Is Dolby Vision best avoided on Panasonic OLEDs?

I think you make a good point. I moved from hz1500 because of DoVi frame skips. Unbearable. I have a Sony a90j with no frame skips but the PQ is possibly not as good. I'm hoping a calibration in two weeks will remedy as I think pani is better ootb than sony. But I think sony pq can be improved. I loved my old vt65. Probably best tv I've had. Motion and pq on sky hd was amazing. I'm now on oled with sky q. I've gone backwards I think. Should have stuck with it but too late now. If it ain't broke.......

Well, my VT65 is boxed up and was never sold. I could sell on my HZ1500 and reinstate the VT65, but it's an old television with a smaller screen that won't last forever (although to be fair it was still going strong).

With SDR material I have to say the VT65 was probably, on balance, marginally better than my HZ1500. I should point out that my VT65 was calibrated while my HZ1500 currently isn't. Out of the box accuracy has probably improved over the years, but having watched a calibrated image for the best part of a decade I can tell the difference.

That was always my rationale for buying the A8 before ending up with the HZ1500 - if you're going to calibrate anyway, what difference does out of the box accuracy make? A calibrated Panasonic might make for prettier graphs than a calibrated Sony, but in terms of viewing the differences are negligible, especially when they're all using the same panel. Unfortunately a calibration would have done nothing for the A8's near black flashing issue. For what it's worth, although Sony's OLED motion is better than Panasonic's, it isn't problem free. I could still see occasional judder with 50Hz broadcast content.

I do feel similarly - if I could pop back in time and offer myself advice, I'd probably say "stick with what you've got; it works; you're happy and you're comfortable with it." Instead I chased something I thought would offer a noticeable upgrade that in reality doesn't, at notable expense.
 
I think you make a good point. I moved from hz1500 because of DoVi frame skips. Unbearable. I have a Sony a90j with no frame skips but the PQ is possibly not as good. I'm hoping a calibration in two weeks will remedy as I think pani is better ootb than sony. But I think sony pq can be improved. I loved my old vt65. Probably best tv I've had. Motion and pq on sky hd was amazing. I'm now on oled with sky q. I've gone backwards I think. Should have stuck with it but too late now. If it ain't broke.......
So u really think hz1500 is better then the Sony ? Isn't the Sony Upscaling and Motion way Superior ? What are u missing from the A90j compared to the Panasonic
 
I'm say pq is generally better on hz. Sharper. I'm get calibration so I'll pass final judgement then.
 
I'm say pq is generally better on hz. Sharper. I'm get calibration so I'll pass final judgement then.
Isn't the Sony the sharpest TV in the industry? Just turn on Reality Creation and turn off Overscan
 
So u really think hz1500 is better then the Sony ? Isn't the Sony Upscaling and Motion way Superior ? What are u missing from the A90j compared to the Panasonic

In my view, Sony OLEDs handle motion and upscaling better than Panasonic.

For me, the deal breaker with the A8 was near back flashing. This happened fairly often, regardless of content type and quality. The issue can't be calibrated out. Engaging BFI helps, but doesn't solve the problem. Panasonic's near black handling is excellent and I've had no difficulties.

Motion is Panasonic's Achilles' heel. 24p content is fine, apart from the DV frame skips we've discussed. 50Hz motion is more problematic.
 
I think you make a good point. I moved from hz1500 because of DoVi frame skips. Unbearable. I have a Sony a90j with no frame skips but the PQ is possibly not as good. I'm hoping a calibration in two weeks will remedy as I think pani is better ootb than sony. But I think sony pq can be improved. I loved my old vt65. Probably best tv I've had. Motion and pq on sky hd was amazing. I'm now on oled with sky q. I've gone backwards I think. Should have stuck with it but too late now. If it ain't broke.......
What is wrong with the Panasonic Oled on Sky compared to VT plasma?
 
What is wrong with the Panasonic Oled on Sky compared to VT plasma?

I can't answer for anyone else, but for me it's about 50Hz motion performance. The VT65 was silky smooth and problem free by comparison, apart from very ocassional and not too intrusive DFC.
 
I can't answer for anyone else, but for me it's about 50Hz motion performance. The VT65 was silky smooth and problem free by comparison, apart from very ocassional and not too intrusive DFC.
50Hz motion performance is very important to me too - currently still having a VT50 and hope the switch to JZ1500 will provide a smooth and improved performance.
 
Sony upscaling - sharpness - motion (motionflow 1 without soe) is the reference. I don’t think Panasonic jz will be better. Hz2000 IFC was terrible perhaps on min (I didn’t try custom with dejudder and deblur). Btw I hope jz has introduced a evolved processor.
 
