Panasonic TX-58DX902B 4K TV Review

Panasonic’s 2016 TV lineup to date is made up exclusively of LED LCDs, spearheaded by the flagship Viera DX902 (otherwise marketed as the DX900 in other parts of Europe). While there are other Panasonic 4K TVs that support HDR (high dynamic range) playback, the DX9 is the only model to feature 10-bit panel, 512-zone full-array local dimming (FALD), and Ultra HD Premium certification from the UHD Alliance.

Panasonic TX-58DX902B

Two screen sizes are available, namely the 58-inch Panasonic TX-58DX902B (which we’re reviewing today) and the 65-inch TX-65DX902B. A UHD (ultra high-definition) resolution of 3840×2160, wide colour gamut, HDMI 2.0 ports and HDCP 2.2 compatibility are all on board, but what sets the DX902B apart from many other HDR-capable TVs in the UK is its full-array local dimming (FALD) direct-lit LED backlighting boasting 512 separately dimmable zones, the highest number on record for a consumer TV (matching Toshiba’s ZL1 CEVO display in 2011).

Design

The Panasonic TX58DX902B’s styling carries some throwbacks to the company’s industrial roots. To accommodate its direct LED backlight, the glossy black bezel and the chassis itself are thicker than most televisions you’ll see on the market currently, but if this brings about an improvement in image quality then you won’t find us complaining.

Starburst effect TV stand

The reflective panel is tilted slightly backwards, and sits on an arc stand whose square “starburst effect” feet peeks out from the front at both ends of the screen. The shape of the stand means you’ll need an AV rack that spans almost the entire width of the 58DX902B if you’re not going to wall-mount the display. The power cable is hardwired into the television and cannot be detached.

Back of television

Powering 512 LED dimming zones (especially for HDR) produces substantial heat, which is why Panasonic has installed no less than 6 cooling fans behind the TX-58DX902 near the top of the chassis. The large fan blades spin relatively slowly, so collectively the fans only generate a quiet whir. Whether you’ll hear fan noise during quieter passages of movies depends on your environment acoustics and individual sensitivity, but it didn’t bother us throughout our review period.

Remote controls

The Panasonic DX902/ DX900 ships with two remote controls: a curved touchpad controller and a more traditional wand sporting a brushed silver front finish, backlit buttons, superb tactile feedback and weighty feel. We’re really fond of the latter.

Connections

Panasonic has supplied a detachable panel to cover the connections for a cleaner look, though no outlet has been provided for the side inputs so you’d have to take off the cover before you can plug in a USB stick. Using a Murideo Six-G test device, we verified that all four HDMI ports on the Viera TX-58DX902B passed 3840×2160@60Hz resolution with HDCP 2.2.

Connections

Operation

Wading through the user menu, we spotted the addition of several new options that have been necessitated by the HDR era. The [Picture] > [Option Settings] submenu now offers control over [HDMI EOTF Type] and [HDMI Colorimetry Type]. Both can be left on “Auto” which worked well from our tests, but the former setting can also be used to force HDR mode by selecting “ST.2084“. Interestingly, [HDMI Colorimetry Type] caters for “Rec.2020” but not DCI-P3, which is of course technically correct since DCI is not even specified in the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray standard or HDR10 media profile.

HDMI HDR Setting HDMI Colorimetry Type
[HDMI EOTF] & [HDMI Colorimetry] [HDMI HDR Setting]

There are two other important options in the [Setup] submenu that need to be set correctly before you can enjoy the best experience from UHD Blu-rays. For starters, you’ll have to turn on [HDMI HDR Setting] for that particular HDMI port before a 4K Blu-ray player will even recognise the 58DX902B as HDR-capable and transmit the HDR metadata. Then, you may need to toggle [HDMI Auto Setting] between “Mode1” and “Mode2” to a) establish HDMI handshake to obtain picture and sound; and b) eliminate posterization from an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc spinner.

