At CES 2019, Panasonic has announced the first TV with support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The GZ2000 OLED also has built-in speakers with upfiring units for Dolby Atmos.

First TV with Dolby Vision & HDR10+
Last year, Panasonic released the first UHD Blu-ray players with support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+, leading some to speculate that the company would follow up with a TV. And here it is.

Panasonic GZ2000 OLED is the first TV to support HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, the two premium HDR video formats. Interestingly, Panasonic is a founding member of the HDR10+ alliance created as a front against Dolby Vision but the company clearly feels that both formats should be included in a flagship TV. In addition, the TV supports HDR10, HLG, and HLG photo format that brings HDR to photography, the company said. 



GZ2000 features a ”custom-made professional edition” OLED panel with 4K resolution. Panasonic said that it ”incorporates custom hardware improvements” and that it has been ”optimised by a leading Hollywood colourist” (Stefan Sonnenfeld), resulting in ” unparalleled colour accuracy and significantly better average brightness levels”. 

-”No ordinary OLED panel, the bespoke Professional Edition 4K OLED panel has been exclusively customised by Panasonic R&D engineers. This has resulted in even greater control of the parameters that affect picture quality. In particular, the average brightness level has been boosted significantly and contrast handling improved,” the company said. “As a result of this level of customisation, combined with the exceptional colour-optimising skills of Sonnenfeld, Panasonic has created some of the most accurate, cinematic images ever seen on a TV.”

Stefan Sonnenfeld has been working as a colorist on movies such as A Star is Born, Wonder Woman, Man of Steel, Beauty and the Beast, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, the company said. He uses Panasonic OLED as a client reference monitor in his daily workflow.

The TV is powered by Panasonic’s ’HCX Pro’ video processor. One of the improvements this year is a faster dynamic LUT (look-up table), which purpose is to select and display the correct colors even when brightness level and contrast within a scene vary rapidly.

Panasonic said that it has also implemented additional calibration options such as reducing the interval between calibrating steps at the darkest end of the RGB and gamma scales. GZ2000 is amongst the first TVs to support CalMAN PatternGen test patterns along with auto-calibration functionality. ISF calibrations settings are also supported.



Up-firing speakers with Dolby Atmos
Panasonic claims another ”world’s first” based on the built-in speakers with up-firing units capable of supporting Dolby Atmos. As such, GZ2000 is also Panasonic’s first TV with Dolby Atmos (and Dolby Vision).

- “Together, Dolby and Panasonic are bringing best in class audio and imaging technology to Panasonic’s TVs,” said John Couling, SVP, Commercial Partnerships. “Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos perfectly complement the GZ2000’s advanced display, transforming it into an entertainment powerhouse.”

Dolby Atmos is an object-based audio format where sound is stored as objects rather than channels. It delivers a more immersive experience and with the up-firing units GZ2000 can also reproduce overhead audio. The speaker system has been tuned by Technics and also feature Technics’ JENO Engine.

- “Thanks to our customized Professional Edition OLED panel and our most powerful processor ever, together with the uncompromising sound combination of Tuned by Technics and Dolby Atmos, the GZ2000 is the most complete television we have ever made,” said Yasushi Murayama, head of Panasonic’s European TV business.

So how will users be able to enjoy Dolby Atmos? The HDMI inputs are capable of receiving Atmos input but other than that the company did not specify the capabilities so it is not clear if the built-in Amazon and Netflix apps will be Atmos-enabled. The company did not comment on HDMI 2.1 features such as eARC either.

Lastly, GZ2000 comes with the latest version of the company’s My Home Screen platform. Version 4.0 has a redesigned user interface and allows users to change the layout of the home screen. Users can also added frequently watched TV stations to the home screen. In addition, GZ2000 is compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Panasonic’s new GZ2000 flagship TV will enter a market where competitors such as LG and Sony are also betting on 4K OLED TVs with advanced picture systems and where some brands have started moving beyond 4K resolution to 8K. It is the only high-end OLED TV with HDR10+ support and Panasonic now matches LG in offering Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Is that enough to set it apart? We hope to get eyes on it at CES 2019 this week.

Panasonic GZ2000 will be available in 55 and 65-inch sizes. It has been confirmed for Europe only. Exact launch and pricing details were not announced.

Panasonic GZ2000 4K OLED TV - specifications
 
 65 and 55” models
Custom Professional Edition OLED panel tuned by Hollywood colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld, Founder and CEO of Company 3.
4K resolution
HCX Pro Intelligent processor
World’s first TV to support HDR10+ and Dolby Vision as well as HLG Photo format. Also supports HDR10 and HLG.
 World’s first TV with built-in upward-firing speakers capable of delivering Dolby Atmos.
 Speakers tuned by Technics with JENO Engine technology.
Supports CalMAN PatternGen and CalMAN AutoCal as well as ISF calibration settings
My Home Screen 4.0 with new user interface
Compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.