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Vincent say u can fix the Frame Skip Issues on DVD if u choose Mode 2 for DV instead of Mode 1 in the Settings. Can someone test it out ?
 
Vincent say u can fix the Frame Skip Issues on DVD if u choose Mode 2 for DV instead of Mode 1 in the Settings. Can someone test it out ?

Check posts on the first page. Switching to mode 2 does fix the stutter, but mode 2 is "player-led" Dolby Vision which has it's own issues, some owners are fine with how it looks though.
 
Well, my VT65 is boxed up and was never sold. I could sell on my HZ1500 and reinstate the VT65, but it's an old television with a smaller screen that won't last forever (although to be fair it was still going strong).

With SDR material I have to say the VT65 was probably, on balance, marginally better than my HZ1500. I should point out that my VT65 was calibrated while my HZ1500 currently isn't. Out of the box accuracy has probably improved over the years, but having watched a calibrated image for the best part of a decade I can tell the difference.

That was always my rationale for buying the A8 before ending up with the HZ1500 - if you're going to calibrate anyway, what difference does out of the box accuracy make? A calibrated Panasonic might make for prettier graphs than a calibrated Sony, but in terms of viewing the differences are negligible, especially when they're all using the same panel. Unfortunately a calibration would have done nothing for the A8's near black flashing issue. For what it's worth, although Sony's OLED motion is better than Panasonic's, it isn't problem free. I could still see occasional judder with 50Hz broadcast content.

I do feel similarly - if I could pop back in time and offer myself advice, I'd probably say "stick with what you've got; it works; you're happy and you're comfortable with it." Instead I chased something I thought would offer a noticeable upgrade that in reality doesn't, at notable expense.
This is interesting. I have a VT65 still and am thinking about a JZ1500 this year. In your view would that be a mistake? There's nothing wrong with the VT65 other than it's only 55" and was hoping to go 65". But I don't really want a downgrade. I never watch broadcasts of any kind though, no tv, no sky.
 
This is interesting. I have a VT65 still and am thinking about a JZ1500 this year. In your view would that be a mistake? There's nothing wrong with the VT65 other than it's only 55" and was hoping to go 65". But I don't really want a downgrade. I never watch broadcasts of any kind though, no tv, no sky.

I wouldn't want to encourage or discourage you.

If you never watch 50Hz content then I'd say you'll be fine. 4K HDR beats anything the VT65 can do. If you're sensitive to telecine judder then you won't find 24p motion to be as smooth on OLED as on your plasma.

Personally I prefer SDR broadcast and 1080p content viewed on the plasma. For SDR, OLED offers better black levels and greater brightness, but I was never distracted by my VT65's black levels, nor did I feel I needed a brighter image. Plasma images simply look more natural, fluid and organic to me.

Disclaimer - my VT65 was calibrated, while my HZ1500 isn't currently.
 
Stupid question , if u switch to Player led Dolby Vision ( Mode 2 ) and use internal Apps, the Picture should be the same as Player Led ( Mode 1)

Can a Panasonic Owner test it for me ?
 
Stupid question , if u switch to Player led Dolby Vision ( Mode 2 ) and use internal Apps, the Picture should be the same as Player Led ( Mode 1)

Can a Panasonic Owner test it for me ?

Those HDMI settings are only relevant (and therefore only available in the menu) when using an external source.
 
So the DV stutter issues aren't on Internal Apps ?

I've not personally seen any frame drops while watching DV content on my GZ950's Netflix app. This particular thread seems to be about issues caused by watching movies in DV on external 4K Blu-ray players.
 
I wondered why I had never noticed this. I only use DV on internal apps as I’m still using an xbox one as my disc player and there’s no BD DV on that. Maybe I won’t upgrade to a proper player after all.

Good to know the frame skips I loathed on my EZ952 have an ongoing life.

fwiw I find 50Hz material fine on the HZ and I have a plasma in the house (not a vt65 but I used to have a commercial panny which I think was just as good for motion) and they both look very good to me. I don’t use any kind of ifc.
 
To start with, the frame drop issue mentioned in reviews only seems to happen with Dolby Vision content. I’ve seen frame drops in every DV film I’ve watched on this TV (some films more than others). I’ve never seen frame drops with any other kind of content. As far as I can tell, frame drops are strictly an issue with Dolby Vison playback.

Frame drops with DV aren’t as rare as reviews suggest, either. For instance, I saw about 20 frame drops watching The Fellowship of the Ring (extended). There are five frame drops in the opening sequence of The Shining. Watching UHD discs with Dolby Vision off, there isn’t a single frame drop. The issue goes away completely.

Hi Nick!

First of all, thanks for your post, and for all your precious advices. And those from other posters too.

