Panasonic TX-50AX802B 4K TV Review

So, 2014. The first year Panasonic is going plasma-less in its TV lineup since announcing back in October 2013 the shutdown of its plasma display panel (PDP) division. The first year the Japanese manufacturer will be banking 100% on its LED LCD range. Of course, Panasonic has been developing and selling LCD-based displays for some time now, but it’s with plasmas that the company carved its niche – the brand “Panasonic” is almost synonymous with “plasma” among videophile circles. How will it fare against Korean behemoths Samsung and LG Electronics, not to mention fellow country rival Sony who are more established players in this market?

Panasonic AX802

Sitting in our test room today is Panasonic’s new Viera AX802 (otherwise known as AX800 in North America and Europe) series of 4K Ultra HD TVs which is available in three screen sizes: the 50-inch TX-50AX802B, the 58-inch TX-58AX802B, and the 65-inch TX-65AX802B. Mindful of the European norm where living room space is premium, we’re reviewing the smallest model.

Design

Once out of the way, it’s inconsequential but the Panasonic TX50AX802B ships with THE heaviest pedestal stand we’ve ever encountered. Never in the history of flat-screen television has so much weight been packed into so small a slab – two recessed handles are even built into the sides of the stand for lifting. The sheer weight acts as a ballast for the 4K panel which is tilted marginally backwards.

Remote controls & 3D glasses

Moving onto the front, the 50AX802B looks lovely. The black bezel is impressively slim, thanks to the marvels of edge-lit LED backlight technology, and the periphery of the chassis features a shiny chrome finish. A rectangular metal bar spanning the width of the LCD screen extends beneath the bottom border, serving to support the panel’s tilt.

Connections

There are four HDMI ports available on the Panasonic AX802/ AX800. Only HDMI 4 is 4K-capable, but at least it supports up to 3840×2160 resolution at 4:4:4, as does the included DisplayPort socket.

Rear connections
Rear: 4x HDMI, 3x USB, component, DisplayPort, aerial & satellite ins, LAN, audio outs

Calibration

Note: Our Panasonic TX-50AX802B review sample was calibrated using CalMAN 5, the industry-leading video calibration software.

Greyscale

Out of the box in [Professional] mode, the default [Colour Temperature] of “Warm2” yielded highly accurate greyscale tracking on the Panasonic AX802, with the more significant delta errors (dEs) caused by skewed gamma tracking rather than RGB imbalance. Even so, dEs measured below 2 throughout the entire luminance range (it’s commonly accepted that a dE of less than 3 is not visible to the human eye in real-world viewing):

Pre-calibration RGB Tracking
Pre-calibration Delta errors
Pre-calibration RGB tracking and delta errors (dEs)

While the Viera TX-50AX802 offers both two-point and ten-point [White Balance] controls, we only needed to use the former. However, the action that actually lowered dEs the most was adjusting the 10-point [Gamma] controls:

Post-calibration RGB Tracking
Post-calibration Delta errors
Post-calibration RGB tracking and dEs in [Professional1] mode

This ensures that greys remain neutral, preventing the image from being contaminated by any untoward tint.

Gamma

To our pleasant surprise, Panasonic have embraced 2.4 gamma in the TX50AX802B’s [Professional] modes, making them the second TV maker (after Sony) to do so in their most accurate picture preset. For the uninitiated, 2.4 has been stipulated by no less an authority than the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) since 2011 as the recommended EOTF (electro-optical transfer function) for flat-screen displays used for studio mastering in a dark room, so Panasonic should be praised for adhering to the most current standard.

Pre-calibrated Gamma tracking in [Professional1] mode Post-calibrated Gamma tracking in [Professional1] mode
Pre-calibration gamma tracking (2.5) Post-calibration gamma tracking (2.4)

The [THX Cinema] preset, on the other hand, still targeted 2.2 gamma, meaning that the [Professional] modes on the Panasonic AX802B are more accurate out of the box. There was some darkening at brighter luminance intervals, which was easily corrected using the onboard 10p [Gamma] system.

Colour

The Panasonic Viera TX-50AX802B comes with a very effective colour management system (CMS) that allowed us to dial in the three colour parameters (saturation, hue, luminance) for all six primary (red, green, blue) and secondary (cyan, magenta, yellow) chromaticities.

