Panasonic TX-65DX902B user review

  • From Plasma to LCD

    Having had the flagship 55" VT30 from the last line of Plasma that Panasonic produced I for good reason have delayed replacing it. The 65DX902 is the first set that looks to have covered all if not all the bases in terms of features and measure of future proofing. Given the space and seating distance in my room, a 65" is as close to the cinema experience as I was going to get, so I was motivated by that in changing TVs also.

    One quick negative out of the way first, I was always going to be wall mounting, however the 4 screws on the back of the TV for this purpose are very tightly screwed in, and I almost ruined the head trying to unscrew them, that and they are not very deep at all, however there are 4 of them and well spaced out, so I'm not worried my TV will fall off the wall, but still!

    Switching on for first time is a pleasant experience, and the guide system is easy to follow and does not take too long. The default picture setting of Normal I did not like if I'm honest. Too bright, looked over saturated to me, but put this down to a settling in period.

    I then proceeded to follow AVForums recommended settings for this set, and this initially provided some improvement, however after watching some content, I found it a little on the dull side. Few films later and some tweaking of my own, I found for me the best results were to go to Normal again, turn the background brightness to 30 from the default of 50, turn all the settings beneath this Off, and leave sharpness where is was also. For me this gives the best balance between being bright and vibrant, but not losing too much in contrast. The test movie was for my daughter, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and on these settings it looked very nice in 1080p BR. Perhaps some additional micro adjustments may need to be made going forward, but for now I'll leave them as is.

    Comparing to the Plasma it replaces, it's hard to say it's better or worse. It's different for sure, brighter and colors way more vibrant. Blacks are for me more than good enough and I think I'd probably need to see the TVs side by side to really say with any conviction that one is better than the other, so I think that says a lot for the LCD.

    Only other negative other than the one with the wall mount screws has already been covered in the official review by AVForums, is off axis viewing, it does look pretty bad from the sides, blacks look more grey, however its not really a problem for us as we have a 4 seater in front of it and PQ is fine from either end.

    Overall I think given the cost over a 65" OLED from the same company at more than twice the price, for me this set ticks enough boxes to make it a no brainer until OLED prices come down. Of course there is LG, but if like me you are a Panasonic fan, you'll need to wait a bit for OLED prices to become more resonable, unless money is no issue to you. Looking forward to seeing some 4k Bluray movies in April.

    Pros

    • Bright vibrant colors with nice deep blacks.
    • Nice build quality with decent remote.
    • Good location of connections and everything you need.
    • Price

    Cons

    • Off Axis viewing for some.
    • Wall mount screws too soft and shallow.
    • Nothing else.

    Scores

    8
    9
    8
    8
    8
    9
    8
    6
    8
    8
    9
    8

    Comments

    I think you'll find that the 4 screws on the back of the TV are not to be used with a wall bracket - they're just "covers" for the holes on the back of the TV. The paper manual supplied with the TV even states that the screws needed to attach the TV to a bracket are not supplied - on P23. I'd get some proper screws for your bracket asap.
     
    Thanks for pointing that out. I have an installer out on Tuesday to raise the bracket anyway...so I'll get him to use proper screws then! Bit crazy they don't supply the right screws....surely a lot of people will want to wall mount this TV.
     
    I've never known any of the big brands to supply the screws to attach to a bracket. Most universal brackets come with a variety of bolts & spacers anyway.
     
    Do you think I'll be ok until Tuesday give it's been on the wall a few days already? I don't have a wide enough surface to use the supplied stand and with only the wife in the house...she's not strong enough to help me lift off the wall anyway.
     
    Yes (hopefully) - just don't go pulling at any cables!
     
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Panasonic TX-65DX902B

Comments
6
Author
Nerved One
Review score
8 / 10
Average score
8.9 / 10
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