Verdict
Boasting a wide mountain chain of features at a competitive price , the Panasonic TX-55MX950 is an all - circular telling Mini LED TV with its natural , colorful picture performance , better - than - medium sound character , good swathe of gaming features and wide-eyed HDR support .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Would you believe the Panasonic TX-55MX950 is the stain ’s firstMini LEDTV ? The last few days have figure goggle box manufacturers embrace Mini LED ’s promise of higher brightness level and better black story than stock LCD idiot box , and now we have Panasonic ’s debutante in our midst .
Panasonic ’s entrance into the grocery might also speak to a growing belief there ’s more possible in Mini contribute than in organic light-emitting diode , peculiarly anOLED TVmarket dominated by LG .
Nevertheless , there ’s a new Panasonic flagship LED TV to dissect , and after theMZ1500andMZ2000OLEDs scored five - stars , here ’s hoping the MX950 can preserve the run .
Availability
The Panasonic TX-55MX950B ( to give its full name ) has an RRP of £ 1099 in the UK and is available to purchase directly from Panasonic or through the likes of Richer Sounds and John Lewis .
Panasonic no longer sells TVs in North America and come along to have pulled out of the Australian TV market . In Europe this television receiver is known as the TX-55MX950E and can be find for around € 1399 .
Design
The process of assembling the Panasonic MX950 take me over two minute , and involves inserting the feet towards the edge ( each foot is clearly assigned left or right ) . The feet only attach at the side , so you ’ll need to ensure the surface it ’s on is wide enough . The foot are magniloquent enough to slip a soundbar underneath , too .
The MX950 is available in 55- and 65 - in guises , and look at angle for the smaller size are undecomposed enough but they could be stronger . It ’s broad enough for a couch full of people to sit and enjoy , but colours lose intensity and luminance once off - axis .
There is a slender oddity that the MX950 and Sony X85L share in that , if you ’re head - on , opprobrious levels lack particular . But if you move a little to the left ( or right-hand ) off - inwardness that item becomes visible again .
Though the Panasonic bags a Mini LED panel , its back end is surprisingly bulky at 71 mm . If you ’re believe wall - mounting , it wo n’t sit down flush against the wall .
Otherwise , this is the character of useful intent expected from Panasonic : smart - looking for , but not too middle - catching that you ’ll be staring at the TV ’s edges more than what ’s on the screen .
Operating System
Panasonic ’s My Home Screen is in its 8th edition and remain a simple social function . Press the Home push and a doubly - stack row of apps look with paid - for apps on the bottom , and the gimmick - up and on - demand buttons on top . guide to ‘ Apps ’ and you ’ll find more offerings , although not too much more .
My Home Screen is cover as far as picture and TV streaming apps are concerned – Netflix , Disney+ , Prime Video , Apple TV+ , YouTube , and Rakuten TV , etc . but cut into into music , sports and other categories proves less fruitful .
For UK customers there ’s aFreeview Playhub with an electronic program template ( EPG ) and lots of content to pick your way through .
The ‘ my Scenery ’ feature is Panasonic ’s solution to Samsung ’s Ambient Mode that provides a soundscape to watch images or videos , some of which play back inDolby Atmosaudio . you could even add your own pictures and video recording from a USB stick .
The remote is the black version of the flatware remote twin with Panasonic ’s OLEDs , and while it ’s large , it is comfortable to utilise with well - space - out buttons and good feedback .
Features
forcible connections range from four HDMI inputs – two of which corroborate the2.1 monetary standard – three USB input , Ethernet , CI+ 1.4 expansion slot , analogue input , digital optical output , and a headphone output .
Wirelessly there ’s Bluetooth , Wi - Fi , and with Easy Mirroring you’re able to cast what ’s on your fluid machine to the TV .
Panasonic has made a big effort to court gamers with its gaming features . Game Mode Extreme and True Game mode are its principal options , the latter map like Filmmaker mode to reproduce colours as intended with games .
I measured input lag at 15.4ms , and in True Game mode it ’s slightly more at 15.8ms . These are n’t the fast results compared to LG and Samsung , but competitory with Sony andPhilips TVs .