Post-calibration Colour saturation tracking in [Professional1] mode
Post-calibration colour saturation tracking

The result was beautiful, with delta errors coming in under 3 across the 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation points (with colour decoding taken into account):

Post-calibration colour errors in [Professional1] mode
Post-calibration colour errors (<3 not appreciable to the eye)

Again, this means that there will be no perceptible colour inaccuracy when it comes to watching real-life content.

Benchmark Test Results

Dead pixels None (not easy to see when pixels are this tiny)
Screen uniformity Some banding & dirty screen effect
Overscanning on HDMI 0% with [16:9 Overscan] set to “Off
Blacker than black Passed
Calibrated black level (black screen) 0.056 cd/m2
Calibrated black level (ANSI checkerboard) 0.056 cd/m2
Black level retention Stable if [Adaptive Backlight Control] off
Primary chromaticity Excellent
Scaling Excellent
Video mode deinterlacing Effective jaggies reduction
Film mode deinterlacing Passed 3:2 over 480i with [Film Cadence Mode] on
Viewing angle Decent for VA LCD
Motion resolution 1080 lines (or higher) with [Intelligent Frame Creation] “Mid” or “Max
Digital noise reduction Optional; effective when engaged
Sharpness Defeatable edge enhancement
Luma/Chroma bandwidth (2D Blu-ray) Full Luma; slight vertical chroma limitation even with [1080p Pure Direct] on
1080p/24 capability No judder in 2D or 3D
Input lag (high-speed camera) 30ms compared to lag-free CRT in [Game] mode
Leo Bodnar input lag tester 37ms in [Game] mode
Full 4:4:4 reproduction (PC) Yes, with [Pure Direct] modes enabled

Power Consumption

Default [Normal] mode 112 watts*
Calibrated [Professional1] mode 113 watts
Standby <1 watt

*Note: In the out-of-the-box [Normal] mode, [Ambient Sensor] was engaged under the [Eco Navigation] submenu.

Picture Quality

Black Level & Contrast Performance

Once we pegged peak white luminance to 120 cd/m2 as per our normal review protocol, the native black level on the TX50AX802B’s VA-type LCD panel measured 0.056 cd/m2 on both a full-field video black signal and a 4×4 ANSI chequerboard pattern. To the credit of Panasonic’s TV engineers, the Viera AX802/ AX800 doesn’t partake in any auto-dimming shenanigans when asked to display a full black screen unless [Adaptive Backlight Control] was engaged.

[Adaptive Backlight Control] activates the pseudo-local dimming technology on the TX-50AX802B, and comes in three flavours (“Min“, “Mid” and “Max“) besides “Off“. The “Min” setting lowered black level on a full black screen to 0.017 cd/m2 (ANSI black stayed the same at 0.056 cd/m2), but dimmed dark areas and midtones too much. As a consequence, shadow detail was obscured, and the image lost a fair bit of punch, so we dismissed it pretty quickly.

The [Adaptive Backlight Control] “Mid” and “Max” settings were much more useful. Both decreased MLL (minimum luminance level) on a full black screen to 0.007 cd/m2, although once again ANSI black remained unchanged at 0.056 cd/m2. Between the two, we preferred “Mid” which introduced less obvious near-black luminance fluctuations.

Letterbox

New for 2014, Panasonic now provides a [Letterbox] picture-affecting control on the Viera TX50AX802B, allowing users to darken the top and bottom letterbox bars in cinemascope films. Engaging it by selecting the “Dimmer” option roughly halved black luminance in these regions to 0.027 cd/m2 without bringing about any brightness fluctuation to the entire screen. We left it on for critical viewing.

Backlight/ Screen Uniformity

Our TX-50AX802 review unit featured very good backlight consistency: once calibrated, there’s only some very, very mild backlight bleeding from the bottom right corner that’s invisible when watching any content other than a full black screen in a dimly-lit environment. Being an edge-lit LED LCD television, it’s inevitable that the TX-50AX802B exhibited some banding and dirty screen effect (DSE) which was most apparent on 10% and 20% full-field grey patterns. When it came to real-life material, we did spot some DSE during panning shots across a uniform background (such as in football), but we didn’t think it’s bothersome – we’ve certainly seen much worse examples.

