The Panasonic MZ2000 is the final word house cinema package deal

For lots of flagship TVs this yr, brightness has been a key focus – and no extra so than for “conventional” OLEDs, for which this has standardly been one among their largest weaknesses.

The Panasonic MZ2000 isn’t any completely different. It’s the cream of Panasonic’s OLED crop this year, and makes use of the identical brightness boosting MLA (Micro Lens Array) know-how because the LG G3.

This goals to push the brightness out to the viewer extra successfully, through the use of billions of lenses within the panel to higher mirror outwards gentle, making footage brighter and HDR extra impactful.

Not simply that, it additionally packs what appears to be like to be a really succesful Atmos sound system in-built too. Does the MZ2000 make a late cost in what’s been an unimaginable yr for TVs? Right here’s my full assessment.

Panasonic

Panasonic MZ2000

Editor’s selection

The Panasonic MZ2000 serves up all the standard advantages of OLED, with a brighter total image and nice image processing for a very cinematic efficiency. Add in a powerful function set and very good built-in sound, and it raises the bar of what an excellent TV appears to be like like in 2023. It is a complete house cinema package deal.

Professionals

• Lovely, cinematic image efficiency
• One of many brightest OLEDs you should buy
• Nice built-in sound
• Full complement of HDR assist

Cons

• Solely two 4K/120Hz HDMI
• Not nice for wall mounting

Pricing, specs and availability

The MZ2000 is on the market in a selection of 55, 65 and 77 inches, and retails for £2,699, £3,599 and £4,499 respectively. Sadly there aren’t any costs for the US as Panasonic does not promote its TV in North America.

That makes the MZ2000 one of many dearer OLEDs this yr, coming near the Sony A95L‘s £2,999 price ticket at this examined 55-inch display measurement. By comparability, the MZ2000’s MLA competitors, the LG G3, prices “simply” £1,900, with Samsung’s flagship QD-OLED, the S95C costing £1,899.

Design

The design of the MZ2000 appears to be like very a lot the identical as final yr, with slim bezels sitting on a round central pedestal, which swivels. This helps it to sit down on slender furnishings that the huge ft of Sony’s A95L could make troublesome – one thing I respect, as somebody with restricted house (and a penchant for big-screen tellies). It’’s maybe a barely practical look, however it’s good sufficient.

You may additionally discover the MZ2000’s built-in sound system, a 360-degree Soundscape Professional Dolby Atmos setup, tuned by Technics, that contains a traditional-looking soundbar in-built alongside the underside, two upfiring audio system sitting on the highest of the panel – simply out of sight – and a pair of side-firing drivers too.

This beneficiant setup for a TV is able to 150W of sound, and if different iterations of it are a sign, you might – as is certainly Panasonic’s intention – not want an exterior sound system in any respect.

In actual fact, utilizing a soundbar wouldn’t solely look a bit foolish, you might also battle to get it to sit down below the display, as a consequence of it sitting somewhat low on the pedestal. The excellent news is, I do not suppose you’ll want to fret – however extra on that in a bit.

Connections comprise 4 HDMI ports, although like a few of its competitors, the MZ2000 solely manages to make two of those 4K/120Hz succesful (Dolby Imaginative and prescient gaming solely at 4K/60Hz), for VRR/ALLM assist.

The truth that one among these can be the eARC port limits your choices additional right here, although its succesful built-in sound system could assist to ease this port stress a bit of.

There’s additionally an optical digital out, three USBs, a 3.5mm AV enter and a headphones/subwoofer in. There’s ethernet should you do not need to use the built-in Wi-Fi, and naturally tuners for terrestrial TV or satellite tv for pc.

Panasonic continues to shun the development for smaller, slimmer remotes, with the inclusion of a completely huge one within the field. I may lose among the issues on there, however it’s complete to say the least, and consists of shortcuts for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, YouTube, Freeview Play and Rakuten TV on the high.

It’s fairly plastic-y although, and does not look as premium as you may anticipate from a TV at this degree.

In contrast to its large competitor, the LG G3, the MZ2000 feels prefer it was made to sit down on its stand. Its built-in sound system makes it comparatively chunky on the again – that makes no odds when you’ll be able to’t see it after all, however it’s higher for a TV to be on the slimmer aspect when wall mounting. That does not imply it is not attainable, however should you’d been planning that in your subsequent TV, it is one thing to contemplate.

Options

The MZ2000 could look similar to its predecessor, however inside, it is a very completely different story.

In fact, there’s that MLA panel I discussed above, nicknamed the Grasp OLED Final, which has one of many largest impacts on the MZ2000’s efficiency, providing a claimed 50 per cent brightness enhance on the five-star LZ2000.

Nevertheless, it is price mentioning right here, that the 77-inch model makes use of a unique panel, which does not use MLA know-how – so efficiency may very well be very completely different. In case you like what you learn on this assessment, follow the 55- or 65-inch variants to make sure you’ll get the identical.

