Panasonic FZ series (802 & 952) OLED Owners Thread

According to trusded reviews all games shoul be hdr but only one in uhd4k
 
I've got the Everton game in 4k hdr through 4k firestick but no hdr and terrible picture on built In TV app and apple tv 4k. No idea why. Looks great on the firestick though. Other hdr content plays fine on all devices.
 
Also watching it on the 4K Firestick picture seems more stable now all the other streams have finished tried the tv app on the Man U game and picture was poor
 
May just grab a Fire Stick.

Only using Amazon trial, but Chili App has really gone down hill recently. Looks like SD. Someone mentioned they noticed the same shortly after they deprecated certain TVs.

Unfortunately par for the course with TV smart features :(
 
I'm tempted to treat myself to an early xmas present of an app box and smart speaker. 😏

I see Fire Sticks and Apple TV get mentioned a fair bit here. I am satisfied with the TV's Home screen and pinning apps to it, and I really wanted to avoid an external box/stick for app usage.

With that said, the much discussed audio issues are starting to drive me up the wall. Switching from ARC to Optical greatly reduced the audio cut outs and lip-sync issues, but it occassionally still happens, and annoyingly requires closing and switching apps a few times to get it to work properly again. This did my head in most recently when I tried to resume The Irishman on Netflix.

I guess it's come to the point where I really need to ditch the TV for app duties. What device would people recommend? I am prepared to pay a bit extra if it has more option and provides better playback.

Whatever device is best, I would require that it

- works with a Harmony Elite remote.

- plays the streaming content at the correct framerate and does not lock to 60hz like the game console apps.

- additionally, I'd like access to the new streaming services of Disney+ and Apple, may as well check these off too if going the external route.

I am also considering a smart speaker like Amazon echo dot or Google device. Any recommendations? I don't need it for TV use, but it would be a bonus to search for films/shows on whatever app's device is recommended.
 
I'm tempted to treat myself to an early xmas present of an app box and smart speaker. 😏

I see Fire Sticks and Apple TV get mentioned a fair bit here. I am satisfied with the TV's Home screen and pinning apps to it, and I really wanted to avoid an external box/stick for app usage.

With that said, the much discussed audio issues are starting to drive me up the wall. Switching from ARC to Optical greatly reduced the audio cut outs and lip-sync issues, but it occassionally still happens, and annoyingly requires closing and switching apps a few times to get it to work properly again. This did my head in most recently when I tried to resume The Irishman on Netflix.

I guess it's come to the point where I really need to ditch the TV for app duties. What device would people recommend? I am prepared to pay a bit extra if it has more option and provides better playback.

Whatever device is best, I would require that it

- works with a Harmony Elite remote.

- plays the streaming content at the correct framerate and does not lock to 60hz like the game console apps.

- additionally, I'd like access to the new streaming services of Disney+ and Apple, may as well check these off too if going the external route.

I am also considering a smart speaker like Amazon echo dot or Google device. Any recommendations? I don't need it for TV use, but it would be a bonus to search for films/shows on whatever app's device is recommended.
I can highly recommend the Apple TV 4K. I was a big sceptic up until about 3 weeks ago and jumped onboard as they were doing the free year's TV+ subscription and I'd read a lot of good thinks about the high quality content you can get through it. It's spiralled from there and I now have a Disney+ subscription, a few Vudu/ Movies Anywhere movies and a US iTunes movie. They're a great device that opens up a whole world of media content for you.
If you do go for one, check out the official Apple refurbs. I bought one, at 20% discount on a 'new' ATV 4K, and when it arrived, it was brand new, as was the remote and power cable. I'm not sure exactly what they do as part of the refurb programme but, it seems like the chuck the old one away and put a new one in a box marked 'Refurbished'. The device and remote have several high gloss surfaces and if there was a blemish, you'd easily notice it. There wasn't on mine and everything was wrapped in original plastic protection.
If you buy an ATV, I'd argue a smart speaker isn't necessary as it has Siri built in. If you did want one though, I'm firmly in the Google Assistant camp, so a Nest Mini would be my recommendation as a cheap way into the ecosystem.

