Best Panasonic TV: From affordable LED TVs to stunning OLEDs

The Panasonic TX-55JZ2000 is an incredible choice for those wanting a brilliant high-end OLED TV with a class-leading panel.

This level of performance is down to the HCX AI processor that advances in Panasonic’s picture and sound processing. What this results in is some magnificent gradation of colour tones and fine detailing. HD upscaling is excellent, as is this panel’s HDR performance, with its near 1000 nits of measured peak brightness better than what competing LG, Philips and Sony OLEDs can muster.

The My Home Screen interface simple to use with a good selection of apps to pick from. The inclusion of Freeview Play provides all the UK catch-up and on-demand apps such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and All4, whilst the streaming apps offer the usual suspects of Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+.

The inclusion of HDMI 2.1 alongside VRR and ALLM means this Panasonic panel is good choice for high-end gaming, the 4K 120Hz support makes the JZ2000 a good partner for the Xbox Series X or PS5. Input lag is low, though rival TVs offer slightly faster latency. We measured this TV’s response time at 14.5ms, which is snappy enough to handle fast-twitch games.

The built-in speaker system is particularly powerful with its 125W output, which ensures you should be able to take in a blockbuster film with equally great audio. Dolby Atmos offers up an incredibly wide soundstage, especially thanks to 360 Soundstage Pro and its additional side-firing drivers that provides more width to the overall experience.

The Panasonic TX-65JZ1000B is the Japanese brand’s third-in-line OLED TV, offering a great performance at a more affordable price point.

Its picture quality is naturalistic with nuance and realism abundant in spades, pitched alongside vibrant colours and good detail, too. We also found its upscaling to be solid, naturally better with high-def sources than standard definition, with black levels especially excellent with no visible crushing of detail in black levels present. Moreover, motion here is particularly good, Panasonic once again delivering with a smooth and stable performance.

Gamers will be pleased to find support for ALLM, VRR (with AMD FreeSync Premium) and High Frame Rate at 4K/120Hz. There is Dolby Vision Gaming VRR support but only up to 60Hz output, unlike the LG C2 which supports it up to 120Hz. We also measured a low latency at 14.4ms, which will be even lower with VRR enabled for a faster and stable gaming performance.

The design of the JZ1000 hews to being both minimalistic and functional in appearance, the slim bezels helping it to fit seamlessly into a room. There have been a few quality of life improvements, with the JZ1000 lighter than its predecessor and the cable holder sturdier than the previous year’s offering, all reflective of its well-built chassis.

The 30W speaker output is pretty good for a flatscreen TV, producing an expansive Dolby Atmos performance that with clear dialogue and some directional audio, although it can verge on being sibilant with some content. For more general audio, a soundbar will improve things.

If it’s a small Panasonic OLED you’re after, then TX-48JZ980B is a great choice. Its colours are rich and vibrant producing an excellent HDR performance for its. The brightness is also pretty good, measured at a peak of 800 nits that helps to produce some intense HDR highlights. Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ support helps to refine the set’s HDR performance further.

This Panasonic OLED is a minimalist looking set with its gunmetal finish, tiny bezels and a pair of slot-in feet ensuring the look of the TV doesn’t detract from the spectacular images on screen. We found connectivity to be good for a small screen with two HDMI 2.1 ports one of which supports eARC for passing out lossless audio to a compatible.

For gamers the TX-48JZ980B has a coterie of features that includes ALLM, HFR and VRR to eliminate any potential screen tearing and offer up a better gaming performance. Input lag is pretty good too, measuring at 14.6ms, although it’s not as speedy as LG’s 48-inch C1 or Samsung’s Q70T.

The on-screen interface is excellent with a usable layout that our reviewer found to be intuitive and easy to navigate. Options for streaming apps are solid with a full list of catch up services including BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, alongside the usual suspects of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Rakuten TV, Disney+ and Apple TV+.

The Panasonic TX-65JX940 is the Japanese manufacturer’s premium LCD TV, and would make for a great choice for those wanting a big-screen LED option.

Our reviewer found it be an improvement over the older HX940 model by offering better brightness, balanced colours and contrast, with Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive assisting to bring out more detail discernible in darkest parts of an image. Its 4K HDR performance is punchy and colourful, with upscaling of lower quality sources consistently good with HD sources displaying a good amount of detail and sharpness.

Gamers are catered with HDMI 2.1 and 4K output at 120Hz where that’s supported. ALLM and VRR ensure latency is low, which we measured at 15.6ms, although that is marginally higher than the older HX940 and not as speedy as Samsung QN94A Mini LED.

When it comes to speakers, we found this JX940 model to be fine for general viewing with no noticeable sibilant tones on dialogue and good overall clarity and detail. There’s also some decent bass to be had here, and you do get Dolby Atmos, which offers a more spacious sound and good clarity with the higher frequencies. For better audio, picking up an external sound system is advisable.

This Panasonic TV boasts some smart if functional looks (as usual from Panasonic). The My Home Screen interface is equally functional with a decent selection of apps that includes Disney+ and Apple TV+ which were added to Panasonic TVs later in 2021. For a wider range of apps than what’s offered here, especially if your interests are outside of home cinema apps, we’d suggest getting a streaming stick to go with the TV.