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Panasonic TH-65PZ700B
This 65-incher is a monster. It caused us a real headache (and back-ache) trying to get it into testing position. Annoying, considering we only got to spend a short time with it.
Make the effort in your own home, though, and you’ll be rewarded with years of stunningly huge pictures. Just make sure you’ve accounted for the sheer size and weight of this beast before arranging delivery.
If you’re spending this kind of money on a TV of this magnitude, HD content should be your primary concern. We’re pleased, then, that our Blu-ray copy of 30 Days of Night looked glorious, with excellent colours, sharp edges and plenty of detail. Whites are bright and punchy, and blacks are deep (though not to the extent of the Pioneer Kuros).
This TV uses 3:2 pull-down to display 24fps motion. This, in theory, should mean that it stutters more than the others with Blu-ray content; in practice the processing is so good that it’s just as smooth as the native 24fps competition.
Sets a fine standard
Even the most avid fan of HD content is unlikely to avoid standard-definition altogether, though, so it’s good that the Panasonic produces a solid picture from DVDs, too. The punchy and detailed transfer of Dexter – The First Season looks fine indeed, though there is a touch of softness and occasional pixellation to edges, plus a bit of noise in background expanses.
Overall though, considering the gargantuan size of the screen, and as long as you’re not sitting too close to it, the DVD performance is excellent.
In our original review, we criticised the Panasonic’s Freeview performance. However, having now done more side-by-side comparisons with other sets of this size, we’re inclined to point out that it’s not bad by prevailing standards. When you get to screens around 60in, any picture flaw is magnified, meaning any broadcast that’s of a less-than stunning quality (think Dave or ITV) suffers from noise and motion-blurring.
The Pana’s not great with Freeview, but other TVs of this size aren’t significantly better.
Detailed, weighty sound
An added advantage of having a massive screen is that there is a little extra room in the casing to accommodate reasonable speakers. We would, of course, recommend connecting it to a home cinema system, but if you find yourself having to make do with the built-in array, you can be safe in the knowledge that it does offer some degree of detail and weight, and avoids the harshness that’s so common in smaller flatscreen TVs.
This is expensive TV so it had to impress us with more than just its size. It’s done that with ease – but hot, Pioneer-shaped competition in the same size-class just robs it of a fifth star.
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