Paul
 
I can highly recommend the Apple TV 4K. I was a big sceptic up until about 3 weeks ago and jumped onboard as they were doing the free year's TV+ subscription and I'd read a lot of good thinks about the high quality content you can get through it. It's spiralled from there and I now have a Disney+ subscription, a few Vudu/ Movies Anywhere movies and a US iTunes movie. They're a great device that opens up a whole world of media content for you.
If you do go for one, check out the official Apple refurbs. I bought one, at 20% discount on a 'new' ATV 4K, and when it arrived, it was brand new, as was the remote and power cable. I'm not sure exactly what they do as part of the refurb programme but, it seems like the chuck the old one away and put a new one in a box marked 'Refurbished'. The device and remote have several high gloss surfaces and if there was a blemish, you'd easily notice it. There wasn't on mine and everything was wrapped in original plastic protection.
If you buy an ATV, I'd argue a smart speaker isn't necessary as it has Siri built in. If you did want one though, I'm firmly in the Google Assistant camp, so a Nest Mini would be my recommendation as a cheap way into the ecosystem.

Paul
Interesting. Is that free Apple year sub still up for grabs? It'd certainly make fo a more tempting proposition value wise vs. something like Amazon Fire TV.

You mention the Apple has voice support built-in, is that in the box or the remote? I'd be hard-pressed to want to juggle another remote alongside my Harmony Elite. I'd pay extra for a smart speaker if it could link to Apple TV for basic search duties and the like.

Does Apple TV have any other advantages over Amazon Fire TV? I just read that the Apple app is on Fire TV too, which is obviously much cheaper. But of the other includes an 1yr Apple sub, perhaps it goes some way to tipping the value scale.

The itunes movies and stuff, is that only available on Apple TV?
 
Interesting. Is that free Apple year sub still up for grabs?


Appears to be.

You mention the Apple has voice support built-in, is that in the box or the remote?
You need the remote or an iPhone/ iPad. You could probably control it via a Home Pod too.

Does Apple TV have any other advantages over Amazon Fire TV? I just read that the Apple app is on Fire TV too, which is obviously much cheaper. But of the other includes an 1yr Apple sub, perhaps it goes some way to tipping the value scale.
Erm, iTunes aside, I don't think there's any real advantage of one over the other. They both do all the HDR formats (ATV doesn't do HLG but, doesn't do broadcast TV either so I'd argue that's not applicable) and both do Atmos.

The itunes movies and stuff, is that only available on Apple TV?
iTunes movies, yes but, you can probably get the Vudu and/ or MA apps on the Fire TV too. They're US based though, so it's not as easy as using a UK based service... It's not that difficult either though.

Paul
 
Hi has anyone managed to get the Amazon Video tv app to play Premier League content in Hdr? The Grand Tour etc will play in Hdr but the Football won't? My internet is 200meg virgin so more than enough. Any ideas?
Funnily enough I noticed this last night. More a casual footy fan, but wanted to how Amazon were implementing the broadcast so fired up the Liverpool Everton game last night. On my FZ there was no HDR, but when I viewed through my Shield TV there was. I also thought the picture was sharper. I thought it a bit odd the in built app didn't play HDR.
 
Well, I pushed the boat out and got the Panny 952 as Topcashback were doing 15% back at Currys TopCashback ref link so my 10 year old Kuro has been demoted. But I seem to miss it!

Been fiddling a lot (driving Mrs crazy!) after starting from the kind Pro 1 recommended settings found here.

I find Warm2 way too yellow so am running Normal – why up the degrees Kelvin on white SO much with Warm 2? Snow is NOT slightly yellow ;)

I’m not getting the blacks I want so have been reducing brightness (I guess this is black level 0v in proper terms?).

I’ve been backing the contrast and luminance down and down to try to avoid the clippy harsh whites you get when the screen is set nice and punchy.

I’ve reduced the gamma a notch to try and bring the midrange down a bit and make it all look a bit less washed out.

Its so big that HD looks a bit soft on it so have been increasing sharpness - a LOT.

