Panasonic 65HZ980 vs LG 65BX

rdmbfossa

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Hi, I just took delivery of a 65BX which is still in it's box, but having a bit of buyers remorse than I should have maybe got the Panasonic HZ980 as we've always had Panasonics and have been happy with them and the price has now came down so it's not that much more expensive, an extra £150. Our main viewing will be Freeview, Sky Sports through Now TV with 1080p boost, Netflix, and Disney+. Not that bothered about gaming. It will be in our family room which can be quite bright in daytime as there are patio doors and 3 windows. My daughter has a recent LG LCD and I do like the user interface and I believe the Panasonic one is not so good and missing some apps, but it's not a deal breaker as I'm mainly looking for general picture quality and motion handling for sports and would be happy to use a Roku 4K, Apple TV, or equivalent.

Any advice on what to choose please?
 
LG BX has 2 hdmi 2.1 ports I think not sure about the Panasonic?
LG prob has a load more apps to.
No Disney on the Panasonic
 
Thanks, I'm not too worried about HDMI 2.1 as I can't see it being used for gaming and if it is it will be very little compared to normal TV use. I suppose it's one of those where it's hard to choose unless you had both sets to use in your home environment. Benefits for LG are better user interface, better app support, better connections. I just keep wondering if the Panasonic would have a noticeably better picture quality as I could live without the LG benefits if that were the case.

Anyone know if either screen is more reflective or are they much the same?
 
Apps and softwares become outdated in 2 years time and LG won't be supporting CX then. So take that out of the equation and invest on Firestick 4K/Roku or Apple which are constantly being updated.

I would personally go with whichever TV has 5 year warranty.
 
Agree regarding the software, Roku, Apple etc support the hardware much better with longer updates, many TV's seem to get a year or two then forgotten about so although I prefer the LG in this respect it's no deal breaker. TV will almost certainly be purchased from Costco so they will all have 5 year warranty.

Costco give a 90 day return for any reason, in theory I could buy both and trial them and chose my favourite but don't really like doing this as I feel it's unfair to the store to "borrow" a TV to test with no intention of keeping it as they obviously cant sell the return as new.

It basically comes down to is the picture quality of the Panasonic better and worth the extra £150, I plan to keep the TV for a long time.
 
Panasonic may have better picture quality but in reality without having them side by side you won't notice the different. We're talking about a 10-15% difference at peak.

I was in the same situation between LG BX or CX for my parents, in the end I went for the BX and ended up saving £200. I have the CX and the the BX looks the same to me.
 
Side by side you'd have to spend a lot of time, and some up close pixel watching to notice a difference. Panasonic will be marginally better with accuracy, upscaling, motion. But falls behind with software.

There's not a whole lot Panasonic can do to make their OLEDs better than the competition when they all use the same panels from LG. The only exception is maybe their HZ2000 model where they tweak the power delivery. Gotta remember with OLEDs the panel is integrated and the same in all TVs, so there's no different backlight systems or panels TV to TV like there is on LCD TVs.

As for a bright room, well it depends what you watch, when you watch and how bright. Its impossible to gauge whether the TV will be bright enough or not without trying it.
 
I’ve read a number of articles and reviews that has Panasonic better than most of the competition when it comes to panel uniformity and banding. Is this people’s experience?
 
Side by side you'd have to spend a lot of time, and some up close pixel watching to notice a difference. Panasonic will be marginally better with accuracy, upscaling, motion. But falls behind with software.

There's not a whole lot Panasonic can do to make their OLEDs better than the competition when they all use the same panels from LG. The only exception is maybe their HZ2000 model where they tweak the power delivery. Gotta remember with OLEDs the panel is integrated and the same in all TVs, so there's no different backlight systems or panels TV to TV like there is on LCD TVs.

As for a bright room, well it depends what you watch, when you watch and how bright. Its impossible to gauge whether the TV will be bright enough or not without trying it.

Thanks, one feature the Panasonic has that I think may be good for my situation is that it can automatically adjust the picture brightness depending on the ambient light level of the room, does the LG have a similar feature?
 
I’ve read a number of articles and reviews that has Panasonic better than most of the competition when it comes to panel uniformity and banding. Is this people’s experience?
They use the same panels manufactured by LG. How would panel uniformity be better when the panels are the same?

I think with uniformity its very much the same as LCD TVs, really can depend sample to sample. Some people get unlucky, some lucky.
Thanks, one feature the Panasonic has that I think may be good for my situation is that it can automatically adjust the picture brightness depending on the ambient light level of the room, does the LG have a similar feature?
Do you mean Dolby Vision IQ?

Its specific to Dolby Vision HDR content. Usually HDR demands brightness to be on its fullest, but IQ can also adjust the picture depending on how light or dark it is.

Outside of that, I think the Brightness AI stuff works on LG, they must use a light sensor to change it.
 
Thanks, that's an excellent price, I paid £1350 for the BX with free headphones, HZ980 is £1500 and I get a further 2% off with my Costco membership, a little bit more than Sevenoaks but Costco have very good returns policy and a local store.
 
They use the same panels manufactured by LG. How would panel uniformity be better when the panels are the same?

I think with uniformity its very much the same as LCD TVs, really can depend sample to sample. Some people get unlucky, some lucky.

Do you mean Dolby Vision IQ?

Its specific to Dolby Vision HDR content. Usually HDR demands brightness to be on its fullest, but IQ can also adjust the picture depending on how light or dark it is.

Outside of that, I think the Brightness AI stuff works on LG, they must use a light sensor to change it.
Don't know why is would be different, hence the question. It has been highlighted though in reviews I've read on the Panasonic OLEDs.
 
One thing that might influence your decision is mentioned in this post, in which Panasonic have recently stated to another owner that the HZ980 has a 50Hz panel.
 
Thanks for all replies. Looks like compromises must be made regardless whenever you chose the "budget" model, but's that's understandable or there would be no need for higher spec versions. Looking at the Panasonic I think it would be best to wait for this years JZ model which appears to go back to a high frequency panel, but it will be some time before the price is anywhere near the affordable price of the BX I bought. At Richer Sounds the 65" LG B1 is more than £1K above what I paid for the BX and I assume the Panasonic will be even more as it's normally nearer the LG C series price range.

Think I will just have to bite the bullet and set up the BX and see if the brightness is going to be an issue, if it is I have 90 days to return it and by that time the 21 ranges will all be in store and I'll take it from there. Funnily enough there is a review on here today for the BX which I though is a bit odd as it's a model that's just about to be replaced, but it seems to get a decent review apart from sound which isn't an issue as I have an AV receiver anyway.
 
Don't know why is would be different, hence the question. It has been highlighted though in reviews I've read on the Panasonic OLEDs.
That just means their sample has better uniformity. It doesn't mean yours will.
 

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