Audio Video News

Kuro, Redux? Panasonic Launches “4K Pro” OLED TV at European Show

SV Staff  |  Sep 3, 2015

Panasonic may have a follow-up to the legendary Kuro plasma TV technology that it acquired from Pioneer in 2009. The company introduced a 65-inch “4K Pro” OLED TV at the IFA 2015 consumer electronics show in Berlin said to deliver its most accurate picture quality ever.

The curved-screen TX-65CZ950 is high dynamic range (HDR)-compatible and combines hardware and processing innovations with picture quality tuning by professional Hollywood colorist Mike Sowa to deliver a “new standard of picture performance that comes closer than ever before to the vision of film directors and cinematographers,” Panasonic said.

The set is the first to combine Panasonic’s 4K Studio Master Processor, which draws on decades of knowledge accumulated by the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory, with custom-built panels said to cover at least 90 percent of the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) color space.

The CZ950 offers a True Cinema picture preset with picture quality settings tuned and approved by Sowa and implements a version of the 3D Lookup Table system used in professional monitors said to reference cyan, magenta and yellow across 8000 registry points in addition to red, green, and blue. The system takes a “volumetric approach to color space control whereby a change in any one input color causes cross-color changes in all of the table’s output colors for a “more accurate rendition of color tones at different brightness levels than you get with normal TVs.”

Panasonic also said its experience with plasma technology has enabled it to overcome the challenge of shifting from complete blackness to a gradation step just above black to render detail in the darkest areas of the image.

“Panasonic is proving their commitment to excellence by engineering their newest 4K Pro TV to satisfy my professional standard of zero compromise,” said Sowa, who has worked on blockbuster films such as Oblivion and Insurgent. “My world of visual storytelling is based around color accuracy and the need for a display that complements the creative vision. Panasonic has engineered their newest 4K Pro OLED TV to a standard that I would only expect in professional displays."

Pricing and plans for a U.S. introduction were not announced.

COMMENTS
bramankp's picture
Submitted by bramankp on September 3, 2015 - 8:25am

Now if only it weren't a curved screen ... or they offered a flat-screened version alongside.

trynberg's picture
Submitted by trynberg on September 3, 2015 - 3:46pm

EXACTLY! I actually groaned when I saw "curved screen". Ugh.

Hi-Reality's picture
Submitted by Hi-Reality on September 3, 2015 - 4:54pm

Very interesting!

William Lee's picture
Submitted by William Lee on September 3, 2015 - 5:09pm

Why do I have the feeling that the OLED panel is made by LG?
Didn't Panny and Sony abandon the OLED project a few years ago?
What is this "volumetric approach to color space control"? If I read correctly, it means that if I adjust red, it would affect green and blue. Don't we want independent color adjustment when working with CMS?

Billy's picture
Submitted by Billy on September 3, 2015 - 8:13pm

Can I use this with my home theater PC without burn in?

mvision7m1's picture
Submitted by mvision7m1 on September 4, 2015 - 5:22am

Good point about the panel’s origins however, in my opinion, either way it is good to see Panasonic in the OLED mix. I’d love to see a relatively affordable flat screen 65+” OLED from Panasonic that has all of the best attributes of the ZT60 combined with OLED’s incredible black level while taking full advantage of HDR’s potential. Looking forward to seeing this set in action or reading a pro review once calibrated. Very cool. I also can’t wait for HDR, color space and HDMI standards to flesh out completely and be fully implemented on most widely available AV equipment.

Thomas J. Norton's picture
Submitted by Thomas J. Norton on September 4, 2015 - 7:29am
We'd love to see this as a real product. Hopefully it is being shown at IFA with that in mind, and not just as a "show car." Panasonic did the latter with an OLED at last January's CES (perhaps similar to this, though with a flat screen as I recall).

The "Pro" designation throws another wrinkle into the mix. If it's truly intended as a pro monitor (Panasonic plasmas were long sold into the pro monitor market) it could end up at a premium price—even by OLED standards. Hopefully they intend to bring it into the more accessible consumer space.

K.Reid's picture
Submitted by K.Reid on September 4, 2015 - 11:55am

Do the ZT plasmas have any issues with displaying a single gradation above black? I thought that was one strength of these panels that made for great shadow detail. Any theory on what this volumetric approach to color space is? Will be interesting to see if Panasonic will show some OLED sets at CES 2016.

notabadname's picture
Submitted by notabadname on September 4, 2015 - 7:47am

This is a fad that cannot die soon enough. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

mars2k's picture
Submitted by mars2k on September 4, 2015 - 10:28am

Enough with the expensive marketing gimmick ...no more curved screens that add nothing but expense.