I seem to hate HDR – watched The Crown and all I could see was a hugely ‘blown’ window behind Queenie – clipped whites are SO much more amplified. Literally makes your eye’s iris stop down – which I found truly awful. I also found the rest a bit smudgy and dark.

But I also know I’m on a learning curve and need to keep fiddling (sorry Mrs)! Other than motion on min everything auto is of course off and I’m in REC 709 colourspace. I did see an amazing Leopard in the water on iPlayer demo using HLG 4k :)

So did anyone else have any similar thoughts when they switched from a Kuro – damn that was a nice organic picture that rolled off peaks and never added clipping.

Given what I have said above are my settings off in any way?



I was also watching The Apprentice last night and the difference in gamma, sharpness and luminance level between the 3 shot of the judges and the singles/3 shots of the contestants was really pronounced on what is usually a well graded how done with proper cameras. Ohh I sound rattled - hate change!!! ;)
 
I'd like access to the new streaming services of Disney+ and Apple, may as well check these off too if going the external route.
I use a Sonos beam soundbar. This is connected via ARC and I have not had any sound problems. I use iPlayer, Netflix, Prime etc with no problems. The Beam has Alexa and Google built in and control TV on/off and volume but not change channels. Worth considering unless you want the full 5.1 experience - you could get this with extra sonos speakers but would get expensive.
 
Been fiddling a lot (driving Mrs crazy!)
I wouldn't worry too much yet. Your TV will definitely have a burn in period after which you will find the picture is better and the standard settings will be much closer to what you want. (I should add in my experience!)
 
Well, I pushed the boat out and got the Panny 952 as Topcashback were doing 15% back at Currys TopCashback ref link so my 10 year old Kuro has been demoted. But I seem to miss it!

Been fiddling a lot (driving Mrs crazy!) after starting from the kind Pro 1 recommended settings found here.

I find Warm2 way too yellow so am running Normal – why up the degrees Kelvin on white SO much with Warm 2? Snow is NOT slightly yellow ;)

I’m not getting the blacks I want so have been reducing brightness (I guess this is black level 0v in proper terms?).

I’ve been backing the contrast and luminance down and down to try to avoid the clippy harsh whites you get when the screen is set nice and punchy.

I’ve reduced the gamma a notch to try and bring the midrange down a bit and make it all look a bit less washed out.

Its so big that HD looks a bit soft on it so have been increasing sharpness - a LOT.

I seem to hate HDR – watched The Crown and all I could see was a hugely ‘blown’ window behind Queenie – clipped whites are SO much more amplified. Literally makes your eye’s iris stop down – which I found truly awful. I also found the rest a bit smudgy and dark.

But I also know I’m on a learning curve and need to keep fiddling (sorry Mrs)! Other than motion on min everything auto is of course off and I’m in REC 709 colourspace. I did see an amazing Leopard in the water on iPlayer demo using HLG 4k :)

So did anyone else have any similar thoughts when they switched from a Kuro – damn that was a nice organic picture that rolled off peaks and never added clipping.

Given what I have said above are my settings off in any way?



I was also watching The Apprentice last night and the difference in gamma, sharpness and luminance level between the 3 shot of the judges and the singles/3 shots of the contestants was really pronounced on what is usually a well graded how done with proper cameras. Ohh I sound rattled - hate change!!! ;)
I find warm2 too much, so tend to use normal or sometime try warm1, sometimes takes a bit of getting used to. I leave my colour at 50 and brightness at 0, interesting to see yours, what’s your source? When I first had my SkyQ hdmi input on the tv was accidentally wrongly set on YCbCr to full not limited and to compensate I had to turn down brightness to -5... I now have the input set as normal and brightness looks correct at 0.
 
I have a Humax Freesat box as the source - no HDMI output options other than 1080i/1080P.

TV seems to have twin Satellite tuner inputs - does that suggest I could lose the box and add a 500Gb SSD to an USB port for recording??? Series link and all that?

I have noticed that TV has seemingly no latency/frame delay - box goes to amp first and then amp to TV - all lip sync is fine.
 