Regardless of which measurement you go for, the Panasonic’s HCX Professional AI processor is working the present, promising Panasonic’s finest color accuracy and high notch AI-enhanced image processing. There’s additionally optimised warmth administration too, permitting the the system to push for these brighter footage, with out inflicting it to overheat.

The MZ2000 has the complete complement of assist for HDR, with HDR10 and HLG, in addition to HDR10+ Adaptive as effectively as Dolby Vision IQ – which perceive the quantity of ambient gentle within the room and tweak the HDR efficiency to swimsuit.

The ambient gentle sensor in control of this additionally works with the Netflix Calibrated Mode that is on board right here, in addition to an improved Filmmaker Mode – essentially the most correct mode you will get out of the field. However extra on that shortly.

Panasonic’s good TV system is dealt with by its personal comparatively easy, minimally invasive My Residence Display 8.0.

Press the “Residence” button on the distant, and a scrollable bar of round thumbnails will overlay over no matter you might be watching. It has all of the streaming apps you would need, with a pop-up rail of suggestions showing above it once you choose an app for greater than a second.

You may also add or take away companies and transfer them round relying in your preferences. Count on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and AppleTV+ amongst others, plus all of the UK’s TV catch up companies, due to Freeview Play.

There’s additionally the choice to load up My Surroundings, which lets you show your selection of “restful photographs or video” – generally accompanied by corresponding Dolby Atmos soundtracks. Get pleasure from a soothing picture of a rainforest with a soundtrack to match, should you want downtime earlier than mattress.

Avid gamers can profit from a brand new Recreation Management Board on the MZ2000, which – alongside the particular Recreation Mode in image settings – ought to make gaming all of the extra insightful.

It’s going to show particulars like decision, HDR and body charge, which you’ll view at any time, in addition to select particular sound modes for the sport kind you are enjoying and improve darker areas of a recreation for improved visibility it (I will not inform should you do not).

Lastly, there’s voice help out there by way of Alexa (you will must press the mic button on the distant to activate, as soon as arrange), or you can even use Google Assistant to get requests to the TV, when you have a suitable gadget within the family.

Image efficiency

Out of the field, you’ve got acquired a minimum of 13 image modes to select from – in SDR mode at the very least, and virtually the identical in HDR10/HDR10+.

Essentially the most correct of those is Filmmaker Mode – for each SDR and HDR content material – which turns off all extra processing and preserves issues like color, facet ratio and body charges from the unique supply, making certain you see what the director needed you to.

Whereas different modes is perhaps instantly extra participating, it is the mode I would suggest attempting out first. It will not get you the brightest image although – nor will or not it’s the place these large peak brightness numbers will likely be measured from.

That is reserved for the Dynamic Mode, however – like most modes of this ilk – it verges on cartoonish in its color dealing with, and never one thing I would suggest in any respect.

In case you really feel such as you want a brightness increase on Filmmaker Mode, you would strive the extra palatable Skilled 1. This boosts the luminance whereas preserving further processing off, however you may even see a knock on impact on black degree, so bear that in thoughts.

A fast point out, too, for Auto AI mode, which makes use of AI to detect what you are watching and adjusts the TV’s settings appropriately. Nevertheless, I discovered it a bit of unreliable, and that it had an inclination to verge in direction of cooler tones than I would favor.

Dolby Imaginative and prescient content material is fortunately way more straight ahead, with simply three choices to select from. The one to stay with right here – until you might have a devoted darkened cinema room – is the default, Dolby Imaginative and prescient IQ. Easy.

Whichever mode you select (and you may set completely different modes for various sources), I would suggest turning off all processing and extra options to start with after which including it again in slowly should you suppose the image wants it. Panasonic’s native image dealing with actually does not want that a lot assist in any respect.

That mentioned, there are some things to be careful for. For instance, until you are watching in a extremely darkish room, preserving the Auto Brightness on below Ambient Sensor Settings permits the image to subtly dim up or down primarily based in your surroundings. That is significantly useful in vivid rooms, the place the additional brightness of the MZ2000 actually comes into its personal, and also will be wanted for superior HDR modes, like Dolby IQ, to work.

One other factor to look out for is Clever Body Creation – that is the title for Panasonic’s movement processing. I discovered the MZ2000 handles movement fairly effectively with none extra assist, however should you suppose it wants it, a ‘minimal’ setting might help to easy out any niggles with out being too heavy handed. Something greater than that causes unnatural smoothing and distracting image artefects, which is way worse than a little bit of movement blur in my books.

So now you are arrange, how does the TV look? Briefly, it is as about as cinematic because it will get.

Panasonic is understood for its image processing prowess, and that is on present right here from the second you begin watching. There is a actually pure dealing with of all footage, however with loads of punch to color once you want it too.

From a brightness perspective, there’s most likely not rather a lot in it when put next with its 2023 flagship competitors, however the step up from final yr – and certainly from this yr’s succesful vary of sub-flagship fashions – is evident.

