Long-term test Panasonic TX-55EZ952B
With such plain looks, Panasonic’s least pricey OLED 4K TV really needs to put in an Oscar-worthy performance… Verity Burns keeps her eyes on the screen
12 days with an OLED 4K contender
DAY 01
You can stuff your excessive designs when it comes to tellies. After all, when you’re lost in the midst of a blockbuster, you’re not ogling the bezels or the stand. That’s why I’ve been looking forward to seeing this Panasonic in action – it’s a TV aimed at people who can look past an ordinary design and focus solely on picture quality.
The EZ952 is Panasonic’s cheapest OLED set this year, but it’s not exactly what we’d call a bargain: at £2799, it’s pricier than LG’S brilliant B7 (£2299) and only slightly cheaper than Sony’s breathtaking A1. At this price, and with no design flair to distract us, we’re surely entitled to expect near-perfect image quality.
Lining up some 4K HDR footage for it to get stuck into, my first impressions are positive: its natural and realistic handling of colours is immediately obvious and skin tones are keenly judged, with plenty of subtlety. Bright scenes arguably do better in this respect, though, and it’s soon clear that the EZ952 isn’t quite as insightful in darker scenes as those LG and Sony rivals. Colours aren’t as punchy either, and that’s where this set struggles most: it’s not great at HDR.
The EZ952 supports both HDR10 and broadcast-ready HLG flavours of HDR, but it doesn’t show off the benefits of the tech quite as clearly as the B7 or A1. Watching Daredevil in 4K HDR, colours are significantly flatter, and both contrast and brightness are lacking the chops to give the picture the punch we’re used to with HDR.
LG’S B7 drubs the Panasonic in this respect – its images are more engaging and exciting to look at, the balance of light and dark far more dynamic. Where light should sear through dark scenes with added vibrancy in HDR, with the EZ952 it’s not a huge improvement on SDR. We expect more from a TV costing close to £3000.
The picture’s a touch softer too. Lines aren’t as well defined, which means landscape shots, where there’s a lot of fine detail to take in, aren’t quite as clean and believable. For a TV that claims performance over looks, it’s not wowing me so far.
Both contrast and brightness are lacking the chops to give this picture the punch we’re used to with HDR
DAY 04
OK, so the HDR left a sour taste, but after spending a few days with this TV I’ve realised that it fares much better once you drop down to Full HD content. The differences between this and the LG suddenly become far harder to notice. Both are sharp, detailed and realistic; you might spot a touch more white detail in the B7, but it’s astonishing how close these sets get when HDR isn’t involved.
Standard-definition content is also surprisingly watchable, hanging on to a natural colour balance with commandingly clean, controlled lines. The B7 comes back to pip it for outright picture quality here, but again it’s a pretty close call.
DAY 06
As a TV geek, I’ve found the range of tweaking options a delight… but casual buyers may disagree. There’s a load of technical options that carry very little explanation, but a few small adjustments to sharpness, colour, contrast and brightness are all you need.
DAY 07
I haven’t HAD a single hiccup from the Firefox OS. It’s a bright, clean and simple system that’s bolted on top of Panasonic’s normal menus.
DAY 09
I managed to cope with this Panasonic’s audio for nine days, but now I’ve had enough and I’m digging out my soundbar. The TV’S sound isn’t terrible, but I’ve found it a touch too harsh on the ears in busy scenes.
DAY 10
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If you haven’t done so already, you’re going to want to play Horizon Zero Dawn on an Ultra HD TV. And this Panasonic isn’t a bad shout for that role, as video games benefit from its low input lag – which measures at 25.7ms. There’s faster out there, but anything under 40ms is more than fit for purpose. Enough to keep you going until the Xbox One X hits stores?
DAY 12
The Panasonic TX-55EZ952B is the strait-laced friend at a wild party. But while we can look past its dull design and fiddly menus, for a TV aimed at enthusiasts its weaknesses in picture quality are a bit of a head-scratcher.