Panasonic Jumps Back into TV Market with Flagship JZ2000 OLED

Panasonic today announced its flagship OLED 4K TV for 2021, the JZ2000 in 65 and 55-inch sizes, which is expected to be available in the U.S. after the brand’s brief hiatus. It comes featured packed ready for movies and gaming with support for HDMI 2.1 low-latency, variable refresh rate (VRR) and high frame rate (HFR). Meanwhile a new AI-driven processor automatically identifies and optimizes the content being played for ideal picture and sound without having to adjust settings manually.

The JZ2000 doesn’t seem to skimp on sound quality. It includes built-in upward-firing, side-firing, and front-firing speakers said to be capable of producing a spatial soundstage with Dolby Atmos content. This speaker combination, known as 360° Soundscape Pro, is proclaimed to be “Tuned by Technics”, Panasonic’s sister audio brand.

Like its predecessor (which never sold in the U.S.), the JZ2000 features Panasonic’s proprietary Master HDR OLED Professional Edition panel, which claims to deliver higher brightness than competing OLED TVs. Although, we won’t know for sure until 2021 LG and Sony’s OLED TVs are compared. However, Panasonic started using its Master HDR OLED Professional Edition panels three years ago, and has been the leader in customizing the OLED panel in order to increase both peak and average brightness, while also retaining the outstanding color accuracy.

The JZ2000 supports a very wide range of HDR formats, including Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Vision, Filmmaker Mode, and HLG Photo, the still image format which brings still photography into the HDR world. For Filmmaker Mode specifically, Panasonic has added its original “Intelligent Sensing,” which dynamically adjusts the picture based on ambient light levels.

Dolby Vision IQ extends the benefits of Dolby Vision beyond HDR by intelligently optimizing picture quality experiences for viewers regardless of ambient light or content type – all without consumers picking up their remote.

The JZ2000 also supports HDR10+ Adaptive feature which dynamically adapts HDR content to the room lighting conditions of the viewing area, maintaining creative intent in any condition whether dark or bright without any loss of detail or contrast.

Smart TV Improvements

The JZ2000 features the latest iteration of Panasonic’s popular smart TV OS, My Home Screen 6.0. The new version delivers considerable usability enhancements:

• “My Scenery” allows viewers to choose a selection of restful images and videos, or set their own, to reflect any mood or time of day—perfect for mindfulness sessions or preparing for bed. In addition to photos from LUMIX CLUB which highlight the beauty of Japan, Panasonic also collaborated with LoungeV Studio (www.loungev.com) to provide viewers with the most beautiful videos to encourage rest and relaxation.
• Dual Bluetooth Connection permits sound transmission to two separate Bluetooth devices simultaneously, meaning, for example, two people can listen to a film late at night via Bluetooth headphones without disturbing others.
• The menu interface has been improved to allow quick access to the most commonly used picture, sound, and other settings.
• The JZ2000 also supports major voice services built-in, allowing users to operate some key TV functions using just their voice.

What’s New

The JZ2000 features a new processor, called the HCX AI Pro. It helps deliver an optimum experience for users by accurately detecting what kind of content is being viewed: cinema, sports, music, talk, etc., and then automatically adjusts both picture quality and sound quality.

The HCX AI Pro processor is able to identify in real time the content being played, by analyzing the picture every second. Inside the AI processing enclave within the processor, it then compares what it is seeing against a library of various content which it has learned, in order to be able to automatically optimize both picture and sound quality for that type of content.

If it detects that you are watching football, for example, it adjusts the picture quality to make the grass more life-like, the players more realistic, whilst also automatically adjusting the sound to make it feel like you are right there inside stadium. On the other hand, if it detects that you are watching a film it dials in the most accurate colors and, based on the knowhow Panasonic has learned though our long-term Hollywood collaborations, adjusts the picture quality to give a more cinematic experience which you expect of Panasonic.

The AI has been trained for an extended period of time using over a million different pieces of content to make it easier for the majority of customers to enjoy all their favorite content in the most optimized picture and sound settings, without them having to think too hard about it.

Price & Availability

Distribution of the JZ2000 is not yet finalized for the US market. Model numbers are:

• Panasonic TX-55JZ2000E (55-inch)
• Panasonic TX-65JZ2000E (65-inch)