LZ2000 OLED TV is making a big play for gamers. It offers the Game Control Board and better tuning for the various frame rates of today’s games.
The Game Control Board is a new feature and it acts a lot like similar features on gaming phones. For example, it puts all the pertinent game settings and controls in a single spot and makes them available in an overlay that’s accessible via one click on the remote control. In the Game Control Board, gamers can reveal data from the source game, such as frame rate, HDR, and chrome sub-sampling data. They can also adjust the granularity of back level settings, reveal HDR settings, and more.
The LZ2000 claims to have reduced input lag for 60Hz games via its new 60Hz Refresh Mode. Moreover, the TV supports critical HDMI 2.1 features such as High Frame Rate and Variable Refresh Rate at 120Hz in 4K resolution. Panasonic says this resolves some console-side problems like jitter.
Finally, the TV includes Panasonic’s smart TV OS, called My Home Screen 7.0, which is compatible with most major video streaming services. It offers easy access to accessibility settings such as voice control, audio descriptions, subtitles, and more.
Panasonic said the LZ2000 OLED TV will be available in Europe, Asia, and Japan. The TV’s availability and price will vary by country as a result.