2D

Sublime was the first word that popped to mind once we sampled our collection of reference Blu-rays on the 50in Panasonic AX802. When we reviewed Sony’s new 2014 X9 last week, we declared that it’s the best 4K Ultra HD television we’ve tested to date. Well, the TX50AX802B was right up there with the Sony in terms of picture quality, bettering the KD-55X9005B in some aspects though edged out in others.

Johnny Depp in On Stranger Tides

The current crop of ultra high-definition (UHD) TVs (including the Panasonic AX802/ AX800) usually have no problem delivering deep blacks (by LED LCD standards), accurate greyscale, linear 2.4 gamma and realistic colours after we apply our calibration touch, so it’s the little detail instead that separates one from another.

The TX-50AX802B’s major strength was its outstanding ability to hang onto its colour saturation in very dark scenes, thanks to Panasonic’s “Super Chroma Drive” technology which uses a WCG (wide colour gamut) LCD panel and 3D LUT (look-up table) to compensate for undersaturated colours in locally-dimmed zones. This had the wonderful effect of making the AX802B look – dare we say it – plasma-esque, with colours appearing richly-saturated regardless of whether the on-screen image was dark or bright.

One minor side effect of such (presumably) heavy processing in darker areas was the appearance of posterization at these intensities, which was easily demonstrated using a greyscale ramp pattern. To be fair, we didn’t witness much of it in real-world viewing, due to the very nature of low-light gradation that’s less noticeable to our human eyes.

Burn Baby Burn

Scaling quality was high, ensuring that even standard-def programmes – as long as their bitrate was up to scratch – looked decent on the 3840×2160 screen. Panasonic also offers an option called [1080p Pixel by 4pixels] which doubles the pixels from a 1920×1080 source to fill the UHD panel instead of interpolating them. We saw no reason to enable this setting given how excellent the Viera AX802’s internal upconversion was.

While Sony and Samsung have implemented black frame insertion (BFI) on their 2014 TVs, Panasonic is still relying on motion-compensated frame interpolation (MCFI) to reduce motion blur on its Viera LCDs. In Panasonic’s defence, we saw no significant interpolation artefacts in real-world viewing with [Intelligent Frame Creation] engaged, and so would be happy using it for video-based content (for example live sports broadcasts) to improve motion clarity. For film-based material, the “Mid” and “Max” settings introduced soap opera effect, so we would stick with “Min” or “Off“.

FA Cup final

4K

One thing worth nothing is that the Panasonic TX-50AX802B currently does not support Netflix 4K streaming. This may be a deal-breaker for some viewers, considering that Netflix 4K is pretty much the only game in town as far as native UHD content is concerned, even if there’s only one drama series (House of Cards Season 2) available to watch in glorious 4K at this time of writing (Breaking Bad is scheduled to get the Ultra HD treatment next month).

Update 29 May 2014: Panasonic UK’s TV product manager Craig Cunningham has confirmed to us that the Viera AX802 series will not have Netflix 4K support despite the presence of inbuilt HEVC decoder. It’s a hardware issue which is not addressable by firmware update.

Update 18 November 2014: In a stunning U-turn, Panasonic has now enabled Netflix 4K streaming on the Panasonic AX802/ AX800 range via a software update.

3D

If anything, the aforementioned “Super Chroma Drive” technology developed by Panasonic benefited tri-dimensional content more than 2D, helping the Viera AX802 preserve colour fidelity despite the darkening effects of the active-shutter glasses. As a result, the TV produced some of the most vibrant and well-saturated colours we’ve ever seen on an active 3D system.

We verified that TX50AX802 resolved full HD 3D resolution (and possibly higher) without any high-frequency rolloff using our own test pattern, which means that its extra-dimensional images will look slightly sharper and more detailed than those put out by the Sony X9005B. However, the Panasonic evinced more crosstalk at certain stereoscopic depth, though the ghost images were quite faint and so relatively easy to tune out.

Like all Panasonic 3DTVs we’ve tested, the TX50AX802B handled 50fps (e.g. Sky 3D), 60fps and 24fps (such as 3D Blu-ray movies) 3-D content correctly without introducing judder irrespective of whether it’s film- or video-based. This is something that Samsung can learn from… if it even cares about 3D.