It’s far from being plug-and-play, but these are still the early days of UHD BD and HDR, and on the Viera DX902 Panasonic has provided a greater number of precise controls than any other TV brand to finetune your 4K HDR experience, underlining the company’s commitment towards the enthusiast market.

Calibration

We calibrated our Panasonic TX58DX902B retail unit using a profiled Klein K10-A meter, a Murideo Fresco 6-G signal generator, and SpectraCal’s CalMAN Ultimate software. As is the case with Viera TVs we’ve tested over the past two years, the DX902B’s comprehensive array of well-implemented calibration controls allowed us to achieve stunningly accurate greyscale and colours that are unmatched by any other non-Panasonic domestic display.

Greyscale

Pre-calibration RGB Tracking
Pre-calibration Delta errors
Pre-calibration [Professional] RGB tracking and delta errors (dEs)
Post-calibration RGB Tracking
Post-calibration Delta errors
Post-calibration RGB tracking and dEs in [Professional] mode

Gamma

Pre-calibrated Gamma tracking in [Professional] mode Post-calibrated Gamma tracking in [Professional] mode
Pre-calibration gamma tracking (2.4) Post-calibration gamma tracking (2.41)

Colour

Post-calibration Colour saturation tracking in [Professional] mode
Post-calibration colour saturation tracking
Post-calibration colour errors in [Professional] mode
Post-calibration colour errors (<3 not appreciable to the eye)
Post-calibration colour checker
Post-calibration Colour Checker SG test
Post-calibration colour checker errors
Post-calibration Colour Checker SG errors (<3 not appreciable to the eye)

Benchmark Test Results

Dead pixels None
Screen uniformity Very good; two faint thin vertical bands
Overscanning on HDMI 0% with [16:9 Overscan] set to “Off
Blacker than black Passed
Calibrated black level (black screen) LEDs shut off
Calibrated black level (4×4 ANSI) 0.023 cd/m2
Black level retention Some fluctuation from local dimming
Primary chromaticity Excellent
Scaling Good
Video mode deinterlacing Effective jaggies reduction
Film mode deinterlacing Passed 3:2 & 2:2 in SD & HD if [Film Cadence Mode] on
Viewing angle (cone) 46°
Motion resolution 1080 lines with [IFC] Custom; 300 “Off
Digital noise reduction Optional; effective when engaged
Sharpness Defeatable edge enhancement
Luma/Chroma bandwidth (2D Blu-ray) Full luma; chroma slightly blurred vertically even with [1080p Pure Direct] on
1080p/24 capability No judder in 2D; judder in 3D
2160p/24 capability No judder
Measured panel refresh rate 120Hz
Measured peak brightness 1310 cd/m2
Measured DCI-P3 coverage 98%
Leo Bodnar input lag tester 38ms with [Game Mode] enabled
Full 4:4:4 reproduction (PC) Yes for 1920×1080 & 3840×2160@60Hz

Power Consumption

Default [Normal] mode 170 watts*
Calibrated [Professional] mode 99 watts
HDR mode 364 watts
Standby <1 watt

Picture Quality

Black Level & Contrast

The Panasonic TX58DX902 uses a Super MVA (SMVA) LCD panel from Innolux, which yielded an impressively deep (for an LED LCD) native black level (i.e. without the help of local dimming) of 0.03 cd/m2 on a full-field black and a 4×4 ANSI chequerboard pattern once peak white was pegged to our usual dark-room target of 120 cd/m2.

Subpixel structure
Macro photo of subpixel layout indicating VA-type LCD matrix

Of course, you’d be insane not to engage local dimming via the [Adaptive Backlight Control] option after shelling out a premium for the Panasonic DX900’s FALD (full-array local dimming) technology. Three intensities are available, namely “Min“, “Mid” and “Max” which progressively lowered ANSI black measurements to 0.023 cd/m2, 0.017 cd/m2 and 0.005 cd/m2 respectively. On a full-field video black pattern punctuated by a pause icon from our OPPO Blu-ray player at the top left corner, our probe returned a reading of 0 cd/m2 with [Adaptive Backlight Control] enabled, since the TV was able to specifically shut down the LEDs in the area being measured, thanks to the sheer number of independently dimmable zones.

