Panasonic 2019 AV range – TV, Soundbar, Blu-ray and headphones

Panasonic 2019 AV range

The Panasonic 2019 AV range has eight TV models, three soundbars, thee headphones, two microsystems, an entry-level Blu-ray player and a partridge in a pear tree…

The Panasonic 2019 AV range is large enough to cater for most AV needs. The focus this year is ‘Hollywood to your home.’

Gadgeteer and AV expert Thomas Bartlett attended the launch and will report separately on what excited him (and he is not easily excitable). This is an overview of the launch, prices and availability.

4K OLED – Good, better and best (GZ1000, GZ1500 and GZ2000)

The Panasonic Australia OLED website reveals that all 2019 OLED TVs will have a GZxxxx and 2018 has FZxxxx. You will see a lot of run out deals on FZ series as the new GZ appear in July and the GZ2000 in September.

Panasonic 2019 AV range

 All three models feature Panasonic’s

  • HCX PRO processor
  • HDR10+ (Panasonic and Samsung use this nomenclature), HLG, HLG Photo
  • Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
  • Hollywood colourist tuning
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
  • My Home Screen 4.0 smart TV operating system works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa

The GZ2000 adds what it calls a ‘professional edition’ OLED panel (supports CalMAN calibration), twin free-to-air tuner, and a Technics tuned 3.1.2 Dolby Atmos speaker system with left/right upwards-firing speakers.

Price (all models have a GZ prefix)

  • 2000U 65-inch September $8299
  • 1500U 65-inch July $6199
  • 1000U 55/65-inch July $3599/5799

GadgetGuy’s take – 2019 OLED

This Panasonic’s third generation of OLED. It buys the panels from LG (as does Sony) and wraps around its custom electronics, sound, design and support. It’s too early to tell if the GZ2000 Professional Grade OLED is the best, but trust Panasonic to give it a good shot.

4K Premium LED/LCD (GX880, GX850)

These use the same HCX Pro processor as the OLED and share the OLED features. These are edge-lit.

Panasonic 2019 AV range

Price (all models have the GX prefix)

  • 880A 75-inch July $4999
  • 850A 55/65-inch July $1899/2499

4K LED LCD (GX800, GX740)

Panasonic 2019 AV range

These get most of the Premium kit with a 100Hz MRR panel.

Price (all models have a GX prefix)

  • 800A 55/65 Now $1749/2399
  • 740A 55/65 Now $1549/2099

4K LED/LCD (GX600 – 43/49/55/65-inch)

Panasonic 2019 AV range

The Panasonic Australia website classifies these as an entry level, edge-lit IPS, LED/LCD TV featuring

  • HDR (will play HDR10/HLG) – depends on the source
  • 4K upscale
  • Wi-Fi
  • Stereo speakers

Price (all models have a GX prefix)

  • 600A 43/49/55/65-inch Now $999/1199/14491999

Panasonic Soundbars – good, better, best (HTB510, HTB700 and HTB900)

Panasonic 2019 AV range

The HTB900 is a Technics tuned, 3.1, 505W, Dolby Atmos soundbar. By that it decodes 2.0, 2.1, 3.1, 5.1, DTS:X, Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 or 7.1.4 to 3.1. It has 4K/HDR passthrough via HDMI ARC. It has a Panasonic Music Control app and supports Bluetooth SBC, Chromecast streaming and Google Assistant.

The HBT700 is 3.1, 376W and loses Chromecast, multi-room and Google Assistant.

The HBT510 is 2.1, 240W, and gains Chromecast, multi-room and Google Assitant.

Price (all have an HTB prefix)

  • 900GNK July $1349
  • 700GNK July $899
  • 510GNK Now $549

GadgetGuy’s take

Dolby Atmos is the go and Panasonic are using psychoacoustics to trick your mind into believing sounds are coming from overhead etc. The effectiveness depends a lot on room size and layout. It’s a shame that it did not bring in a high-end 7.1.4 system as Samsung and LG have – after all, if you drop $8K on the GZ2000, you want the best possible Dolby Atmos experience.

Blu-ray – UB150

It joins last year’s premium DP-UB9000 reference class Blu-ray ($1649) that does everything

And entry-level, ($279) HDR10+ that supports Dolby Atmos but down mixes Dolby Vision to HDR10+.

Panasonic 2019 AV range

Micro System PMX92 and Mini System AKX320

The PMX92 micro ($549) has AUX-IN Autoplay feature, which makes listening to streamed music via devices such as Chromecast Audio completely effortless – the system will automatically switch on and select the correct input.

Panasonic 2019 AV range

It features

  • Bluetooth, FM/DAB+ radio and CD playback
  • Hi-Res audio
  • Optical input for TV
  • 120W, 2.0, three-way speaker using Panasonic’s LincsD-amp

The AKX320 mini ($359) has 450W, 2.0 and features a slew of DJ effects compatible with the MAX Juke app.

Panasonic 2019 AV range

It features

  • USB and CD/DVD playback, FM radio
  • Bluetooth 4.2 SBC

2019 HEADPHONE RANGE

Full details here

  • HD610N ($499.95) over the ear, noise cancelling wireless, Hi-Res, headphones with Google Assistant and Bluetooth compatibility and comes in a choice of black or copper colours.
  • HTX90N ($299.95) over the ear, active noise cancelling wireless headphones, retro styling studio, 24-hour battery and Google Assistant in matte black, vanilla white and indigo navy.
  • HTX20B (119.95) wireless, in-ear buds, 8 hours battery, 8.5 hours playback