I purchased a TX-55HZ2000 in january 2021, along the DMP-UB900. I did watch a lot of various contents since then, and a few months after, after having passed the time I thought was needed for the adaptation, it was obvious I did the same kind of observation, and for UHD content only. To be honest, I don't think I noticed it was only for Dolby Vision.

Then, I emailed the vendor about this issue, before having the knowledge that I wasn't alone facing it.

He came back to me with the following advice:

  • In the reader settings, ''HDMI', turn off for 24p automatic output
  • Still in the reader settings, ''HDMI", "Advanced", change 12 to 10 bits

For the later, I did the same than you mentionned in your post, telling them it was a disadvantage considering what the TV is able to do on that point.

So, after applying his recommended settings (+ putting Mode 1 for HMDI following my own search in the menu at the time), I only watched 1 movie displaying Dolby Vision. Top Gun, not to say the name. I didn't noticed any frame drops anymore. Dolby Vision was on. And I did also restablish the colour to 12 bits.

Anyway, as you said before, I'll have to do more viewings to confirm the settings really work overall.
 
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So Dolby Vision on HZ series isn't as bad as I thought overall.
HZ1000 paired with newest Chromecast didn't show the same issues as with Sony X700 in player-led mode.
Comparing TV-led output from X700 and player-led from Chromecast, I couldn't spot any differences - APL seemed equal, highlights were nice and bright without any differences in clipping and couldn't see any added posterization. And no frame-skipping of course, as expected from player-led.
All blu-ray players should perform equally in terms of player-led output quality so I doubt it's my X700's fault, but nice to see that player-led is usuable on some of the streaming devices at least.
 
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Sorry, this will be long. I hope people find it useful.

A few quick points. This post isn’t about Dolby Vision IQ, which should be avoided due to undefeatable processing. This is about Panasonic’s wider DV implementation. I have a 55HZ1500 and Panasonic 820 BDP. All firmware is up to date. I’d imagine the below applies to earlier Panasonic OLED models, based on what I’ve read. With those observations out of the way…

After a good amount of viewing (and toggling Dolby Vision on and off on my BDP), I’ve concluded that Dolby Vision is best avoided on my HZ1500.

To start with, the frame drop issue mentioned in reviews only seems to happen with Dolby Vision content. I’ve seen frame drops in every DV film I’ve watched on this TV (some films more than others). I’ve never seen frame drops with any other kind of content. As far as I can tell, frame drops are strictly an issue with Dolby Vison playback.

Frame drops with DV aren’t as rare as reviews suggest, either. For instance, I saw about 20 frame drops watching The Fellowship of the Ring (extended). There are five frame drops in the opening sequence of The Shining. Watching UHD discs with Dolby Vision off, there isn’t a single frame drop. The issue goes away completely.

I think there’s another argument for avoiding Dolby Vision on Panasonic OLEDs, at least if you own a Panasonic 820 or 9000 BDP. There’s no adjustable tone mapping option for Dolby Vision content. Settings are fixed. Specular highlights are somewhat blown out with DV material. You only realise this after doing the following:
  • On your BDP (820 and 9000 only), switch Dolby Vision off and tone mapping on. Make sure the TV type selected in the BDP settings menu is OLED.
  • On your Panasonic OLED, switch tone mapping off, so the BDP is doing all the work.
Doing this reveals more detail in brighter areas and reduces banding around specular highlights. I feel the image is more natural and nuanced. It’s not just very bright highlight detail that’s improved, but detail in faces, clothing and scenery.

One last point on tone mapping. You can check what the BDP is outputting by pressing “playback info” twice on the remote. Peak brightness and average brightness numbers are identical with DV both on and off. This means you’re not losing brightness by switching DV off. Instead, disengaging Dolby Vision gives you greater balance across the contrast range.

Is there any disadvantage to switching DV off? I can think of an obvious one, which is that DV offers 12 bit colour, while HDR10 and HDR10+ offer only 10 bit. Can you tell the difference? Well, yes, but that difference is less pronounced than you’d think and, in my humble opinion, is outweighed by the gains I’ve described.

All things considered, then, I think it’s better to switch Dolby Vision off if you own both a Panasonic OLED and 820 or 9000 BDP. It’d be great if Panasonic fixed these Dolby Vision issues on their OLED TVs. Unless or until that happens, I think this is the best way for Panasonic OLED TV owners to view UHD material.

If you’ve read all of that, thanks for sticking with me. It’d be good to know what other people think, especially if they can experiment as I’ve done.
Sorry, this will be long. I hope people find it useful.