Well, I pushed the boat out and got the Panny 952 as Topcashback were doing 15% back at Currys TopCashback ref link so my 10 year old Kuro has been demoted. But I seem to miss it!

Been fiddling a lot (driving Mrs crazy!) after starting from the kind Pro 1 recommended settings found here.

I find Warm2 way too yellow so am running Normal – why up the degrees Kelvin on white SO much with Warm 2? Snow is NOT slightly yellow ;)

I’m not getting the blacks I want so have been reducing brightness (I guess this is black level 0v in proper terms?).

I’ve been backing the contrast and luminance down and down to try to avoid the clippy harsh whites you get when the screen is set nice and punchy.

I’ve reduced the gamma a notch to try and bring the midrange down a bit and make it all look a bit less washed out.

Its so big that HD looks a bit soft on it so have been increasing sharpness - a LOT.

I seem to hate HDR – watched The Crown and all I could see was a hugely ‘blown’ window behind Queenie – clipped whites are SO much more amplified. Literally makes your eye’s iris stop down – which I found truly awful. I also found the rest a bit smudgy and dark.

But I also know I’m on a learning curve and need to keep fiddling (sorry Mrs)! Other than motion on min everything auto is of course off and I’m in REC 709 colourspace. I did see an amazing Leopard in the water on iPlayer demo using HLG 4k :)

So did anyone else have any similar thoughts when they switched from a Kuro – damn that was a nice organic picture that rolled off peaks and never added clipping.

Given what I have said above are my settings off in any way?



I was also watching The Apprentice last night and the difference in gamma, sharpness and luminance level between the 3 shot of the judges and the singles/3 shots of the contestants was really pronounced on what is usually a well graded how done with proper cameras. Ohh I sound rattled - hate change!!! ;)
You like to fiddle, don't you! :D

Whites look yellow with Warm 2 as you've not given your brain chance to aclimatise to the correct colour temperature yet. Stick it back to Warn 2 and give it a few days.

Contrast, Brightness and Colour are all perfect out the box and don't need adjusting. The TV won't clip whites with the default Contrast setting and by reducing it as you have, you'll be reducing the dynamic range of the picture and reducing it's punch. Probably why you've needed to increase Sharpness.
The Sharpness setting is OK on the default but, can be set to 0 as it only adds artefacts to the picture, nothing more if the other settings are as they should be.

You mention that you've reduced Gamma to improve a washed out image?! What do you have it set to now?

You've mentioned clipped whites again for HDR, if you've adjusted the Luminance, Contrast, Brightness or Gamma for HDR inputs, you've probably induced this. If you take a picture of examples of this, we might be able to help you reduce/ eliminate it.

Caveat to all this - the suggestions are valid if you want an accurate picture. If not, ignore and cary on. :smashin:

Paul
 
Full / limited is the colour range on the hdmi input , there should be a setting for rgb and a separate one for YCbCy and unless you’re using a pc (set to full) they should be set to normal not full else it can make that input look a little washed out requiring you to drop the brightness below 0.. If you fiddled with a few things may be worth noting the setting and resetting them back to default and start again...
 
Well, I pushed the boat out and got the Panny 952 as Topcashback were doing 15% back at Currys TopCashback ref link so my 10 year old Kuro has been demoted. But I seem to miss it!

Been fiddling a lot (driving Mrs crazy!) after starting from the kind Pro 1 recommended settings found here.

I find Warm2 way too yellow so am running Normal – why up the degrees Kelvin on white SO much with Warm 2? Snow is NOT slightly yellow ;)

I’m not getting the blacks I want so have been reducing brightness (I guess this is black level 0v in proper terms?).

I’ve been backing the contrast and luminance down and down to try to avoid the clippy harsh whites you get when the screen is set nice and punchy.

I’ve reduced the gamma a notch to try and bring the midrange down a bit and make it all look a bit less washed out.

Its so big that HD looks a bit soft on it so have been increasing sharpness - a LOT.