Even in my comparatively vivid lounge, the brightness on provide right here is sufficient to maintain distracting reflections at bay, and isn’t just including punch to highlights but in addition elevating the APL (common image degree) to be total brighter too.

Beginning with the great things, and a 4K HDR10+ streaming of John Wick: Chapter 4 from Prime Video appears to be like excellent. Within the scene the place the Harbinger visits the New York Continental to provide its proprietor an hour’s discover earlier than its destruction, the variable lighting of the moody setting is excellently dealt with.

Blacks are as inky deep as solely an OLED can muster, however an excellent degree of shadow element is retained too, giving depth and texture to the whole lot from swimsuit jackets to leather-based briefcases.

As daylight pours by means of some excessive home windows into the darkened room, it exactly highlights areas on in any other case shadowed faces.

Leather-based chairs choose up a wealthy reflection the place they dimple, lamps glow warmly on aspect tables, and the sand timer that counts down the hour till the lodge’s destiny glistens simply so – the brightness of those refined highlights won’t be one thing you’d suppose to select normally watching, however it’s this consideration to element that makes all of the distinction to the broader viewing expertise.

In John Wick’s desert chase scene, simply moments earlier, the MZ2000 additionally exhibits what it may well do with brighter scenes. The gloriously daring, burnt orange sand sits dramatically in opposition to the brilliant blue sky, with very good element retrieval giving a tangible depth to the sweeping surroundings, in order that it virtually appears to be like 3D.

Colors are brilliantly dealt with throughout the board too. As this scene exhibits, there’s a richness out there when it is wanted, however there’s subtlety in spades too, and pores and skin tones look spot on.

Switching to a Dolby Imaginative and prescient Netflix stream of Intercourse Schooling and there is a slight raise in total image brightness, with but extra left to push behind the white writing that overlays once you pause it. It is piercingly vivid.

Colors look simply as nice right here, with loads of pop behind the 80s-inspired clothes. But change to the low-lit scenes of Seven Kings Should Die, one thing many TVs can battle with, and the MZ2000 takes them in its stride, retaining element, avoiding black crush and looking out nearly as good as I’ve seen it.

Drop right down to a full HD stream of Drive and the MZ2000’s upscaling capability is laid out for all to see. It is very good, and free from noise and another processing quirks. Except you’re being very choosy certainly, it is virtually unattainable to decipher that this isn’t 4K.

HD TV broadcasts won’t be fairly so undetectable, with some faint element softness in faces and descriptions, however it’s solely actually customary definition broadcasts the place issues get questionably fuzzier. Color dealing with stays actually stable throughout the board although, making something you throw on the MZ2000 very watchable certainly.

Sound efficiency

It isn’t fairly often that I am going to say this, however with the MZ2000, you may make do and not using a soundbar long run. The sound system that’s in-built right here is de facto that good.

You may be prompted to set it up correctly once you arrange the TV, with a comparatively quick, however loud, calibration course of known as House Tune – exhibiting it means enterprise. As soon as completed there are additional choices to re-run the method or tweak the leads to the menu must you require them, however I did not must.

There’s additionally the choice for various sound modes, however I discovered the default Customary labored for many issues. There’s additionally Speech, Music and Stadium choices, the latter attempting to emulate the expertise of being within the crowd at sports activities occasions, plus a customized person setting – or you’ll be able to go away it within the palms of Auto AI to pick for you.

It is a loud, ahead presentation, which has quantity to spare. Voices sound pure and centered, there’s weight within the low finish for giving battle scenes authority, and encompass results are pushed fairly huge too. It is a significantly greater sound than you’d anticipate from a TV.

Watching one thing with an Atmos soundtrack on Netflix delivers a noticeably extra ethereal and open presentation, and whereas peak results are dangled in a 3D house someplace above the TV somewhat than above you, the soundspace is way greater, and extra detailed than just about any TV I’ve heard this yr.

In case you actually end up wanting extra, there’s the choice for including a subwoofer, although I believe what’s on provide right here will likely be greater than sufficient for almost all of individuals.

Verdict

The Panasonic MZ2000 is a fantastically vivid OLED TV that serves up all the standard advantages of OLED, with a brighter total image and extra impactful HDR.

It is nice to have all HDR codecs supported too, and whilst you may spend loads of time within the menus tweaking settings if you want, choosing Filmmaker Mode out of the field offers you a stable beginning floor inside minutes of getting it out of the field.

The images that the Panasonic MZ2000 is able to are nothing lower than very good, producing a finely detailed, cinematic image that appears nice with the whole lot you throw at it. The image processing right here is simply effortlessly good.

Add in a surprisingly succesful built-in sound system, and the MZ2000 delivers an impressive efficiency that raises the bar, as soon as once more, of what an excellent TV appears to be like like in 2023. It is a complete house cinema package deal.