Panasonic GZ2000b or Sony AF9 TVs which is better, Im thinking of an upgrade.

JohnProton

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I've looked at many reviews and watched youtube videos but whats peoples preference?

I currently have a Panasonic DX902b Full array local Dimming (FALD) LED TV which has 512 dimming zones and its a 2016 TV with HDR. Its a great TV but I'm thinking of buying an oled but keeping this tv because its a good tv. From what I have seen in videos it seems the Panasonic GZ2000b is definitelly brighter than the GZ950b and shows especially when viewing dolby vision/HDR. The sony I've read seems to have a better up-scaling for 1080p and looks slightly sharper in standard HD but the Panasonic is better for 4k from watching videos and also the Sony seems a bit off in colours whereas the Panasonic is more natural and accurate in colours.
When looking at Dolby Vision it shows more with the colours on the sony being a little off whereas on the Panasonic it seems more accurate and Natural.

I haven't seen any TV in person but this is all I found just from reviews in various places. I also looked on avforums reviews on these tvs and they seem to be very close. I know the earlier Panasonic model GZ950b looks to be a bargain right now but it sacrifices some of the brightness on the GZ2000b and I think you can see it especially in Dolby Vision. one other thing I noticed is the Sony doesn't seem to have HDR+ whereas the panasonic does.

I have no interest in Atmos or sound on a tv so thats another thing with the GZ2000b but maybe just for the extra nits of brightness its better. I have a receiver with atmos so I don't need speakers from the TV really. so which is the better OLED choice? Has anyone seen these TVs in person and if you have what did you think?
 
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I think they both support dolby vision out of Sony and Panasonic but only Panasonic supports HDR+ as well Sony doesnt support it. Panasonic supports dolby vision, hdr and hdr+. I am thinking the new panasonic old is the better choice out of the two. I'd considered the C9 but narrowed it down to the 2000b and af9.
 
I think they both support dolby vision out of Sony and Panasonic but only Panasonic supports HDR+ as well Sony doesnt support it. Panasonic supports dolby vision, hdr and hdr+. I am thinking the new panasonic old is the better choice out of the two. I'd considered the C9 but narrowed it down to the 2000b and af9.

there’s not much in it for modern oleds tbh.
although I think a fairer comparison would be the gz2000 against the ag9.
the gz2000 does have the edge for brightness, but also the extra tech could give it better image retention prevention.
i have the gz950 and the upscaling of 1080p content like Blu-rays is incredible. Motion is also very good indeed for sports etc.
obviously you would be paying a bit of a premium on either model for the higher quality sound which you wouldn’t use.
without you seeing them side by side it’s hard to know.
i marginally prefer the Panasonic’s, but others have very valid reasons to prefer the Sony’s or LG’s. No easy answer I’m afraid.
just to say one last thing, if it is the af9 you are looking at, that is quite a bit older tech compared to the Panasonic’s and LG’s....
 
there’s not much in it for modern oleds tbh.
although I think a fairer comparison would be the gz2000 against the ag9.
the gz2000 does have the edge for brightness, but also the extra tech could give it better image retention prevention.
i have the gz950 and the upscaling of 1080p content like Blu-rays is incredible. Motion is also very good indeed for sports etc.
obviously you would be paying a bit of a premium on either model for the higher quality sound which you wouldn’t use.
without you seeing them side by side it’s hard to know.
i marginally prefer the Panasonic’s, but others have very valid reasons to prefer the Sony’s or LG’s. No easy answer I’m afraid.
just to say one last thing, if it is the af9 you are looking at, that is quite a bit older tech compared to the Panasonic’s and LG’s....
Thanks a lot for that. I am leaning more towards Panasonic. I didn't realise that about the tech so thats another thing to think about.
 
I’ve seen both in person briefly in person and the c9 and gz950.
All uncalibrated on the same demo clips and the Panasonic’s were the most natural looking images and ones I’d want first.
I would say if getting them calibrated then be very little difference apart from the gz2000 but then it’s a fair whack more than the 950 and c9.
 
I’ve seen both in person briefly in person and the c9 and gz950.
All uncalibrated on the same demo clips and the Panasonic’s were the most natural looking images and ones I’d want first.
I would say if getting them calibrated then be very little difference apart from the gz2000 but then it’s a fair whack more than the 950 and c9.
Thats another thing between the GZ950b and the GZ2000b is the price. The GZ2000 is still £3000 at the cheapest Ive seen new and the 950b £1795 and thats well over a thousand which is a lot and something I need to think about, especially if the difference of picture is so minimal its barely noticeable.
 
