Panasonic Z8BA: Cheaper 77-inch OLED TV with 144Hz and Dolby Vision HDR launches
The new Panasonic Z8BA sits between the Z80B and Z95B (from $2,198 on Amazon) in Panasonic’s current OLED lineup but reportedly makes few compromises in terms of specs. The biggest difference compared to the flagship television is probably the brightness, as Panasonic doesn’t provide a specific number and does not specify which panel is used here.
In any case, the OLED panel features a 4K resolution at a 144Hz and can display Dolby Vision HDR content at 144 fps. Combined with HDMI 2.1, VRR and AMD FreeSync Premium, the TV should be well-suited for gaming enthusiasts. According to Panasonic, the True Game Mode increases color fidelity in games, while special sound modes enhance the audio of RPGs and shooters by emphasizing important sounds such as conversations or gunshots.
Panasonic claims that users can disable tone mapping in order to let the source device handle it. This is especially important for the optimal HDR display of the Nintendo Switch 2. Panasonic further offers its proprietary HCX Pro AI Processor MK II. The Amazon Fire TV user interface provides access to all major streaming services, and users can control smart home devices directly via Alexa voice commands. The audio expert from Technics optimized the TV’s speaker system.
Price and availability
The Panasonic Z8BA OLED TV will first launch in the US, the big 77-inch model costs $2,499. For comparison, the 77-inch Z95B has an MSRP of $4,699. Panasonic has not provided any details regarding a potential global launch.
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