Last year, I actually bought a Panasonic DX902, after being impressed with the image quality in a store demo. It had an audio fault and had to go back but I didn't get a replacement. Compared with my VT65 plasma, it had noticeable strengths particularly with bright studio scenes. It made me realise just how much ABL kicked in with the plasma to degrade the pop and contrast of bright scenes. Unfortunately, with darker scenes, the situation was reversed, with the VT65 looking significantly more contrasty. Added to this, the DX902 had a strange blurring and smearing, which I could see on a regular basis. Furthermore, halos were very apparent with bright objects.
I hoped that the ZD9 was going to be 'the one' when it was launched as I was itching to be able to watch 4k content. I went to see it on several occasions but was so disappointed. It seemed to have the same motion blurring that I saw on the DX902.
I also went to see LG OLEDs but there seems to be some strange juddering going on.
After seeing early reviews of the new Sony OLED, I decided to go for it.
For anyone coming from plasma, I think it's the first TV that seems to be a substantial upgrade on all aspects of performance, with the additional benefit of Ultra HD.
The first thing I noticed was the brightness. Just like the DX902, it brings brightly lit studio scenes to life. I have not noticed the ABL kicking in. I now realise how much the VT65 has affected so many scenes with its ABL, robbing them of their 'pop'. For anyone worried about the light output, don't be.
I have not noticed any posterisation even on poor sources, which is another dramatic improvement over the VT65.
I was worried that the OLED would make poor quality sources unwatchable based on reviews of LG OLEDs. Well it doesn't. Images look so clean and noise is not emphasised. It looks so much cleaner than my VT65.
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