Talking of which, using our custom-authored test pattern of a small white box crawling horizontally then vertically against a black background along the borders of the screen, we observed 32 columns and 16 rows lighting up, totalling 512 dimming zones. We were highly impressed by how well-controlled the blooming/ haloing was, even though we intentionally cranked up the [Backlight] and watched off-axis during the zone counting process. Panasonic’s application of a “Honeycomb” filter to produce homogenous backlight diffusion and reduce light leakage seemed to be paying dividends.

Backlight & Screen Uniformity

Helped by its direct LED configuration and effective local dimming, black uniformity on the Viera TX-58DX902B was excellent – we witnessed no clouding or corner bleeding whatsoever in a dimly-lit room.

Thermal scan
Thermal scan confirming direct-lit LED placement

Grey uniformity was very good too on the whole except for two faint thin vertical bands roughly one quarter into the screen from both sides, which appeared more pronounced in HDR due to brighter backlight driving. The symmetrical positions of the bands did make us wonder if they’re introduced through the manufacturing process. In day-to-day use though, we only caught sight of the right-sided banding occasionally during panning shots across an evenly toned backdrop. Dirty screen effect (DSE) was virtually non-existent on our randomly plucked retail sample.

Motion

New for 2016, Panasonic has added an [Intelligent Frame Creation] “Custom” option with separate [Blur Reduction] and [Film Smooth] adjustments, bringing the Viera DX900 into line with what’s been available on LG and Samsung sets for some time. Also fresh is a [Clear Motion] setting that essentially activates backlight strobing, which doesn’t increase motion resolution on its own but causes a slight luminance drop, double ghost images, and possibly DLP-like rainbow effect for sensitive viewers due to increased refresh of red phosphor decay.

Motion resolution (as calculated via the horizontally scrolling lines in Chapter 31 of the FPD Benchmark Software Blu-ray test disc) for [IFC] “Min“, “Mid” and “Max” all topped out at 650 lines. As expected, going up the [Intelligent Frame Creation] intensity ladder progressively worsened the soap opera effect (SOE) and interpolation artefacts. The only way to obtain 1080 motion resolution without incurring SOE on the Panasonic TX58DX902B was through certain permutations in the [IFC] “Custom” submenu.

[Intelligent Frame Creation] off [IFC] Custom
[Intelligent Frame Creation] off Optimised [IFC] “Custom”

Starting this year, we’ll be carrying out motion pursuit camera test (as described by the wonderful BlurBuster website) on selected displays we review to better represent the blurring we perceive as our eyes track movement on screen. The left photo above showed a substantial amount of blur with [Intelligent Frame Creation] disabled, which improved (right photo) once [IFC] settings were optimised.

Viewing Angle

Innolux’s VA panels are known to have fairly limited viewing angles, and the one on the Panasonic 58DX902 suffered from significant luminance drop-off and colour shift at 23° off-centre, thus giving us a viewing cone of 46°. Seating position is therefore critical, or else the TV’s outstanding contrast and masterful colour rendition will all be in vain.

4K HDR

The 58in Panasonic DX902 surpassed Ultra HD Premium’s peak brightness requirement of 1000 cd/m2 effortlessly, coming in at 1310 cd/m2 on UHDA’s stipulated window sizes. And unlike the Samsung 55KS9000 and Sony 65XD93 which could only deliver their peak brightness in short bursts, the 58DX902B managed to sustain it above 1000 nits for a much longer period (we gave up tracking after two minutes). Full-field peak white measured 883 cd/m2, again the highest we’ve recorded so far.

According to the methodology embraced by the UHD Alliance (UHDA) for Ultra HD Premium accreditation, our TX-58DX902B retail unit reached 98% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut standard, the widest we’ve measured from a direct-view display to date.