Console/ PC Gaming

The Panasonic AX802/ AX800 is a gamer’s dream, boasting not only the lowest input lag among the 2014 batch of 4K TVs (our Leo Bodnar tester registered a reading of 37ms with [Game Mode] enabled), but also full 4:4:4 chroma reproduction up to 3840×2160 resolution at 60Hz either through the DisplayPort or HDMI 4 input.

Input lag

Another praiseworthy feature that Panasonic has introduced since last year is designating [Game Mode] as an on/off setting which can be applied to every picture preset, rather than segregating it as a separate picture mode which is typically not calibration-friendly. Accurate images and suitably fast gaming responsiveness are both possible simultaneously on the TX-50AX802.

Even without engaging [Game Mode], input lag in calibrated [Professional1] mode was 59ms as measured using Leo Bodnar’s device, which is significantly lower than the 100ms+ figures posted by other brands’ non-[Game] modes.

Conclusion

The Panasonic TX-50AX802B is a beautifully-engineered piece of display that’s capable of producing absolutely gorgeous images. If last year’s Viera WT600 puts Panasonic on the map as a serious LCD TV maker for video enthusiasts, then the AX802/ AX800 proves that the company can hang with the big boys Samsung and Sony and then some.

Of course, plasma TVs – especially the final generation from Panasonic themselves – still win in terms of black level, viewing angles, screen uniformity and outright picture quality despite a lower screen resolution, but the TX50AX802B was as close as we’ve seen any LED LCD approached plasma’s supremely cinematic image quality. Particularly impressive was the AX802B’s ability to saturate colours in low-APL scenes and also in 3D, thanks to Panasonic’s Studio Master Drive technology.

The TX50AX802B’s only glaring weakness is one on the specs sheet – the Ultra HD TV does not offer Netflix 4K streaming at this point in time. While this omission may put off some buyers, it doesn’t stop the 50″ AX802/ AX800 from being one of the best LED televisions we’ve reviewed thus far, 4K or not. We’ll know more when we put it up (albeit in 65-inch guise) against Sony’s and Samsung’s UHD TVs, as well an LG curved OLED and a Panasonic ZT plasma in a comparison event at the end of this month.

Highly Recommended

65 comments

  1. Its a shame the high price, a slightly worse PQ tham plasma should mean a lower price than the plasma.

    Still, brilliant tv.

  2. Shame I could not source a brand new Panasonic plasma in the last 3 weeks…….this is my next best and most sensible option for only £300 more……and its more future-proof too! :-)

  3. Seems to be a great TV and now I am even more interested to read how the AX900 will turn out.
    I really like the low input lag. :)
    Netflix 4K not working so far did you use some other 4K material or only Full HD?

  4. Great review – One questions, you said that “Out of the box in [Professional] mode, the default [Colour Temperature] of “Warm” yielded highly accurate greyscale tracking on the Panasonic AX802” This TV has 2 Warm modes available Warm 1 & Warm 2, the default for the Pro Modes is Warm 2, is that the one you’re referring too?

    Cheers

    Max1210

  5. @Yappa: Panasonic’s 4K channel (which is extracted from YouTube), our test signal generator, and some 4K demo material from other manufacturers we have lying around that we probably shouldn’t mention in the review itself. :-)

    @Scott Maxwell: Thanks for pointing that out. It’s “Warm2”, article corrected.

    Warmest regards
    Vincent

  6. i bought the 65″ after careful comparison v Samsung, Sony and LG’s 55″ OLED, based on a mixture of features plus being a Panasonic owner previously. It is stunning, though enhanced by a surround sound system. Only disappointment is the lack of operation of the Netflix App in 4k, I’d read the AX800 series was the first 4k to natively support the Netflix 4k stream, but it doesn’t seem to be working yet…

  7. Does the AX800 pass through 5.1 via the optical lead via my Sonos 5.1 system
    Thanks

  8. Mark – not from external sources (ie Sky/Virgin/BluRay) but it will from the internal tuners (Freeview/Freesat) if DD 5.1 is broadcast, or from apps (Netflix etc)

  9. jojotechmaster

    @vincent Teoh
    Does the input lag measured in professional 1 mode (59ms) use IFC ( motion compensation)
    It is essential to me because I play games with IFC on (to make 30 fps games look smooth)
    I would pay for an answer…
    Usually IFC make input lag much worse (by 60ms or so)

  10. Scott
    Thanks for the advise. My 2010 Samsung c8000 played 5.1 via my sonos but the ax802 is only showing stereo.
    If I put the optical directly from the sonos playbar into the sky box would that allow me to have 5.1 and also would an optical splitter be an option
    Thanks

  11. Thanks for the great review. I just received my AX800 today.
    Is it possible to post the settings you used for the calibration?

