Second-gen MLA OLED TV dazzles in first-look demos
While some brands (LG and Samsung, for example) announce complete new TV ranges at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, Panasonic tends to announce just one flagship model, saving the rest for a separate event later in the year. For 2024 though, the company announced two new models, the Z95A and Z93A, though the latter is just a larger and slightly downgraded version of the former.
Despite the new name format, the Z95A and Z93A are very similar to the MZ2000 they replace, but with some neat upgrades, including a second-gen MLA OLED panel that, together with upgraded processing and a new heat-management system, results in brighter picture performance.
Naturally, we will need to get a final production sample into our test rooms for comprehensive and comparative testing before being able to deliver our final verdict on the Z95A, but we have seen it in action in demonstrations at CES 2024 and can offer some first impressions.
We don’t yet have any official prices for the Z95A or Z93A. We don’t expect them to differ much from that of the MZ2000, though, which launched at £2699 for the 55in model, £3599 for the 65 incher and £4499 for the 77in version. It is likely to be most price-comparable to the LG G4, Samsung S95D and Sony’s new (albeit yet to be announced) 4K flagship TV.
Design
The Z95A and Z93A look very similar to the outgoing MZ2000, with the same thin black bezels around the screen, the same speaker bar mounted below the display and the same side- and up-firing speakers mounted to the rear. These speakers add considerable depth to the TV’s chassis but are also core to the sets’ appeal as they provide the Dolby Atmos sound presentation. The 55in and 65in Z95A stand on a circular, swivelling pedestal stand, while the 77in Z93A has a square stand that doesn’t swivel.
As we said in our 65in MZ2000 review, “Panasonic has long pursued a function-over-form design philosophy, and while that may have prevented its TVs from appearing in the backgrounds of reality TV shows, it is an approach with which we have no real issue.”
Other than size, there is just one difference between the Z95A models and the Z93A – the Z95A’s MLA technology. MLA stands for ‘Micro Lens Array’ and involves a layer of tiny lenses that focus the light produced by the TV’s OLEDs in order to produce a brighter picture. LG Display, which supplies the OLED