Latency can be further reduce with the tellies’HDMI VRRsupport , along with AMD FreeSync Premium compatibility that reduces buck for PC gamers . This television should mould with Nvidia G - Sync as it features VRR anyway , but the MX950 does n’t possess official certification .
ALLMsupport puts the TV straight into its secret plan mode once , and while 4K/120Hz refresh rates feature , they ’re only useable on two HDMI input ; one is share with theaudio eARCfeature . The Game Control Board makes it easier to customise stage setting and see info relate to the biz being played .
The Panasonic MX950 caters for every noteworthy HDR format . There ’s HDR10 , HLG , HLG Photo , HDR10 + Adaptive , andDolby Vision IQ – the latter two assist in yielding the best performance in bright and dark rooms .
Filmmaker modeis intertwined with Panasonic ’s Intelligent Sensing , meaning it too can adapt its performance for brilliant and dreary rooms . The HCX Pro AI mainframe is design to live what you ’re watching and optimise colour , contrast , etc . without you having to lift a finger’s breadth when the television is in its Auto AI modality .
Panasonic ’s Dynamic Home Theater Surround system of rules stomach Dolby Atmos audio – although you should empathize this is n’t ‘ true ’ Atmos . This 50W auditory sensation system has a mono woofer attached to add oomph to low frequencies . Along with that are several way to take from , with Auto AI adapting the auditory sensation to whatever content the TV recognise .
smarting ? If you have a Google - enable speaker this TV can operate on in that ecosystem though there is built - inAlexa , and you could access her feature film though the remote control ’s voice control condition clit .
Picture Quality
The Panasonic TX-55MX950 features 128 dim zones to boost contrast , luminance , and produce deep blacks . As far as brightness is concern , the MX950 is a big jump up from the edge - litJX940 – 1259 nits on a 5 % window compare to 647 nits , which is almost double as smart . Full covert brightness is 722 nits , which is well above even the brightest OLED television .
But I would n’t suggest you assume the Panasonic MX950 is an all - out brightness fest . The Panasonic utilises its high peak brightness more subtly compared to the Sony KD-55X85L. In fact , the Sony offers greater encroachment with its cleverness viewing Wall - e in Dolby Vision – white tones along with yellows , greens , oranges , and bolshie are boosted in the wordless opening while the Panasonic describe them with less vibrancy .
Where the Panasonic TX-55MX950 picks up an advantage tie in to item in darker scenes . Dolby Vision IQsupport reveals more detail and luminance in the dark scene of Wall - e and installment two of Silo .
ferment the lights down and as Juliette and Holston descend into the depth of the silo , the Panasonic offer firmer black storey , more vestige item , bright , more precise highlights , and unchanging people of color . On the Sony colours are a little wash out .
peel tones bear a sizeable and accurate look , although perhaps err to a cooler temp . The Panasonic also presents a slightly keen persona than the Sony and look on Barbie on 4 special K Blu - ray the MX950 presents a fantastic - reckon paradigm . incisive but naturally so , with high spirit level of detail alongside clear and well - defined edges .
The film ’s customary pinkish tone is punchily present , matched with a level of smartness that draws out a wide range of colouring ( mostly pinkish ) from Barbie ’s distinctive palette .
Bloomingis detectable in Zero Dark Thirty but kept to a lower limit . With HDR10 and HLG content , black levels can impinge on a little too intemperately . line up the Dark Visibility Enhancer setting to 10 can help call up item in the ikon ’s colored parts .
I ’d also say stick with Dolby Vision content . HDR10 + version of Doctor Sleep and Birds of Prey add up across as washed out , while Dolby Vision version calculate richer and more cinematic .
Upscaling has been a strong face of Panasonic ’s picture operation and remain so with the MX950 . A DVD of Saving Private Ryan is too noisy in its first scene , which I strike is more the source than the upscaling , but as we manoeuvre to the beach the Panasonic renders edges clearly enough and extracts enough detail from the 480p disk , close - ups of the player ’ faces harbour up surprisingly fairly well to closer scrutiny when in move .
