Today, Panasonic tentatively waded into the world of 4K OLED TVs with a new 65-inch set, following the successes of LG and Samsung with the relatively new display technology.
In the fall of 2013, Panasonic killed off its well-regarded line of plasmas televisions, and replaced them a few months later with a series of LED televisions that were impressively good looking. But for all of their color correctness, LEDs could never achieve the deep blacks that you used to get with plasma TVs.
That’s where OLED comes in to play. OLED pixels that are black are really infinitely black in a way that LEDs can never be because OLED pixels produce their own light, as opposed to being lit from the back or from the side. Despite the rising popularity of OLED TVs, the company has been hesitant to dive in.
The new TX-65CZ950 is a curved 65-inch affair, which is supposedly stamped and sealed by bonafide Hollywood types as a legit. Panasonic has a fancy sounding “4K Studio Master Processor” engine in there, which will make or break the picture quality. We’ll have to wait and see whether Panny’s move to OLED technology is a boon for your eyes, or just an empty fade to black.