Gemini:

GV27:

X90J is up on the wall. Struggles a bit in our bright room but comes into its own as the sun goes down. Ran 2.1 cables into the appropriate HDMI ports and 2.0s into the rest, but all the cords and ports are accessible on the side with our wall mount, so no drama.

So far my only complaint is the grids for inputting passwords and login details for apps are a pain and few apps offer QR logins using a mobile device (but that's hardly Sony's fault). Overall, pretty happy! Now if I could just get the time to actually watch something like The Witcher that takes advantage of it, instead of hugely compressed sports coverage. 

Struggles in your bright room? Just as well you didn't buy OLED!

Gemini:

Struggles in your bright room? Just as well you didn't buy OLED!

I think at some point the narrower colour bands hurt the X90J because all it feels like I'm doing is pouring on more gamma, but winding back the gamma doesn't seem to improve things much colour-wise and it all looks washed-out. 

I'll keep fiddling and see if I can come up with a good mix for what is basically an apartment layout. 

ShinyChrome:

 

jonathan18:

 

So I'm starting to get an itchy wallet, looking to replace our in-the-house TV (a cruddy LG 55" LCD that I basically won't watch) with an OLED. Currently we have a Panasonic OLED (HZ100065) [edit: GZ1000] in the HT and we're really happy with that, so my default purchase would be the equivalent version unless there's a good reason to look elsewhere. To aid this decision, I'd appreciate any feedback...

 

Can we expect to see new models with 'must-have' features being released this year? Or is it worth waiting for some of the sales towards the end of the year to get current models at a better price? (I'm not in any real rush...)

 

In terms of the entry-level 55" models:

 

• any thoughts on the cheapest 55", the Philips on special at PB Tech for $2k?
• can anyone report on meaningful differences between the Panasonic JZ980 vs the JZ1000? 
• or the value of picking a Sony over Panasonic?

Thanks!

 

 

The biggest surprise is QD-OLED coming to market, so if they actually release here, we might see some price competition with OLEDs. Initial impressions are good, improving on OLED's weak points, like brightness and color gamut/volume.

 

The only thing with that Philips model is that it is from 2019, which makes that price a bit meh for me.

 

I would have said fixed vs swivel stand for the JZ980 vs JZ1000, but if there is a difference between the two, I'm not seeing it.

 

Both Sony and Panasonic have pretty good picture processing and now, HDMI support so it really comes down to on-the-day price and personal preference.

 

Just don't get the LG A series with it's gawd-awful 60hz panel

 

When I popped into HN earlier in the week the sales guy wasn't too sure of the differences between JZ980 and JZ1000 either; doing a bit more digging, this page suggests the key differences are the JZ980:

• "uses the kind of off-the-shelf OLED panel used in most of last year's range. However, while last year's flagship HZ2000 was the only set to feature a custom-made panel, that privilege is now being granted to the 1000, 1500, and 2000 series models in 2021. That means the JZ980 is the only 2021 OLED from Panasonic to miss out."
• "will also make do with a slightly more basic motion processing system, Smooth Motion Drive, rather than the Smooth Motion Drive Pro tech used on the JZ1000 and above."
• lacks a swivel stand

What those cut corners translate to in terms of real world usage I do not know; I'm already happy with the GZ1000 we have so imagine the 980 will be fine for us, but it also depends on how big a difference in cost at the time of buying.

I've also taken a further look into the Philips units as well; partly because of the price, but also as I'm a complete sucker for lighting and so I love the idea of Ambilight! Totally agree, though, re-age of that model. In NZ retailers are selling the 804 from 2019 and the 805 from 2020; no sign of the 806 (2021) let alone the 807 (2022) at all. These newer models have four-sided Ambilight (totally important!) and HDMI 2.1 (guess this could be important if my kids get back into console gaming later on, but I doubt it). I'm in no rush so will see if these models turn up before I start to get close to buying.

SpartanVXL:

I mean, you’d have a hard time trying to out-emit the strength of the sun on a clear day with any consumer tech.

Yea, and I could have spent a lot more trying to do it than I did to get an X90J that I'm stoked with. For $2K it was a steal.

Kind of regret not going for the 75" option but I feel like that's probably natural. My son loves watching Bluey on it and it can stream The Bachelor so the important stakeholders are satisfied. We also moved our enormous coffee table out of the room so the space looks totally transformed. 

jonathan18:

 

When I popped into HN earlier in the week the sales guy wasn't too sure of the differences between JZ980 and JZ1000 either; doing a bit more digging, this page suggests the key differences are the JZ980:

 

• "uses the kind of off-the-shelf OLED panel used in most of last year's range. However, while last year's flagship HZ2000 was the only set to feature a custom-made panel, that privilege is now being granted to the 1000, 1500, and 2000 series models in 2021. That means the JZ980 is the only 2021 OLED from Panasonic to miss out."
• "will also make do with a slightly more basic motion processing system, Smooth Motion Drive, rather than the Smooth Motion Drive Pro tech used on the JZ1000 and above."
• lacks a swivel stand

What those cut corners translate to in terms of real world usage I do not know; I'm already happy with the GZ1000 we have so imagine the 980 will be fine for us, but it also depends on how big a difference in cost at the time of buying.

