Panasonic announces flagship OLED TVs for 2022
Panasonic has announced the launch of its flagship OLED TV for 2022, the LZ2000, available in 55, 65 and, for the first time, 77 inch sizes.
Improvements on the new model for gamers include an information and settings overlay called Game Control Board, automatic NVIDIA GPU detection, improved 60Hz latency, and HDMI2.1 support.
Also included are advanced sensors to detect the ambient room light colour temperature and adjust the picture in a nuanced way to deliver a more natural experience when, for example, watching at nighttime.
This new feature builds on Panasonic’s Auto AI mode, introduced last year, which uses Artificial Intelligence to identify in real-time the content being played, in order to be able to automatically optimise both picture and sound quality for that type of content.
Panasonic was the first TV brand to introduce built-in upward-firing and side-firing speakers and this year Panasonic has completely overhauled the front-firing speakers, replacing them with array speakers (multiple speakers arranged in a row) which run the entire length of the TV behind the front speaker grille.
These array speakers offer a number of benefits, including a wider sound stage and also more precise, clear audio – in addition, they also allow directional sound. Using a very intuitive and simple-to-use GUI, the LZ2000 makes it possible to adjust the relative loudness of the audio in different parts of the room.
It comes with three modes: “Pinpoint” mode which allows the sound to be directed to one specific point; “Area” mode, which allows you to shift the sound to a group of people in a specific area of the room; and a “Spot” mode which boosts the volume in one particular spot while others can still hear the sound.
The LZ2000 supports a very wide range of HDR formats, including Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Vision, Filmmaker Mode, HDR10+ Adaptive, and HLG Photo, the still image format which brings still photography into the HDR world.
A brand new feature called Game Control Board collects all relevant game settings and information in one place and presents them as an overlay over the game – so that you never need to leave the game to access them. Furthermore, it can be programmed for access by just one click on the remote control by assigning it to the customisable “my App” button.
The LZ2000 features the latest iteration of Panasonic’s smart TV OS, My Home Screen 7.0 which supports all major video streaming services and includes some improvements in terms of accessibility and also to the myScenery function.
With the LZ2000, consumers will be able to access all related accessibility settings through a quick menu, which also triggers voice guidance automatically. The new accessibility menu also provides a variety of useful features. Panasonic claims voice control, audio descriptions, audio dialogue enhancement and hard-of-hearing subtitles can be configured easily.