With a videodisc of The Matrix Reloaded , the film lacks the definition and sharpness of a Blu - irradiation , but the HCX Pro AI processor uncovers satisfactory levels of clarity and definition . Colours appear accurate , with the greens ( for the Matrix scene ) , blueness and orange ( for Zion ) finding a good counterweight of being strongly conveyed but natural in Filmmaker mode .
In fact , it ’s pleasing to take note the Panasonic MX950 ’s tuning remains uniform across various picture mode . away from being a few tints cool or a few shade bright , there are n’t wild discrepancies aside from the Dynamic mode , which is towards the shocking death of the spectrum , especially with the color wild blue yonder .
The Blu - ray of The Dark Knight is n’t the precipitous , but the Panasonic get good gas mileage from the IMAX setting which bet fantastic in term of limpidity and item . I can see all the creases and smudged app of the Joker ’s make - up , while blacks are conveyed with depth and there ’s an excellent sense of direct contrast in night - time scenes .
That ’s also true with The Amazing Spider - Man 2 – reproduction of colour is naturally telling , the motion-picture show ’s levels of edge apparently never over or under played , with top - pass lucidity and excellent detailing across dress , face , surroundings .
There ’s an telling sense of naturalism to the Panasonic ’s images . Perhaps the best I can say is that nothing look or feels out of place . Both it and the Sony X85L are closely pegged , though I ’d say the X85L elicits a little more asperity from its upscaling .
Panasonic ’s Intelligent Frame Creation ( IFC ) for motion works as it did on old television , which is to say the ‘ Fukkianese ’ mise en scene is best by being the smoothest and retaining the ‘ film ’ look without encourage the liquid ecstasy opera effect . With ‘ Mid ’ and ‘ Max ’ there ’s judder and stutter , a more artificial look and with more marked screenland tearing . Like LG TVs , the dispirited setting for gesture processing is the best .
Sound Quality
Flatscreens have n’t been great with bass , but the Panasonic TX-55MX950 ’s performance is one of the respectable sound organisation I ’ve encounter recently .
With Dune in Atmos it bring off to a confident jump , describing the low rumble with an actual sense of presence that other tv shinny with .
It also sounds extensive and expansive , as well as dynamic , and that give energy to the natural action scenes . It also achieves a good Libra the Scales between dialogue and sound event , part described with weight and equalise its position on blind .
This is n’t a profound system that come across as underfed in terms of top executive . Dune is a film make love for its dynamical ambit and the MX950 measures up well , while with The Amazing Spider - Man 2 , its art in the bass section , aid drive Electro ’s soundtrack in the Time Square Sequence . Windows smash with a nice raciness , and there ’s a sprightly sense of vigor to action scenes .
The only number I observe was distortion in Dune , when Paul postulate for the water , and a lack of okay particular in the fight between K and Sapper in Blade Runner 2049 – the Panasonic miss the crunchy , wince - induce impact of the punches .
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Should you buy it?
The Panasonic is a labourer of all trades and master of a fair few , offering a very secure carrying into action at what I ’d say is a competitive price .
Despite the high brightness that the Panasonic MX950 offers , it use that forte in rather pernicious way . Recent TVs such as the Sony X85L and old models like theSamsung QN95Boffer more HDR encroachment .
Final Thoughts
Picture timbre the MX950 is up to Panasonic ’s common gamey levels , fabulously realistic and colorful ; the integration of Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10 + Adaptive creates a more balanced mental picture , both in bright and dark room , while the intelligent quality is an improvement on most TVs at this toll .
However , despite the luminance at the Panasonic MX950 ’s disposal , it is rather reserved in how it habituate it – the Sony X85L is cheaper and not as lustrous on paper , but often displays colours with more punch and brightness punchier , as well as better viewing angles .
While the Panasonic TX-55MX950 is n’t ‘ arrant ’ , whether you ’re watching motion-picture show , TV , sports , or diddle game , it ’s an all - round impressive Mini light-emitting diode debut . agree out ourBest TVguide for even more options .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every television we reexamine thoroughly over an prolonged point of metre . We use industry standard mental test to liken feature of speech properly . We ’ll always secern you what we bump . We never , ever , admit money to review a product .
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FAQs
If you require to mount the Panasonic TX-55MX950 onto a rampart , it supports the VESA 400 x 300 mm wall mounting bracket .