DCI-P3 coverage

In HDR mode, all the picture presets remain available, but the [White Balance] and [Colour Management] settings are shared between SDR (standard dynamic range) and HDR within the same preset, which means you’ll have to calibrate for regular 1080p Blu-ray discs using one preset, and 4K UHD Blu-rays in another. Here are the results of our HDR calibration:

Post-calibration HDR RGB tracking
Post-calibration HDR Delta errors
Post-calibration RGB tracking and dEs in HDR [Professional] mode
Post-calibrated Gamma point in HDR [Professional] mode Post-calibrated Gamma tracking in HDR [Professional] mode
Post-cal PQ EOTF (electro-optical transfer function) in HDR [Professional] mode

Although the 10-point [White Balance] and [Gamma] controls were misaligned and therefore unusable in HDR mode, we still managed to attain accurate greyscale and PQ (perceptual quantizer) EOTF tracking after calibration owing to the DX902B’s high peak brightness and first-rate tone mapping.

Post-calibration Colour saturation tracking in HDR [Professional] mode
Post-cal sat tracking with [Colour Gamut] “Rec.2020” with reference to BT.2020
Post-calibration colour errors in HDR [Professional] mode
Colour errors (<3 not appreciable to the eye) after HDR calibration

The Panasonic TX-58DX902 came closer than any other television we’ve reviewed to tracking Rec.2020’s colour saturation coordinates, although the outer points have to be sacrificed because like all consumer-grade displays on the market, the Viera DX900/ DX902 cannot fulfil the entire Rec.2020 gamut.

With measurements and calibration out of the way, we played a few 4K Blu-rays, and were suitably impressed with the TX-58DX902B’s HDR performance. Regardless of what we stated about the Average Picture Level (APL) not being drastically different between 1080p Blu-ray and Ultra HD BD, the latter format clearly exhibited greater dynamism, not to mention more shadow and highlight detail without clipping.

Thanks to the DX902B’s high peak brightness potential which could be delivered in a fairly localised manner, specular highlights (such as reflections off the solar panels and space helmets in The Martian) shone with breathtaking realism without washing out the entire image. Flesh tones and blue skies looked natural enough, though just like what we saw on other HDR TVs we’ve tested thus far, we’re not 100% satisfied with the presentation of red hues in The Martian and Mad Max: Fury Road, which , of course, might be caused by the 4K Blu-ray player or discs rather than the display. We’re still investigating.

In HDR mode, we found the local dimming algorithm on the TX58DX902B to be overly aggressive in certain low-APL scenes even with [Adaptive Backlight Control] set to “Min“. For example, in a shot of the night sky during the opening sequence of The Martian“, we could see several patches of darkening against other zones that’s brighter – mimicking a “reverse clouding” effect. To be fair, we played the same footage on a Panasonic ZT (in SDR, sob sob) which showed that the scene indeed contained darker and brighter areas within the source, only that the plasma displayed it with smoother transitions instead of the jarring difference seen on the Viera DX9. Perhaps only a self-emitting display such as OLED can do this scene justice in HDR.

The Martian
The Martian (timecode 00:00:52) on the 58″ DX902 with [ABC] “Min”

As long as we sat directly in front of the TV and used specific [Adaptive Backlight Control] settings, haloing/ bloom was minor and generally didn’t annoy us in HDR mode. A higher [ABC] value may also be needed to darken the top and bottom letterbox bars, but at the expense of obscuring shadow detail and lowering the APL even further.

We noticed several occurrences of black smearing where dark colours left trails when moving across a lighter background, which we attributed to the slower pixel response time of the Innolux VA LCD panel implemented on the Viera TX58DX902. Letting the TV warm up sufficiently or lowering backlight might ameliorate the phenomenon somewhat – in any case we didn’t think it was a deal-breaker since we only saw it a handful of times.

