Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 – 3D Picture Quality

If you want a really bold 3D image and/or you’re watching 3D with a bit
of ambient light in your room, we’d recommend the Dynamic 3D mode but
with the colour saturation toned down. If you want a more ‘accurate’
image and you’re in almost total darkness, the THX 3D preset will serve
you well with no extra input required.

Also impressing hugely with 3D images are the amount of detail the set delivers from full HD 3D Blu-rays; the gorgeous and deep sense of space created thanks to the set’s awesome contrast and sharpness; and the exceptionally good handling of crosstalk noise, which only occurs on very rare occasions, and even then only at a subdued level.

Our only issues with 3D on the P60ZT65 are that audio sometimes seems slightly out of sync with the images, and that motion can look a little ‘billowy’ and indistinct at times unless you have the motion processing set to its mid level.

Add to all the stunning picture achievements already listed a huge viewing angle versus LCD panels, a gaming-friendly input lag measurement of under 30ms and some exceptional upscaling work on those occasions where you just can’t avoid watching standard definition, and you’ve got pictures that set new, potentially unassailable standards for full HD TV.

Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 – Motion Handling

There’s really only one real image problem to discuss (aside from the minor green fizzing noted – and largely dismissed – earlier), and that’s the way motion tends to break up and fizz a little if you don’t use Panasonic’s Intelligent Frame Creation (IFC) system.

To explain this a little more, with no motion processing in play the edges of large moving objects can show signs of double imaging as they cross the screen, especially while watching broadcasts, while moving skin tones also suffer with some fizzing noise.

The good news here is that you only have to use the IFC processing on its lowest level of power to pretty much totally defeat both these motion flaws. And at this low ‘power’ level, IFC neither makes Blu-ray images look excessively video like nor causes many other significant negative side effects.

Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 – Sound Quality

The P60ZT65’s audio isn’t in a whole league of its own like its pictures are, but it’s still exceptional for a flat TV. Thanks to its use of front- rather than down-firing speakers and a built-in woofer to help boost bass output and take some stress off the mid-range speakers, they’re able to go louder and deliver more high-end detailing without sounding distorted or harsh.

The only audio issue – aside from the occasional lag noticed with 3D footage using our Panasonic Blu-ray player – is that we occasionally noticed a slight whine from the cooling fans tucked away somewhere inside the ZT65’s svelte form.

Should I buy a Panasonic TX-P60ZT65?

Yes.

What? You want more? Oh.

Well, we guess if put our realistic head on, the TV’s £4k price will put it well beyond the budgets of most of our readers, leaving you ‘having to’ turn to excellent but cheaper alternatives such as 65-inch version of the Panasonic P50VT65, the Sony Bravia 55W905 or the Samsung UE55F8000.

If you’re a serious film fan, though, who’s prepared to spend big to get the most natural, most accurate and just simply most brilliant pictures ever produced from a full HD TV, then your bucks stop with the P60ZT65.

Verdict

If you can afford a Panasonic P60ZT65 and you can get one before the limited stocks run out, you can splash your cash on one safe in the knowledge that you have bagged yourself what might turn out to be – especially if OLED fails to get its act together – the last word in ‘2K’ picture quality.

Now read Trusted Reviews Best TVs 2013

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