Thats another thing between the GZ950b and the GZ2000b is the price. The GZ2000 is still £3000 at the cheapest Ive seen new and the 950b £1795 and thats well over a thousand which is a lot and something I need to think about, especially if the difference of picture is so minimal its barely noticeable.
GZ950 is £1645 from here,RS will price match
 
You said you had no interest in the sound from the TV so I would go for the GZ950 I've had a 65 inch one for the last 8 months and the picture quality is stunning. No doubt the GZ2000 is slightly brighter but how much better is it minimal I would guess I don't think you would be disappointed with the GZ950
 
You said you had no interest in the sound from the TV so I would go for the GZ950 I've had a 65 inch one for the last 8 months and the picture quality is stunning. No doubt the GZ2000 is slightly brighter but how much better is it minimal I would guess I don't think you would be disappointed with the GZ950
Yeah I have Svs Atmos speakers going into a yamaha receiver in a 5.1.4 configuration so coming out of the tv is a bit useless to me. I guess its nice it has extras on the new Panasonic but I feel like Im paying out all that for something I wont be needing. I had wondered about the extra brightness and I love HDR so I thought maybe HDR will look better with extra brightness but I'm thinking is the extra thousand £ worth the extra brightness. my now TV is Panasonic but it has no Dolby Vision or HDR+ its just standard HDR 10 Bit thats LED. I do think the GZ950 looks better and suits my needs more with not having speakers attached to the front.
 
Yeah I have Svs Atmos speakers going into a yamaha receiver in a 5.1.4 configuration so coming out of the tv is a bit useless to me. I guess its nice it has extras on the new Panasonic but I feel like Im paying out all that for something I wont be needing. I had wondered about the extra brightness and I love HDR so I thought maybe HDR will look better with extra brightness but I'm thinking is the extra thousand £ worth the extra brightness. my now TV is Panasonic but it has no Dolby Vision or HDR+ its just standard HDR 10 Bit thats LED. I do think the GZ950 looks better and suits my needs more with not having speakers attached to the front.
I've got an avr and a 5.1.2 with 2 in ceiling speakers for atmos and the same as you everything goes into the avr as for brightness when a HDR Dolby vision kicks in the bright scenes are really bright with shows like the expanse on Amazon when there is an explosion in space the brightness against black of space is very impressive
 
Yeah I have Svs Atmos speakers going into a yamaha receiver in a 5.1.4 configuration so coming out of the tv is a bit useless to me. I guess its nice it has extras on the new Panasonic but I feel like Im paying out all that for something I wont be needing. I had wondered about the extra brightness and I love HDR so I thought maybe HDR will look better with extra brightness but I'm thinking is the extra thousand £ worth the extra brightness. my now TV is Panasonic but it has no Dolby Vision or HDR+ its just standard HDR 10 Bit thats LED. I do think the GZ950 looks better and suits my needs more with not having speakers attached to the front.

honestly the gz950 is really stunning. As long as you have anywhere from decent to very good content, the colours are so accurate, the motion is excellent and the upscaling is seriously impressive. with your sound system you don’t really need more.
i watched some of seven worlds one planet on uhd Blu-ray yesterday and it is totally jaw dropping.
with your sound system it would be really special.
the only time I could see a Sony being better would be if nearly all your content was poor quality, in which case, change what you watch first.
spend the difference on something else imho....
 
honestly the gz950 is really stunning. As long as you have anywhere from decent to very good content, the colours are so accurate, the motion is excellent and the upscaling is seriously impressive. with your sound system you don’t really need more.
i watched some of seven worlds one planet on uhd Blu-ray yesterday and it is totally jaw dropping.
with your sound system it would be really special.
the only time I could see a Sony being better would be if nearly all your content was poor quality, in which case, change what you watch first.
spend the difference on something else imho....
Ive got over a thousand blurays, many Arrow and Scream Factory and about 100 UHD movies like both Blade Runners, Batman, Dark Knight, Alien and Prometheus, various super hero ones like wonder woman and aquaman etc. I use my Oppo 203 which is multiregion and can play both US and UK Blu-ray releases. I did watch a comparison video with sony and panasonic and I saw a part where the colours looked completely off on the Sony. I know its hard to judge completely on videos although my source for youtube is 4k anyway, but still it did look quite off when compared to the Panasonic. I have continued to watch various things and it looks like I will be going for the GZ950 I think?
 
Ive got over a thousand blurays, many Arrow and Scream Factory and about 100 UHD movies like both Blade Runners, Batman, Dark Knight, Alien and Prometheus, various super hero ones like wonder woman and aquaman etc. I use my Oppo 203 which is multiregion and can play both US and UK Blu-ray releases. I did watch a comparison video with sony and panasonic and I saw a part where the colours looked completely off on the Sony. I know its hard to judge completely on videos although my source for youtube is 4k anyway, but still it did look quite off when compared to the Panasonic. I have continued to watch various things and it looks like I will be going for the GZ950 I think?

I reckon if the Sony colours were way off, then there was an issue with the TV or setup.
But given that you don't need sound and really want great colours and processing then the gz950 is hard to beat. If you decide you really don't like it, I doubt the others would make you happier...
 