A few quick points. This post isn’t about Dolby Vision IQ, which should be avoided due to undefeatable processing. This is about Panasonic’s wider DV implementation. I have a 55HZ1500 and Panasonic 820 BDP. All firmware is up to date. I’d imagine the below applies to earlier Panasonic OLED models, based on what I’ve read. With those observations out of the way…

After a good amount of viewing (and toggling Dolby Vision on and off on my BDP), I’ve concluded that Dolby Vision is best avoided on my HZ1500.

To start with, the frame drop issue mentioned in reviews only seems to happen with Dolby Vision content. I’ve seen frame drops in every DV film I’ve watched on this TV (some films more than others). I’ve never seen frame drops with any other kind of content. As far as I can tell, frame drops are strictly an issue with Dolby Vison playback.

Frame drops with DV aren’t as rare as reviews suggest, either. For instance, I saw about 20 frame drops watching The Fellowship of the Ring (extended). There are five frame drops in the opening sequence of The Shining. Watching UHD discs with Dolby Vision off, there isn’t a single frame drop. The issue goes away completely.

I think there’s another argument for avoiding Dolby Vision on Panasonic OLEDs, at least if you own a Panasonic 820 or 9000 BDP. There’s no adjustable tone mapping option for Dolby Vision content. Settings are fixed. Specular highlights are somewhat blown out with DV material. You only realise this after doing the following:
  • On your BDP (820 and 9000 only), switch Dolby Vision off and tone mapping on. Make sure the TV type selected in the BDP settings menu is OLED.
  • On your Panasonic OLED, switch tone mapping off, so the BDP is doing all the work.
Doing this reveals more detail in brighter areas and reduces banding around specular highlights. I feel the image is more natural and nuanced. It’s not just very bright highlight detail that’s improved, but detail in faces, clothing and scenery.

One last point on tone mapping. You can check what the BDP is outputting by pressing “playback info” twice on the remote. Peak brightness and average brightness numbers are identical with DV both on and off. This means you’re not losing brightness by switching DV off. Instead, disengaging Dolby Vision gives you greater balance across the contrast range.

Is there any disadvantage to switching DV off? I can think of an obvious one, which is that DV offers 12 bit colour, while HDR10 and HDR10+ offer only 10 bit. Can you tell the difference? Well, yes, but that difference is less pronounced than you’d think and, in my humble opinion, is outweighed by the gains I’ve described.

All things considered, then, I think it’s better to switch Dolby Vision off if you own both a Panasonic OLED and 820 or 9000 BDP. It’d be great if Panasonic fixed these Dolby Vision issues on their OLED TVs. Unless or until that happens, I think this is the best way for Panasonic OLED TV owners to view UHD material.

If you’ve read all of that, thanks for sticking with me. It’d be good to know what other people think, especially if they can experiment as I’ve done.
My argument wasn't that DV content looks bad on HZ OLEDs, but that frame skips are more prevalent than blink and you'll miss it, not really an issue comments in reviews suggest.

I'm not criticising reviewers, who have a limited amount of time to test across a range of content. Inevitably they can only pick up so much. Only by living with equipment do you really get to know it.

I was arguing that, for me at least, frame skips are more distracting than the alternative described in my original post. I think the Mode 2 workaround is probably the best way forward.

We're probably too tribal when it comes to manufacturers. I've owned several Panasonic plasmas, including a VT65. The VT65 was fantastic. I had a Sony A8, which handled motion and upscaling better than my HZ1500, but suffered from near black flashing with all content types. That was the deal breaker from my perspective.

I think Panasonic's DV implementation has some problems. That's not to rubbish the television. I raised the question because I thought it was worth discussing and getting other people's views.
Hi did you ever solve this problem, I have the ub9000 and I find exactly the same issue with Dolby Vision 4K disc's, I get the top and bottom black bars continued flashing and it drives me crazy, If I switch Dolby Vision off I get Hdr10 and the problem goes away, I've installed the latest firmware update and still the problem persists, I'd expect for this price of player that it wouldn't be a problem. Any help greatly appreciated thanks
 
So Dolby Vision on HZ series isn't as bad as I thought overall.
HZ1000 paired with newest Chromecast didn't show the same issues as with Sony X700 in player-led mode.
Comparing TV-led output from X700 and player-led from Chromecast, I couldn't spot any differences - APL seemed equal, highlights were nice and bright without any differences in clipping and couldn't see any added posterization. And no frame-skipping of course, as expected from player-led.
All blu-ray players should perform equally in terms of player-led output quality so I doubt it's my X700's fault, but nice to see that player-led is usuable on some of the streaming devices at least.
I would like to add to this thread that disabling 24p output on my X700 solved the frame skipping problem! I can use Dolby Vision Mode 1 (Tv-Led) with no issues.
 

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