Panasonic has today unveiled its OLED TV line-up for 2021 featuring HDMI 2.1 with 4K120 and VRR. Panasonic is also bringing its brighter 'Professional Edition' panel to the more affordable JZ1500.
Panasonic 2021 OLED TV
At CES 2021 in January, Panasonic unveiled its new JZ2000 flagship OLED TV. Today, the company announced JZ1500, JZ1000, and JZ980 OLED TV ranges in 48, 55, and 65 inches.
Panasonic is bringing its 'Professional Edition' OLED panel from JZ2000 down into the more affordable JZ1500 range (except 48 inches) without the full speaker system.
- "For OLED, Panasonic complemented the flagship JZ2000 with new JZ1500, JZ1000, and JZ980 series, with the latter three series available in 65-inch, 55-inch, and – new for 2021 – 48-inch sizes. As with the JZ2000, these sets share the colour tuning of Stefan Sonnenfeld, Founder and CEO of Company 3 and a trusted collaborator of some of the world’s best filmmakers. Combined with Panasonic technical colour accuracy, these new OLED TVs will accordingly set the benchmark for watching cinematic and premium content," announced Panasonic.
The company is introducing an upgraded 'HCX Pro AI processor' that can optimize the picture based on the type of content being viewed, it said. The new processor also features a 'Game Mode Extreme' to further reduce input lag with game consoles. During a virtual presentation, Panasonic measured 10.9 ms input lag for 60Hz and just 2.5 ms for 120Hz VRR.
Update: Panasonic has sent us the following statement regarding its demo set-up:
- "During the TV event on the 25th of March we have shown a VRR / Low lnput lag demo. During the demo we explained that we were measuring the time between the signal entering the TV HDMI input until it is just about to be displayed on screen. In other words, we were showing the time taken by the internal digital processing only. The set-up of the demo measured the input delay until the point just before displaying the signal on the screen, therefore it did not show the full latency (digital processing time + screen display time)."
Panasonic 2021 OLED TVs
HDMI 2.1, with updates
Another new development this year is HDMI 2.1 in all OLED TV ranges; JZ2000, JZ1500, JZ1000, and JZ980. The TVs will be equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports. With updates later this year, Panasonic will enable 4K120 input as well as VRR for 4K120.
- "At the time of shipping, these ports will support 4K input, but, in the case of 4K High Frame Rate and 4K@120Hz VRR, will only display half the vertical resolution. During 2021 we issue a firmware update which will restore full support for 4K High Frame Rate," the company said. "In the case of 4K@120Hz VRR we will make a further announcement in due time. Please note that resolutions other than 4K@120Hz VRR, such as Full HD and 4K@60Hz VRR, will be supported from time of shipping without issue."
In addition, the TVs will support AMD FreeSync Premium.
Panasonic 2021 OLED TVs
HDR, AV1, Filmmaker Mode
Panasonic's 2021 OLED TVs will come with a refreshed version the My Home Screen platform. Version 6.0 introduces 'My Scenery' (a selection of restful images and videos) and 'Dual Bluetooth Connection' (allows the TV to transmit sound to two separate Bluetooth devices simultaneously).
My Home Screen 6.0 will not come to TV models from 2020 or earlier.
For the first time, Panasonic's TVs will also support AV1 video decoding. AV1 is backed by Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Netflix, and other. It is royalty-free and is 20-40% more efficient than HEVC, depending on who you ask.
There is also a remote control in 2021 that has been "modelled on the rounded shape of decorative bowls. The round edges also make it ergonomic and comfortable to hold." FlatpanelsHD has yet to see it as today's event is virtual due to the coronavirus restrictions. We are chasing more details. Update Remote control found!
Remote control for Panasonic 2021 OLED TVs
Like last year's models, the 2021 models include Filmmaker Mode, wide HDR support (HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision) as well as the new room adaptive version HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision IQ. This includes Panasonic's own 'Intelligent Sensing' feature.
Another new feature is 'HDMI Signal Power Link'. which enables automatic power on from standby and input switching, even for devices which are not compatible with HDMI CEC, for example PCs.
The new 2021 Panasonic OLED TVs will be available in the first half of 2021. Pricing details will be announced later. Click on the model name below for full specifications from FlatpanelsHD's TV Database.
Panasonic 2021 OLED TVs – specifications
FlatpanelsHD