I have a calibrated Sony 65AF9 for sale in the classifieds if your interested
 
I don’t think you’d be sorry choosing either the Sony or the Panasonic.
Presuming your not getting them calibrated or using the sound features personally I’d go for the gz950.
Having seen them all the panas would be my choice and in them the diff is minimal on the gz950 to gz2000 and I’d say 99% of people wouldn’t see anything and it’s near enough or is currently the cheapest into the bargain.
IMHO the gz2000 is top dog but me personally I’d take the gz950 as I have a dedicated sound system and I also don’t see it being worth the £1350 over the 950.
 
Yeah I have Svs Atmos speakers going into a yamaha receiver in a 5.1.4 configuration so coming out of the tv is a bit useless to me. I guess its nice it has extras on the new Panasonic but I feel like Im paying out all that for something I wont be needing. I had wondered about the extra brightness and I love HDR so I thought maybe HDR will look better with extra brightness but I'm thinking is the extra thousand £ worth the extra brightness. my now TV is Panasonic but it has no Dolby Vision or HDR+ its just standard HDR 10 Bit thats LED. I do think the GZ950 looks better and suits my needs more with not having speakers attached to the front.

If you have no need for the enhanced sound from the GZ2000 (which is a big selling point for that model), then that's even more reason to consider the GZ950. I was lucky enough to be able to view them both side-by-side in a store last year - I set them both up with the same settings, stepped back and couldn't tell the difference in picture quality with the Freeview HD film that was playing at the time. Hardly a thorough test admittedly, but it was an indication to me that the differences between the two sets were likely to be subtle and not something that I could personally justify doubling my budget for plus, like you, I also had no need for the GZ2000's enhanced sound.

While extra brightness might be an advantage for HDR like you say, I don't have any issues with brightness in general on the GZ950 and HDR looks fantastic :)
 
If you have no need for the enhanced sound from the GZ2000 (which is a big selling point for that model), then that's even more reason to consider the GZ950. I was lucky enough to be able to view them both side-by-side in a store last year - I set them both up with the same settings, stepped back and couldn't tell the difference in picture quality with the Freeview HD film that was playing at the time. Hardly a thorough test admittedly, but it was an indication to me that the differences between the two sets were likely to be subtle and not something that I could personally justify doubling my budget for plus, like you, I also had no need for the GZ2000's enhanced sound.

While extra brightness might be an advantage for HDR like you say, I don't have any issues with brightness in general on the GZ950 and HDR looks fantastic :)
Thanks thats great to know. The LG C9 is throwing me back a bit too now with it after seeing very similar pricing. I think if I go for the panasonic it will definitely be the 950.
 
The problem with Panny’s is they have a rubbish O/S and lack of apps. That really annoys me when you are paying so much money.
 
Thanks thats great to know. The LG C9 is throwing me back a bit too now with it after seeing very similar pricing. I think if I go for the panasonic it will definitely be the 950.

The choice last year for me was also between the C9 and GZ950 and I spent a lot of time researching and watching reviews of both sets, both on here and elsewhere. They're both great TVs but for me, OOTB picture quality was a very important factor and for that reason I went for the Panasonic. There were far too many 'panel lottery' comments for my liking in the LG threads - I'm not saying that Panasonic TVs are immune to this but it seemed to be less of an issue, at least as far as I could tell. After 6 months of ownership, I finally plucked up the courage to run some grey-scale and colour test slides on my GZ950 recently and found no issues whatsoever - no obvious tinting, no banding at all or any sign of pixel wear ('screen burn'). Fingers crossed that continues !
 
The problem with Panny’s is they have a rubbish O/S and lack of apps. That really annoys me when you are paying so much money.

Yes, you're right - the Panasonic app store is shocking ! It has the basic apps that I need though, thankfully (Netflix, Prime & YouTube). The O/S is fairly basic (the LG's looks far better), but it's functional and works fluidly enough.
 
The problem with Panny’s is they have a rubbish O/S and lack of apps. That really annoys me when you are paying so much money.
my 2016 tv is panasonic and the apps was never the best and bad O/S. But i dont stream or use any apps through the tv so it was never an issue for me. I just watch physical copies mostly.
 
Fair play, I used to be like that but increasingly due to the kids am using Disney+ and Apple TV etc, which obviously can be used via a external device but I’m getting lazy and certainly the wife and kids are!!!
 
PS. I’m a massive fan of Panasonic picture, if they had the O/S of a C9/CX it would literally be a no brainer for me.
 
PS. I’m a massive fan of Panasonic picture, if they had the O/S of a C9/CX it would literally be a no brainer for me.
I use my laptop for looking on the net, Multimedia, games and youtube, which is a 4k HDR laptop. so I do everything through the laptop rather than tv apps because Ihave it hooked to my TV. Its another reason for looking into the LG was because of hearing its best for games. But I watch movies more than anything else, especially cult movies on bluray.
 

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