I seem to hate HDR – watched The Crown and all I could see was a hugely ‘blown’ window behind Queenie – clipped whites are SO much more amplified. Literally makes your eye’s iris stop down – which I found truly awful. I also found the rest a bit smudgy and dark.

But I also know I’m on a learning curve and need to keep fiddling (sorry Mrs)! Other than motion on min everything auto is of course off and I’m in REC 709 colourspace. I did see an amazing Leopard in the water on iPlayer demo using HLG 4k :)

So did anyone else have any similar thoughts when they switched from a Kuro – damn that was a nice organic picture that rolled off peaks and never added clipping.

Given what I have said above are my settings off in any way?



I was also watching The Apprentice last night and the difference in gamma, sharpness and luminance level between the 3 shot of the judges and the singles/3 shots of the contestants was really pronounced on what is usually a well graded how done with proper cameras. Ohh I sound rattled - hate change!!! ;)
It's probably better to just get used to it. The appeal is the accuracy - if you were to pay several hundred quid for a calibration you'd have something borderline identical to Professional 1 out of the box. The big movie studios also reportedly use the exact same TVs, so you can take comfort in knowing that the picture you don't like, is appearing exactly how the millionaire's want you to see their content.

I'd generally recommend turning IFC off too, still feels very soapery-roapery to me. I only ever felt the need to experiment with it for the new Lion King film - the opening scene where the rat makes its way up to Scar... frankly it looks a bit of a mess in motion. Guess it's just the film, but IFC Min did help with that. Besides this though I typically hate IFC Min too.
 
I'm also surprised with the high luminace level a lot of you seem to use. I feel like my panel has got a bit brighter this past week, and I felt the need to lower luminace a little more (SDR).

Professional 1 - 24 luminance. (Bias light/lamp - but also fine for day time)

Professional 2 - 7 luminance. (Pitch black)
 
I use a Sonos beam soundbar. This is connected via ARC and I have not had any sound problems. I use iPlayer, Netflix, Prime etc with no problems. The Beam has Alexa and Google built in and control TV on/off and volume but not change channels. Worth considering unless you want the full 5.1 experience - you could get this with extra sonos speakers but would get expensive.
Do you have the TV sound output to PCM? I did find using that basically results in Stereo sound, and no lip-sync or audio issues - it was fine.

I'm not satisfied with settling for Stereo though after blowing a few hundred on a Yamaha YSP-2700 soundbar. Optical fairs much better - but it's still irritable enough that I'd like a permanent solution. I figure an external box for Apps can resolve the audio woes and give me greater app support, something Panasonic is clearly lacking in anyway. Two birds, one stone, and all that. ;)
 
Brilliant advice guys and I fully accept i have to accept change LOL - always been terrible at it ;) There must be a master reset or 'defaults' setting somewhere to get Pro 1 back to unfiddled settings and I will start again?

Paul thanks in particular for the input. Its accuracy I want - I hate messed about with pics. £500 a day superstar colourists do too! I had just taken gamma to 2.1 from std 2.2 to crush the mids a touch.

When its in HDR mode does it auto switch the colourspace too I assume to UHD rec 2020? Does Prof 1 picture settings have a HDR setting too then - or is it one look for 709 HD/2020 UHD and HDR flavours?

I'll turn IFC off as Wayne suggests - the notion that you can create 'intermediate' frames from fresh air in real time is a funny one to me and anything that stops the Soapy interlaced look is good!

Thtsnotmynaim "Full / limited is the colour range on the hdmi input " so when feeding it what I assume is the 709 MPEG stream from my Freesat box there is a colourspace control? Surely this is analogue stuff RGB/Component? Or is this about non TV sources 'full range 0 - 255' v legal range 16-235?

Sorry much to learn and thanks for your help. I could calibrate it myself I'm sure but im not sure of the kit of bits I need to do that and best test software etc.

PS. Any comments on the twin sat LNB inputs - can i lose the PVR box I wonder?
 
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Brilliant advice guys and I fully accept i have to accept change LOL - always been terrible at it ;) There must be a master reset or 'defaults' setting somewhere to get Pro 1 back to unfiddled settings and I will start again?
There is, at the bottom of the Picture settings menu.