3D

The active-shutter glasses (ASG) 3D on the Panasonic DX902 was full HD 3D and could go impressively bright owing to the TV’s high luminance reserve, but was let down by two problems. The first was excessive crosstalk at certain depths – the double image ghosting made things very fatiguing to watch after a while. You can enable [3D Adjustment] and tweak the effect, but all it does is to shift the crosstalk to a different layer (front or back).

The second issue was the 60Hz-centric refresh rate in 3-D mode, which meant that 24Hz (3D Blu-ray) and 50Hz extra-dimensional material would be rendered with some judder during slow panning shots. In fact, the Viera 58DX902B’s 3D flaws were so similar to those we observed on the Sony XD93 that we wondered if both companies sourced their tri-dimensional processing tech from the same vendor. The Panasonic could go much brighter though, which is always a plus for 3D.

If despite these shortcomings you’d still like to watch 3D on the Viera DX902B, you have to buy compatible active-shutter glasses separately because the TV doesn’t ship with any.

Gaming

The Panasonic TX-58DX902B wasn’t quite the most responsive display on the market for playing video games (that title belongs to Samsung this year), but it should be good enough for most users. Our Leo Bodnar tester returned an input lag of 38ms with [Game Mode] engaged.

Input lag

Outside [Game Mode], lag times didn’t increase by much as long as [Intelligent Frame Creation] was not enabled. Even then, turning on [IFC] merely added 12ms to the input lag.

Video Review

Conclusion

A beautifully-engineered product, the Panasonic 58DX902B lays claim to being the best LED LCD TV so far in terms of picture quality – the company’s meticulous attention to detail for faithful reproduction of moving images certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed. It features the highest number of local dimming zones for a consumer-grade television, unrivalled colour accuracy for HD content once calibrated (although you’d have to sit straight on), and as impressive a HDR presentation as can be extracted from a transmissive display.

That’s not to say the DX900/ DX902 is without its blemishes. Viewing angles are narrow even by the standards of VA-type LCDs, and some viewers may find the cold-start instances of dark colour smearing irksome (though it didn’t bother us). Both issues can be traced to the Innolux SMVA LCD panel used; perhaps Panasonic’s engineers should consider applying their video processing expertise to a superior VA LCD panel from another supplier, or – even better – an OLED panel.

3D is pretty much a write-off due to excessive crosstalk and 60Hz-locked refresh rate, although seeing as manufacturers like Samsung and Philips aren’t even including 3D capability on their 2016 models, we won’t hold it against Panasonic. The TX58DX902B is also as energy-guzzling a television as we’ve reviewed in recent years on a watt-per-square-inch basis, but we consider it a worthwhile price to pay for its phenomenal image quality – high power consumption certainly hadn’t stopped us endorsing plasmas back in their heyday.

On the whole, the Panasonic DX902/ DX900 is an exceptional 4K HDR TV whose picture quality is likely to rank among the best we’ll see all year. The only upcoming displays which can possibly match or surpass its performance are the LG OLEDs, Samsung KS9500 or Sony XD94, but all of them are going to be more expensive at launch, making the Panasonic TX-58DX902B an irresistible choice for prospective buyers who want first-rate image fidelity without paying silly money.

Note: If you’re interested in buying this TV, please support us by considering making your purchase from our advertising partner Crampton & Moore Leeds – call 0113 244 6607 and ask for David, quoting HDTVTest for competitive prices and first-rate service.

Best in Class

22 comments

  1. Thanks for the test, one question as you compare the DX9 to ZT. What is you choice between them for 1080p SDR sources.

  2. I’m not surprised, everybody likes this TV, I’m not sure that the mentioned Sony or Samsung can beat this TV. The Sony is a 75 in TV so it should has at least 1000 zones to match the Panasonic’s performance…

    Will you retest the LG OLED G6? Your test is incomplete compared to your other reviews which is understandable because it was a US test trip. Or the E6

  3. Very thorough review. Could you expand on the motion performance? You stated, “The only way to obtain 1080 motion resolution without incurring SOE on the Panasonic TX58DX902B was through certain permutations in the [IFC] “Custom” submenu.” Please could you expand on what these permutations were?