  12. Hi
    Netflix is now available following an update today
    You may wish to amend the review and make this TV even more irresistible

  13. @jojotechmaster: Lag with IFC on is 110ms (Leo Bodnar). Game mode disables [IFC].

    @Roel: We generally don’t publish calibrated settings. Here’s why:

    http://forums.hdtvtest.co.uk/index.php?topic=7202.0

    @Mark Palmer: Is it available in 4K? I checked this evening before I boxed it up, and it wasn’t.

    Warmest regards
    Vincent

  14. Hi Vincent
    I could only find House of Cards in HD not 4k
    Thanks
    Mark

  15. Just heard that Panasonic are Not going to support 4k streaming via Netflix only the standard HD
    Very disappointed

  16. Thanks for a great review. If you still have the tv set around, is it possible try if latest firmware released on 20 May fixes netflix 4K issue?

    http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/tv/download/fw/eu_2014/down_eu_uk_cis_05.html

  17. Fanboy
    The latest firmware update allows for Netflix but not any 4k
    House of cards is still only in HD
    I contacted Panasonic they said no plans for 4k Netflix although on Av Forums someone said that Netflix had said they were in the process of negotiating 4k with panasonic

  18. Hi Vincent,

    So is this a better set in terms of picture quality than the Sony 4k TV just reviewed. Or Sony has the edge?

    Thanks.

  19. Is the panel:

    8 bit or 10 bit?

    120Hz or 240Hz?

    So, will Pansonic not update to Netflix 4K at no point in a near future or at all?

    Thanks for the review!!

  20. Silly question maybe but…would this TV display Netflix 4K if I don’t use the built-in app but, for instance, a PS3?

  21. Timothy
    Unfortunately the answer is No

  22. @Mark: thought so…I have one of these on order, would be pretty disappointed if Panasonic screws up on Netflix 4K…

  23. This is what I received from Panasonic in the Netherlands:

    >> ”Based on the latest information we received from Netflix AX800 will not support Netflix in 4K”.
    >> ”Although AX800 does support HEVC (H.265) coding, the Pro4 CPU will not meet Netflix’s requirements for specification”

  24. @Rve5800

    Thanks for that information. Was going to buy this tv, but Panasonic just lost my £2000.

    It’s laughable that they bring such an expensive product to market only to cripple it like that. As it is then, this tv is not future proof and will put many people off from buying it.

    What were you thinking Panasonic? Sad…

  25. @Rve500,

    Personally was not looking at Netflix too much, yet another subscription I would have to pay. That said the fact that the CPU is not up to the job, this tv appears to be outdated already and having been leaning towards this tv I am now looking at the Sony x85 series which I understand is going to be very competitively priced with the 55″ coming in around £2100, the same price as this 50″ set. Need HDTV to review it PDQ!

  26. It’s not as though the TV can’t support streaming 4K as there is a Panasonic 4K channel “app” you can download from the App market. This accesses & streams the content from Panasonics 4K Youtube channel. They must be in HEVC format as the TV doesn’t support YouTubes VP9 format.

  27. @Vincent
    Compared to the HU7500, which is better for watching live HD football?
    Thanks,

  28. @Vincent
    One more question: when wall mounting, is the bottom bar removed?
    Thanks,

  29. Nicola
    Yes the bottom bar needs to be removed for wall mounting it’s just a matter of in screwing
    Ps
    Very disappointed about Netflix 4k
    Will they remedy this oversight on the AX900?

  30. @Mark, yes apparently they will, but that won’t be known until that is launched later in the year.