 

I've also taken a further look into the Philips units as well; partly because of the price, but also as I'm a complete sucker for lighting and so I love the idea of Ambilight! Totally agree, though, re-age of that model. In NZ retailers are selling the 804 from 2019 and the 805 from 2020; no sign of the 806 (2021) let alone the 807 (2022) at all. These newer models have four-sided Ambilight (totally important!) and HDMI 2.1 (guess this could be important if my kids get back into console gaming later on, but I doubt it). I'm in no rush so will see if these models turn up before I start to get close to buying.

 

I saw the TR article when I originally looked, but at the time, when I comparing the specs they appeared identical, so I dismissed it as inaccurate reporting... or. so. I. thought!

They have identical specs for SMDP and stand (which may be an error, who knows!), but this time, a different part caught my eye: the JZ980 is listed as OLED Panel for the display, while the JZ1000 is listed as MASTER HDR OLED Panel, so there you go! (And not to be confused with the JZ2000, which uses the MASTER HDR OLED Panel Professional Edition). I can imagine the differences will be purely in brightness and highlights.

Philips seems about the only choice for us for budget OLEDs at the moment, and especially if you want the synced pretty pretties. As you say, the ranging here is weird and inconsistent... I wonder if this is due to supply issues and prioritizing bigger markets?

So that 2019 Philips OLED is down to $1700 at PB Tech… started to get slightly tempted even though a few years old.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/TVPHS880356/Philips-OLED804-Android-Smart-TV-4K-UHD-OLED-55-wi#price-stock-alert-modal

It’s another nearly $400 to get the cheaper Panasonic, which is down to $2094 at Harvey Norman.

https://www.harveynorman.co.nz/tv-and-audio/televisions/oled-televisions/panasonic-55-jz980-oled-4k-smart-tv.html

I imagine/hope that model and the JZ1000 will come down later in the year, so could be patient and wait…

I wouldn't even think about the Philips compared to the JZ980 and JZ1000. Panasonic are a much better TV

@Gemini honestly, whichever is the best price.

They are all good TVs, they all have similar feature levels and the only stand-out differences between them are the C1 has 4 HDMI 2.1 ports vs the A80j and JZ1000, and slightly lower latency for gaming, which it sounds like it won't be a massive deal.

Everything else comes down to panel variation, OTOB calibration, and picture processing where subjectively, I lean towards the Sony or Panasonic, but I don't think you would really notice unless they were side-by-side.

@gemini We bought the Panasonic HZ1000 OLED 65” last year (but it was the 2020 model I think) and we love it. It was the price that made us look at the Panasonic over the LG model. We don’t use the smart TV function. We use Apple TV for everything. The smaller central stand is also a bonus and it has a cable management piece on the stand as well to keep the cables tidy.

Elmoz:

@gemini We bought the Panasonic HZ1000 OLED 65” last year (but it was the 2020 model I think) and we love it. It was the price that made us look at the Panasonic over the LG model. We don’t use the smart TV function. We use Apple TV for everything. The smaller central stand is also a bonus and it has a cable management piece on the stand as well to keep the cables tidy.

ShinyChrome:

@Gemini honestly, whichever is the best price.

They are all good TVs, they all have similar feature levels and the only stand-out differences between them are the C1 has 4 HDMI 2.1 ports vs the A80j and JZ1000, and slightly lower latency for gaming, which it sounds like it won't be a massive deal.

Everything else comes down to panel variation, OTOB calibration, and picture processing where subjectively, I lean towards the Sony or Panasonic, but I don't think you would really notice unless they were side-by-side.

Gemini: I can probably also consider JZ980Z. Panel is "OLED" vs "Master HDR OLED" but that doesn't stop it getting a Highly recommended from HDTV. Don't need a swivel stand.

I’ve debated grabbing a JZ980 myself, realising that this could well be the best price for a main brand 55” OLED until Black Friday sales, but just can’t justify it as an essential purchase!

Anyway, links to both current cheap prices on Cheapies (which, in a nice circular way, references this very thread): https://www.cheapies.nz/node/33247

Edit - all retailers as on Price Me (noting PriceSpy shows only two sellers; man, that can be a useless site): https://www.priceme.co.nz/Panasonic-TH-55JZ980Z-55in/p-911676276.aspx

Gemini:

Elmoz:

 

@gemini We bought the Panasonic HZ1000 OLED 65” last year (but it was the 2020 model I think) and we love it. It was the price that made us look at the Panasonic over the LG model. We don’t use the smart TV function. We use Apple TV for everything. The smaller central stand is also a bonus and it has a cable management piece on the stand as well to keep the cables tidy.

 

Thanks for sharing, great to hear you love it. Is it fast to start up?

Yes I think it starts up reasonably quickly. It checks the connected device and displays the resolution then whatever is also turning on at the same time appears. It may launch even quicker with the built in Freeview but we don’t use it so don’t know. It doesn’t have a Panasonic splash screen like the Veon LED TV we have.