  4. Great review and great TV.

    A shame i gave up in the waiting game and bought the 65CX800 last year wich has only 30dimming zones. Its funny you guys mentioned the poor pixels response time as i also noted that on my TV, It seem that the Sony X63D also has that problem, Its a point that should always be considered in the reviews, but some times is not.

    TVs manufacturers should use better and mores responsive panels, but hopefully OLED will save us in a few more years when it become more affordable.

  5. Thanks for the review.

    I don’t suppose you’ve managed to spend any time with the smaller TX-40DX700B by any chance? I’ve been itching to update my trusty old TX-32LZD85 for some time and it seems that enough of the nice features have started to trickle down to smaller screen sizes, 40″ is about my limit.

  6. Looking at the black level I can see why Panasonic opted to use these Innolux VA panels, even if they are slower and have worse viewing angles. ANSI contrast ratio thats nears 5000:1? That is crazy good for LCD! The blacks are are almost pitch black even without the help of local dimming in all but completely dark batcave enviroments. But just add bias light and even that gets fixed.

    Since Panasonic was one of the last famous Plasma manufacturers I guess the black depth / contrast ratio is quite big deal to them. Current Samsung panels for example do not deliver. Without FALD tricks they struggle to get 2500:1 and that is quite mediocre result in these days.

  7. Nice review, Vincent! May I ask, how many dimming zones does the 65inch version inhibits?

  8. @MaZa Not every Innolux panel is great at contrast (some of them, natively, are similar to Samsung and AUO, but have worse response times). Panasonic have dabbled with Innolux panels for years (even when they were still making plasma TVs… it’s probably just a natural progression from the working relationship they already had). I agree though that when they take an Innolux high contrast panel and add their dimming system, they have an exceptionally contrasted TV on their hands. It seems, from my testing and experience, that 2D only panels are more likely to have deeper native black levels.

  9. @Shoyuken: Strictly talking picture quality, there’s little reason to upgrade from the ZT for 1080p SDR except in a bright room.

    @Adam M: We will try.

    @Mark: You need to combine [Clear Motion] and [Blur Reduction].

    @Tim51: Unfortunately I haven’t tested the DX700, but none of Panasonic’s other 2016 TVs use a 10-bit panel.

    @Marc Wessels: Same number of zones, 512.

    Warmest regards
    Vincent

  10. @Vincent Teoh: Great review Vincent! A few questions though.

    1.)
    “[White Balance] and [Gamma] controls were misaligned and therefore unusable in HDR mode”
    Does this mean the 0-1310 nit HDR greyscale is not very accurate ?

    2.)
    What are the UHDA required window sizes and associated nit levels ?

    3.)
    What did you mean by “increased refresh of red phosphor decay” ? Is their red phosphor coating in the FALD LED backlights ?

    4.)
    Did the 883 nits full screen white last at least 2 minutes ?

    Thanks for reading. Regards,
    Jim

  11. Hi.
    I’m new to this site, so just asking… Can you post your calibrated setup, please?
    Good review! :-)

    Regards,
    Doan

  12. @Jim: 1) The 2-point white balance controls were sufficient for us to calibrate and obtain an accurate greyscale in HDR.

    2) I’m not allowed to divulge the window sizes, sorry. Nit levels is 1000 peak white/ 0.05 nits for LED LCDs, 560/ 0.0005 nits for OLEDs.

    3) Maybe my wording wasn’t quite accurate. The backlight uses a new red phosphor – [Clear Motion] strobes the backlight thus increasing the frequency our eyes perceive the red phosphor decay.

    4) Yes.