  31. Does the Displayport pass through Audio, so it will function with HDMI ARC

  32. Thanks Mark.
    So, the bottom line for me is: this tv or the hu7500?

  33. AX900 has Pro5 CPU instead of the Pro4 in the AX800; it might powerful enough for 4K Netflix…

  34. Njs
    I would recommend the panasonic over the samsung before I bought they AX800 I got john Lewis to put them side by side and I was far more impressed with the blacks in the panasonic
    The 3d is better on the panadonic I think samsung have given up on 3d. I compared them in 4k, HD and 3d
    I would suggest going to john Lewis or richer sounds and compare yourselves
    Finally the 58 inch is better than the standard 55
    Thanks

  35. Thanks Mark,
    I’m starting to convince myself on the Panasonic. I saw it today, I loved the colors and the black. Really liked the design too. I also find the info bar quite intriguing, does it work well?

  36. Njs
    Yes it works well but is a bit hard to get used to particularly if you have to walk past your tv to get to the kitchen like we do. You can turn it off but we like it now particularly the up to date weather forecasts and You Tube. Your friends will be impressed by the feature…well mine are.

  37. Hi Vincent,

    Any chance you will be reviewing the Panasonic AS600-model in the near future? Would be nice to know how the whole Panasonic 2014 line-up does and there aren’t many reviews in the internet regarding the AS600. Thx!

    Brgds,
    Juuso

  38. @Juuso: Yes, if we get our hands on a review sample.

    Warmest regards
    Vincent

  39. I own this tv for about 2 weeks now.`
    Today I was watching a football game and noticed black spots when the ball was moving fast.
    I kind of looks like it is dirty but it’s not.

    Did any of you notice this too?

  40. Hi Vincent

    Thanks for the review. My main reason for considering this tv is future proofing for 4k. I see you mentioned above about testing 4k using a few different source but couldn’t see any analysis of this. I imagine you would have mentioned it if it was bad but can you confirm the set performs well with 4k content? (In the process of returning my lg 49ub850v and looking for another option)

    Thanks again, the only site that has been helpful in my research.

  41. Hi Vince,

    thanks for this great review but one question regarding the inputlag. Normaly the leo tester has been programmed for 1080p signal but it should be possible to save a new profil for 4k tvs. Have u or Leo himself changed the config setup before testing ?

    Best regards
    Reinhard

  42. I returned my Panasonic after 2 weeks. The picture quality is great and I have never seen such good 3D but the banding was too much for me.
    I’m gonna see if I like the Sony x85 or else I will wait for the AX900 specs.
    No more edge light for me!

  43. Had this TV for two weeks now. Picture superb, pity about the Netflix 4k position but not a big deal for me. I do have two problems though:

    I feed the audio into my high quality hifi (Naim) from the optical output, this works fine for TV but not for some of the apps. Netflix produces a machine gun fire sound that nearly blasts me out of the room! Naim say this is caused by feeding surround sound into the audio amp, however I do have the AX802 sound set to PCM stereo and also set each Netflix film to stereo but it still happens. Sound through the TV speakers works OK but as with most TV speakers is pretty abysmal quality. I also use Skype and there is no sound at all from the external speakers!

    My other problem is with the guides – Panasonic and Freetime. I have a HDD connected to the TV to record programmes that either are not available on iPlayer etc or that I wish to timeshift by just an hour, say, before they become available on iPlayer. The Panasonic guide allows one touch recordings which are then linked to any time changes that may occur but doesn’t allow series recording (or if it does I haven’t found it) the Freetime guide doesn’t have the facility to record at all though I have used this same system on a Humax box where it had the option to record a single programme or a series and they were linked to time changes. There is another method of setting programmes to record and this allows you to specify recording every day or parts of a week but this is not linked to time changes! All in all rather a botched arrangement where no one option provides all recording requirements.

  44. Do we have to wait for the AX900 range to fix the Netflix HEVC issue or is there a chance of an interim AX802A hardware spec without the problem?

  45. Hello,

    maybe it is a stupid question but i’m not that technical hihi. It says this tv will not play netflix 4k.
    My question is: When i download 4k movies from the internet and put it on usb stick will it then play the 4k movies? Or will it play 4k when i connect my pc to the tv and play the movies in vlc player ?

    And what are other options to see 4k on the television?

    When i watched football on this screen in a tv store i saw a little blur ( about 1 or 2 cm wide ) around the footballplayers when they walked and were zoomed in. Do people have experience with that or does it depends on the settings of the tv?