TheJoBoo's picture
Submitted by TheJoBoo on September 4, 2015 - 12:53pm

Panasonic is one of the LAST brands that should be hopping into a new category, especially one aimed at higher performance. They absolutely crashed the plasma market with a need to sell more panels by racing to the bottom on prices to justify their over-built factories in Japan. Greed much. Panasonic, keep making razors or printers or whatever you want besides TVs. You have made some nice sets; but your business practices are terrible. Please leave the video segment! You are not good at it!

K.Reid's picture
Submitted by K.Reid on September 4, 2015 - 6:52pm

First you say Panasonic should not enter the high performance; then you say they made nice flat panels. Without Panasonic, which mind you is a for profit corporation, Kuro technology would have died. There would have been no GT, ST, VT or reference caliber ZT plasma panels. You must not be a videophile, otherwise you would not make such an absurd, unwarranted ludicrous comment for Panasonic to leave the video segment. If Panasonic destroyed the market, LG, Samsung, Sony - the other mega for profit corporations - would have exited the high end video display market because they would see no profit potential. Clearly that is not true.

TheJoBoo's picture
Submitted by TheJoBoo on September 4, 2015 - 8:05pm

Panasonic did not continue Kuro panels; the series mentioned ranged from flawed (the sets that mysteriously changed their black levels) to quite nice. Videophile status has nothing to do with the suggestion that Panasonic is not good at the business side of the TV market. They began and furthered the great race to the bottom, which has seen Toshiba leave the video segment altogether, knock off brands like Vizio dominate the wholesale club minded general public, and the major brands most definitely abandon the high performance video category (save Samsung's F8500 plasma run.) There have been no "Kuro killers" released by anyone. No video manufacturer is making windfall profits; they are hoping to simply stay in the game. LCD technology is limited by its very design regardless of backlighting scheme, pixel count or frame rate. LG's flat OLEDs are a chance for the high performance category to be reborn. At least Panasonic isn't the guy out there trying to spread fear about OLED through myth and rumor to keep people buying inferior sets because he doesn't manufacture OLED. But they are incompetent. We don't need Uncle Billy leaving the deposit rollled up in a newspaper only for Mr. Potter to find it. It's not a personal attack on Panasonic employees or share holders (or anyone standing up for them without any understandable reason.)

K.Reid's picture
Submitted by K.Reid on September 5, 2015 - 1:54am

First, I did not state that Panasonic continued Kuro panels. I said the technology would have died without continued R&D by Panasonic. Second, no true videophile in their right mind would ever make an assertion that Panasonic should exit the high end video display market. I. The absence of Panasonic, would we have ZT or VT reference Plasmas. Short answer: No. Third, if Toshiba had made some reference quality product perhaps they could have competed. Fourth, I guess you would blame Panasonic for Sharp exiting the flat panel market as well. And who said anything about 'Kuro Killers'? No one. Also, it is common knowledge to videophiles that LCD technology is flawed....essentially a band aid on top of a band aid. As for The comment that Panasonic is incompetent, I think their engineers would fervently disagree...as would its balance sheets. To attack the company is to attack the employees that work there. You may not like Panasonic because its ability to flood the market with Plasma sets at affordable prices before plasmas demise but consumers still had plenty of choices from other manufacturers. Remember, plasmas were not the brightest, that honor belonged to LCD sets which certain consumers value more than a display with reference quality black levels. Just because Panasonic may (emphasis added) enter the OLED market does not in any way serve as a confirmation that they will dominate. The quality of their product will dictate demand and whether and at what price consumers will buy.

gunhed's picture
Submitted by gunhed on September 4, 2015 - 9:26pm

Let's hope this does well enough for Panasonic to develop their own panels. More actual manufactures may help to solve the motion resolution and screen uniformity issues. In the mean time, buy a second hand Kuro for the spare room and enjoy life. Watching a Kuro picture is an emotional experience more than anything else.

mikem's picture
Submitted by mikem on September 5, 2015 - 9:26am

A curved screen. That's all I needed to know. So, no thanks. I recently saw an article re: pros & cons of a curved screen but can't find it. The article offered some persuasive arguments for curves screens but just looking at curved screens in a Best Buy store is enough for me.

mikem's picture
Submitted by mikem on September 8, 2015 - 8:29am

I just read an article on LG Oled and according to exec VP Brian Kwon they will offer both curved and flat screen OLED

http://www.whathifi.com/news/lg-wants-to-sell-oled-tv-every-minute

Yowsa!!!!!!!

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