Panasonic showed its new flagship LCD TV, the DX900, at CES this year (Panasonic uses ‘Honeycomb’ for HDR), but no other finished TVs were present. However, the company has now revealed the its European TV line up for 2016, starting with a renamed version of the DX900 called the DX902.
The DX902 is, as far as we can tell, functionally identical to the DX900. It is UltraHD Premium-certified, with a new LCD panel and Studio Master HCX+ (Hollywood Cinema Experience plus) chipset.
HCX+ is a DX902-exclusive, but the HCX chipset is built in to the DX802 and DX750 TVs. The processor is said to boost colour accuracy (the DX902 has been graded by a Hollywood colourist, and the DX802/DX750 by Panasonic Hollywood Labs). The DX902 also features a ‘Wide Colour Phosphor’ technology, which widens the TV’s colour gamut.
HDR is supports on the DX902 with its new honeycomb backlight structure and 1,000 cd/m² peak brightness. HDR is also featured on the DX802, DX750 and DX700 sets. In addition, all of the TVs have a 3D LUT built in, with a registry of 8,000 reference points, to increase colour accuracy.
Each DX-series TV uses the Firefox OS. An update for the software, coming later this year, will add a ‘send to TV’ feature to share web content from Firefox for Android to the TV.
Panasonic’s 2016 UltraHD TV range will begin with the DX600 (40″, 49″ and 55″); it will have an 800Hz Backlight Motion Rate, quad-core processor and adaptive backlight dimming. Next is the DX650 (40″, 49″ and 55″), with a 1,000Hz BMR. The DX700 (50″, 50″ and 58″) updates to a 1,400Hz BMR and is the first set to feature HDR, local dimming and a wide colour gamut. A twin HD tuner is added to the DX750 series (50″, 58″ and 65″), as well as a 1,800Hz BMR.
The top-end DX802 (50″ and 58″) will have a 2,000Hz BMR. It is THX 4k certified and features pre-calibrated THX viewing modes. Finally, Panasonic’s DX902 will be available in 58″ and 65″ sizes, with a 3,000Hz BMR.
FullHD sets are also going to be released this year. First is the DS400 (40″), with a 400Hz BMR. The only other model will be the DS500 (24″, 32″, 40″, 49″ and 55″), also with a 400Hz BMR.