    I know many question and i hope my english is good enough. thanks already

    greets marieke

  46. Hello all :)

    Thanks to this review I made up my mind and bought this 65″ monster/wonder (this helped by the fact that the sony x9 I ordered never made it to the shop. Thus they apologized by offering a 65AX800 at a discount price (3250 Euros euros , plus the 500 euros payback offer from Panasonic. This masterpiece at 2750 Euros was a deal not to be missed).

    Got to say, it is really an eye blowing experience.

    I had a pana 46″ ST60 plasma before, which was replaced by a Sony 46HX800, this 65AX800 is just as pleasant as my old plasma.

    Only little drawback for the moment, the DNLA/SMB player doesn’t read any of my MKVs (all stored on a Synology NAS). Still haven’t figured why. Maybe because it is via a WiFi link (to far for a direct cable connection). Has anyone had this type of issue ?

  47. Hi Vincent. thanks for the review. is it possible to get the adjustement settings you made to get it calibrated right.
    thanks,

    Sébastien.

  48. I don’t get it…why shouldn’t you be able to connect a PC to the TV (or other device with 4k-output and decoding-capabilities) and watch Netflix 4K content?

  49. Hello Vincent, all,

    Could you please point what are the most important differences between AX630 and AX800 models?
    Is it a “totally different” TV or it’s only the matter of additional stuff/apps?
    AX630 is much cheaper hence I’m wondering how it performs regarding the picture quality (AX800 results look very good to me).

    Thanks in advance for the advice.

    Regards,
    Michal

  50. Not sure if anyone is still looking at this, but just in case – the latest update for the TV does allow you to watch Netflix 4K. Works beautifully!

  51. Hi Vincent,

    I’ve just ordered this TV and was wondering if you could post the recommended best settings?

    Much appreciated!

  52. Benedict Powelski

    According to Currys.co.uk :
    Smart TV services
    – Catch up TV: BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD, Demand 5, 4K Netflix ??????
    – App store
    – Custom homepage
    – Full internet browser
    – Social media
    – Skype

    what you think about it ?

  53. According to this site the 800 range will be updated to 4K netflix.

    http://www.areadvd.de/news/panasonic-ultra-hd-fernseher-bekommen-netflix-4k-update/

  54. I have Panasonic AX802 and i can tell you the netflix is on this set :)

  55. To those who have purchased and waiting for the new software – it was deployed last night. New version on my TV is 3.104. Netflix now has new start up screens and UltraHD symbol displayed (where it wasn’t before) and (to my untrained eye) ‘House of Cards’ looks amazing..

  56. @eloceo: Thanks for the heads up.

    Warmest regards
    Vincent

  57. “Update 29 May 2014: Panasonic UK’s TV product manager Craig Cunningham has confirmed to us that the Viera AX802 series will not have Netflix 4K support despite the presence of inbuilt HEVC decoder. It’s a hardware issue which is not addressable by firmware update.”

    Here we have a real genuine example of, when manufactures say ” due to hardware issues/limitation it is not possible” it’s just a bad excuse. It’s a matter of will and competence( programming skills ).
    Mr. Cunningham was outright WRONG in his confirmation.

  58. The 65inch version is pretty much the same price as the samsung 7500 now. Which do people think is the better TV for primarily watching films?

  59. Hi Mr. Teoh,

    Da you have any intel about the input lag on de 58″ & 65″ versions?

    Kind regards

  60. I’m looking to use this TV on my PC for gaming. Does anyone know if the TV will accept an native 120hz signal through the DisplayPort or HDMI 2.0 inputs. Is the DisplayPort input 1.2 or 1.3? Does it support Adaptive Sync?

  61. Hi,

    I think the DisplayPort version is 1.2a but I’m not sure about Adaptive Sync being supported. Adaptive Sync was added to the DisplayPort 1.2a specification as an optional feature. Something about a special scaler being required. I’m looking into this matter too.

  62. After updating to last firmware (3.114), I’ve noticed that the posterization in dark areas has disappeared. Has anybody else noticed this improvement too ?

  63. I have a 58AX800: When streaming Netflix 4K content, the Adaptive Backlight Control gets greyed out. I can’t get or find an answer to why this happens?
    Please email me.

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