75in Pana has growing pains

John Archer salutes the ambition of this bigscreen TV, but reckons it takes edge LED lighting a step too far

While Panasonic saves most of its high-end TV efforts these days for OLED technology, the 75in TX-75JX940 dominating my test bench is out to prove that it definitely does not see LCD as merely a budget option. In fact, this 75in behemoth is the brand’s current flagship LCD TV – a position it earns by boasting a number of premium features over and above Panasonic’s step-down JX850 models (see HCC #328).

For starters, the 75JX940 gets a swanky sounding HDR Cinema Master Display Pro LCD panel, versus the JX850s’ HDR Bright Panel Plus. The Cinema Master Display is supposed to deliver more HDR punch and a wider colour range, and supports improved motion smoothing through a combination of its panel and Panasonic’s latest HCX Pro AI (versus just HCX AI) processor.

Also promised is a more advanced version of Panasonic’s Local Dimming Pro system. This doesn’t refer to local dimming in the usual sense, where different parts of the backlight can output different light levels simultaneously to boost contrast. Instead it describes a system that combines automatic control of the overall edge LED backlight output with, more unusually, closer control over the shuttering element of each LED.

The JX940s (65in and 55 inversions are also available) also claim 10W more amplification for their stereo speaker systems than the JX850s.

TV's got game

I've saved the two biggest differences between Panasonic's two higher-spec LCD ranges for last.