Paul thanks in particular for the input. Its accuracy I want - I hate messed about with pics. £500 a day superstar colourists do too! I had just taken gamma to 2.1 from std 2.2 to crush the mids a touch.
By decreasing Gamma you've made the whole image lighter and like with reducing Contrast, reduced its punch. As a guide, 2.2 is a decent setting for bright room viewing and 2.4 'dark' room viewing. A lot of people use BT.1886 but with OLED, that's 2.4, due to it's black response.

When its in HDR mode does it auto switch the colourspace too I assume to UHD rec 2020? Does Prof 1 picture settings have a HDR setting too then - or is it one look for 709 HD/2020 UHD and HDR flavours?
Yes and yes, HDR does have it's own Pro 1 set.

Thtsnotmynaim "Full / limited is the colour range on the hdmi input " so when feeding it what I assume is the 709 MPEG stream from my Freesat box there is a colourspace control? Surely this is analogue stuff RGB/Component? Or is this about non TV sources 'full range 0 - 255' v legal range 16-235?
Yes, it's about the full range v's legal video levels. Anything other than a PC or games console will use legal video levels, which manifests itself as 'Limited' in the TV's settings.

I could calibrate it myself I'm sure but im not sure of the kit of bits I need to do that and best test software etc.
That's an easy one. If you want to go this route, I'd happily give my recommendations.

Paul
 
I'm also surprised with the high luminace level a lot of you seem to use. I feel like my panel has got a bit brighter this past week, and I felt the need to lower luminace a little more (SDR).

Professional 1 - 24 luminance. (Bias light/lamp - but also fine for day time)

Professional 2 - 7 luminance. (Pitch black)
That's a bit... extreme. Probably looks like a Panny plasma now :)
I've settled on THX Cinema with 30 luminance for night-time and just bump it up to 50-60 during the day in the same picture mode.
 
Well, I pushed the boat out and got the Panny 952 as Topcashback were doing 15% back at Currys TopCashback ref link so my 10 year old Kuro has been demoted. But I seem to miss it!

Been fiddling a lot (driving Mrs crazy!) after starting from the kind Pro 1 recommended settings found here.

I find Warm2 way too yellow so am running Normal – why up the degrees Kelvin on white SO much with Warm 2? Snow is NOT slightly yellow ;)

I’m not getting the blacks I want so have been reducing brightness (I guess this is black level 0v in proper terms?).

I’ve been backing the contrast and luminance down and down to try to avoid the clippy harsh whites you get when the screen is set nice and punchy.

I’ve reduced the gamma a notch to try and bring the midrange down a bit and make it all look a bit less washed out.

Its so big that HD looks a bit soft on it so have been increasing sharpness - a LOT.

I seem to hate HDR – watched The Crown and all I could see was a hugely ‘blown’ window behind Queenie – clipped whites are SO much more amplified. Literally makes your eye’s iris stop down – which I found truly awful. I also found the rest a bit smudgy and dark.

But I also know I’m on a learning curve and need to keep fiddling (sorry Mrs)! Other than motion on min everything auto is of course off and I’m in REC 709 colourspace. I did see an amazing Leopard in the water on iPlayer demo using HLG 4k :)

So did anyone else have any similar thoughts when they switched from a Kuro – damn that was a nice organic picture that rolled off peaks and never added clipping.

Given what I have said above are my settings off in any way?



I was also watching The Apprentice last night and the difference in gamma, sharpness and luminance level between the 3 shot of the judges and the singles/3 shots of the contestants was really pronounced on what is usually a well graded how done with proper cameras. Ohh I sound rattled - hate change!!! ;)
Part of my issue is having to turn brightness down to - 5 luminance I have at 60 and contrast at 90
Warm 1 seems to be OK for me I know what you mean about warm 2

Are you running the latest F/W
 
Do you have the TV sound output to PCM?
I have just checked and it was set to AUTO but when I first got the TV I did play around with both Dolby and PCM and neither gave any problems - I suspect it is down to how well the (soundbar) manufacturer has implemented ARC.
 

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