Panasonic has its sights set on 4K, HDR and OLED in 2017, announcing a large range of products for the Australian market yesterday.
Kicking off its 4K television range is the its new flagship EZ1000 ‘Master OLED’ Series, which provides the stunning colour and infinite contrast we’ve come to expect from OLED’s individually-lit pixels, along with Panasonic’s own ‘Absolute Black Filter’ and the integrated Technics ‘Dynamic Blade Speaker’.
The EZ1000 is the company’s first OLED to release in Australia, with a 65-inch model releasing in July for $8,899 and a 77-inch model set to arrive in November. Its price will be announced closer to release.
The choice is EZ
In addition to the EZ1000 Series OLED TVs, Panasonic will also be offering 65-inch ($7,199) and 55-inch ($4,999) models in its EZ950 OLED Series, also arriving in July.
Along with its OLED lineup, Panasonic also announced a new range of LED LCD Ultra HD televisions in its EX780 Series, boasting something called ‘4K Pro HDR’, meaning that its displays have been Hollywood Laboratory-tuned to show content exactly as intended by its creators.
The EX780 Series is available in 75-inch ($7,199) and 65-inch ($4,499) models from this month, with a 55-inch ($3,299) model available from May.
Wrapping up its 4K television lineup, Panasonic unveiled its entry-level HDR LED LCD EX600 range, starting at $1,799 for its 43-inch model, moving up slightly to $1,999 for its 49-inch model, $2,199 for its 55-inch model and finally $3,299 for its 65-incher. These will be released in May.
Physical media will live on!
With 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays offering incredible visual clarity, and sensational colour and contrast, the logical next step in home entertainment is to invest in a player that will provide an immersive experience.
So if you plan to take the leap and get one of Panasonic’s OLED tellies, the Japanese company has also launched two new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players to help you take full advantage of the TVs, with a third with Full HD and Blu-ray burning capability set to arrive later in the year.
The Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory has created a new and improved processor for the players that promise to deliver the “thrilling home entertainment experience that creators intended for every movie and TV program.”
Don’t be a player hater
Both players, the DMP-UB400 and the DMP-UB300, feature a variant of the HCX2 processor from Panasonic’s award-winning 4K Pro HDR TVs, and 4K Direct Chroma upscaling functionality that promises to deliver high resolution images and great colours from 2K media.
The players have also been designed for high-resolution audio reproduction from conventional formats like FLAC, WAV and MP3, as well from DSD and ALAC files. Additionally, both players support 4K video-on-demand services as well.
The DMP-UB400 features twin HDMI outputs, separating audio and video signals to reduce unwanted noise. Plus, the advantage of built-in Wi-Fi gives the DMP-UB400 the capability to mirror content on a smartphone or tablet.
Very nice, how much?
The DMP-UB300 carries a price tag of $449, while the DMP-UB400 has been priced at $549. Both players will be available in stores around Australia from June.
Panasonic hopes to expand this range later in 2017 with the addition of the DMB-UBT1 4K Ultra HD Premium Blu-ray player which features Full HD recording. This model will come with 2TB of storage and users will be able to record onto the HDD or a Blu-ray disc.
Pricing for this model hasn’t been announced, but it will be available in stores from September this year.
