I'm excited about Panasonic's Z95B OLED – could it be a contender for TV of the year?
Panasonic revealed its latest flagship 4K TVs back at CES 2025 in January, but I finally had the chance to check them out in the flesh during a European launch event last week in Wiesbaden, Germany.
The Panasonic 2025 TV lineup includes a handful of OLED TVs as well as a large selection of LEDs and a mini-LED option, too. It's headlined by the terrific Z95B OLED, following up last year's Z95A.
So what makes it special? For starters the 55, 65 and 77in Z95B uses the same Primary Tandem RGB OLED panel four-stack approach as the excellent LG G5. The 5.1.2 speaker system is similar to last year's model but has made the side and upfiring speakers bigger while the rear speakers have been repositioned (bass output has gone from 20W to 30W). Panasonic is now branding its premium TV audio as 'tuned by Technics'.
There's also use of a new cooling system, called ThermalFlow. This essentially flows air upwards out of the top of the unit, reducing turbulent (and warm) air behind the panel itself and so improving efficiency. The design has also been changed quite a bit, too, with the speaker along the bottom of the screen getting a more premium fabric finish. This looks smart and is a definite improvement over the Z95A.
Everything is powered by the HCX AI Processor II and it also boasts the Penta Tuner which basically makes it easy to connect to whatever sources you want during setup, whether that's terrestrial tuning or IP TV.
Naturally there's also support for Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ while there's a load of premium gaming features including two HDMI 2.1 ports, a 144Hz refresh rate, VRR, Nvidia G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium. Improvements have also been made to Panasonic's Game Mode Extreme, too.
The Z90B OLED is available in a wider range of screen sizes – 42, 48, 55, 65 and 77in. It does't have the Primary Tandem RGB panel, instead Panasonic calls this panel Master OLED Pro.
The sound system is labelled Dynamic Theater Sound Pro. It comes with a built-in 30W subwoofer and Dolby Atmos support. It supports 144Hz, AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync VRR.
The Z80B has many of the same features including Dolby Vision and Atmos but is a 120Hz refresh rate instead. It's available in 48, 55 and 65-inch sizes and has the HCX processor instead.
Further down the range is the mini-LED W95B, 144Hz W93B, 120Hz W85B and the W80A which is a QLED set. The W70A and W61A also complete the LED lineup.
The other noteworthy set is the W95B mini-LED and it's available in 55, 65, and 75in plus there's a large 85in option, too. It supports many of the flagship features from the OLED sets including Dolby Vision and Atmos, HDR10+, 144Hz, VRR anbd AMD FreeSync Premium.
Panasonic has put its eggs very much in the Amazon Fire TV basket and it's this OS that's available on most of these models, with TiVo also an option on the cheaper sets. Panasonic also confirmed that its TVs will support Alexa+ when it is available (initially in the US). Fire TV remains a very good option, but it is so Amazon-centric that it does always feel you have to be an Amazon devotee to get the most out of it.
The new OLEDs as well as the W95B mini-LED will also support Prime Video Calibrated Mode which has also appeared on Sony's TVs. It's an additional picture quality setting for your TV designed to reproduce content as the creator intended. We're looking forward to testing this out ourselves on Panasonic's flagship TVs when we review them as I've not been convinced by it so far as giving a picture quality improvement that you'd want to switch to.
TV manufacturers want to seem increasingly close to tech used in pro-level studios and Panasonic is no stranger to doing this with Filmmaker Mode. The Z95B and W95B TVs can be calibrated at home, using Calman technology called AutoCal. This is certainly an interesting development that I'm looking forward to checking out too.
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Panasonic revealed its latest flagship 4K TVs back at CES 2025 in January, but I finally had the chance to check them out in the flesh during a European launch event last week in Wiesbaden, Germany. The Panasonic 2025 TV lineup includes a handful of OLED TVs as well as a large selection of LEDs and a mini-LED option, too. It's headlined by the terrific Z95B OLED, following up last year's Z95A. So what makes it special? For starters the 55, 65 and 77in Z95B uses the same Primary Tandem RGB OLED panel four-stack approach as the excellent LG G5. The 5.1.2 speaker system is similar to last year's model but has made the side and upfiring speakers bigger while the rear speakers have been repositioned (bass output has gone from 20W to 30W). Panasonic is now branding its premium TV audio as 'tuned by Technics'. There's also use of a new cooling system, called ThermalFlow. This essentially flows air upwards out of the top of the unit, reducing turbulent (and warm) air behind the panel itself and so improving efficiency. The design has also been changed quite a bit, too, with the speaker along the bottom of the screen getting a more premium fabric finish. This looks smart and is a definite improvement over the Z95A. Everything is powered by the HCX AI Processor II and it also boasts the Penta Tuner which basically makes it easy to connect to whatever sources you want during setup, whether that's terrestrial tuning or IP TV. Naturally there's also support for Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ while there's a load of premium gaming features including two HDMI 2.1 ports, a 144Hz refresh rate, VRR, Nvidia G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium. Improvements have also been made to Panasonic's Game Mode Extreme, too. The Z90B OLED is available in a wider range of screen sizes – 42, 48, 55, 65 and 77in. It does't have the Primary Tandem RGB panel, instead Panasonic calls this panel Master OLED Pro. The sound system is labelled Dynamic Theater Sound Pro. It comes with a built-in 30W subwoofer and Dolby Atmos support. It supports 144Hz, AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync VRR. The Z80B has many of the same features including Dolby Vision and Atmos but is a 120Hz refresh rate instead. It's available in 48, 55 and 65-inch sizes and has the HCX processor instead. Further down the range is the mini-LED W95B, 144Hz W93B, 120Hz W85B and the W80A which is a QLED set. The W70A and W61A also complete the LED lineup. The other noteworthy set is the W95B mini-LED and it's available in 55, 65, and 75in plus there's a large 85in option, too. It supports many of the flagship features from the OLED sets including Dolby Vision and Atmos, HDR10+, 144Hz, VRR anbd AMD FreeSync Premium. Panasonic has put its eggs very much in the Amazon Fire TV basket and it's this OS that's available on most of these models, with TiVo also an option on the cheaper sets. Panasonic also confirmed that its TVs will support Alexa+ when it is available (initially in the US). Fire TV remains a very good option, but it is so Amazon-centric that it does always feel you have to be an Amazon devotee to get the most out of it. The new OLEDs as well as the W95B mini-LED will also support Prime Video Calibrated Mode which has also appeared on Sony's TVs. It's an additional picture quality setting for your TV designed to reproduce content as the creator intended. We're looking forward to testing this out ourselves on Panasonic's flagship TVs when we review them as I've not been convinced by it so far as giving a picture quality improvement that you'd want to switch to. TV manufacturers want to seem increasingly close to tech used in pro-level studios and Panasonic is no stranger to doing this with Filmmaker Mode. The Z95B and W95B TVs can be calibrated at home, using Calman technology called AutoCal. This is certainly an interesting development that I'm looking forward to checking out too.