    Warmest regards
    Vincent

  13. Ha ha… I just saw what the sticker in the lower right corner saying: “Own this (or any other) TV? Want to get the best picture quality? Book us in to calibrate your set. Affordable price… get a quote now.”
    I guess transport alone to Denmark, where I live, would cost me a fortune. :-D

  14. @Vincent Teoh

    Thanks for the great review! Would you mind posting the exact settings for [Blur reduction] and [Clear Motion] you used to achieve the best results for motion resolution? I find ist very difficult to figure that out on mit own set.

    Thanks for reading.

    Regards
    Max

  15. Thanks for your reply Vincent, much appreciated, and after further reading you’ve clued me into an important piece of information I was clearly overlooking, that only a 10 bit panel can properly display HDR. Think you might have saved me from making a mistake there so thank you! It’s a bit rude (at least I think) that they label TV’s as HDR when they’re not really up to the mark, preying on the less informed a little for sure.

    I went into my local Currys store today to have a look at the set, but they only had the 40DX600B on display, I had a little play with some of the image settings and overall I was really impressed with the picture quality, superior to my eyes to all other 40″ TV’s around it, including last years X680B, only thing was it seemed a little dim compared to the Samsung 40″ next to it so unless the 40DX700B has a totally different panel, it’s not going to be anywhere near bright enough to do HDR justice.

    Any thoughts on how long it’s likely to take for TV’s in the 40″ size to be built around the right 10 bit panel tech? Once again thanks for the save!

  16. I believe that all the 2016 suhd TVs (the KS series) have a 10bit panel, 1000nits and are UHD premium certified.

    The KS7500 is available in a 43″ and that that the smallest with the above specs

    http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/tv-audio-video/televisions/quantum-dot-display/UE43KS7500UXXU

  17. Thanks Rich, much appreciated. Looks like it’s not going to be in store for a few more weeks but as soon as it is I’ll go take a look at that, could be just what I’m after. It’s about time I became brand agnostic I guess rather than holding out for a Panasonic that might never come, as much as I like their picture processing.

    Thanks again!

  18. Re dissatisfactions with the reds on The Martian UHD, I believe that it is in the production of the disk.

    I originally bought the Samsung K8500 along with this disk. I returned the Sammy. To be fair my projector is only 1080p (Sony VPL-VW50). But, the picture that I got exhibited a black crush and a red push. The player exhibited the same contrasty characteristics on the regular bluray disk of the same movie, but the red was just about normal.

    I did take some comparative screen shots before returning the Samsung, if anyone is interested.

  19. Game mode is pretty useless because of the immense motion smearing. Fortunately, with IFC at high and maybe even ClearMotion on, the blur is almost gone and the lag still in “ok” territory.

    What bothers me more are the fan noise and the mediocre 3D (I like it for gaming, movies not so much). I hope better glasses can improve the latter. The Panasonic ER3D5ME one’s aren’t great, just ok (for the price).

  20. Patrik Gårdewall

    ” The player exhibited the same contrasty characteristics on the regular bluray disk of the same movie, but the red was just about normal.”

    it almost sounds that the K8500 UHD player doesnt detect HDR and rec2020 and still think the UHD disc is a regular blu ray with rec709 colors
    that would explain why RED color is oversaturated with the UHD disc.

    a setting issue?

  21. Its just such a shame that the motion blur is so bad on Panasonics tvs that its almost unwatchable. I have seen every type of source be played and have seen horific motion blur with every single sauce…. 4k bluray, hd and normal tv.

  22. I bought this set based on this review. Ive just watched The Grand Tour in 4K HDR via the amazon built in app, I can see large banding across the sky in many shots. I thought the point of hdr was to remove this? Also i sit 2 metres away, right in front of the set, if I lie down on my sofa my head is at the edge of the screen, if i look at the other side of the screen all the colours are washed out. I first noticed it while watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, the 2nd act theyre on the space station, the set is white with pink chairs and if you look all the chairs are a different colour unless youre perpendicular to the chair. Im thinking of returning it.

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