Panasonic reveals colour accurate, Firefox-powered Smart TVs for 2015
Panasonic's 2015 TV line-up promises to be as colour accurate as professional reference monitors
Panasonic announced a slew of new products during its CES press conference, but one stood out; the company’s range of 2015 TVs promise to have colour accuracy that rivals that of professional reference monitors, with Smart TV internals powered by Mozilla’s Firefoz OS.
Details are still lacking, meaning we’ll have to wait until the CES show floor opens tomorrow to fill in the gaps, but it appears Panasonic will be introducing nine new 4K TVs for 2015, with four of them running Firefox OS. All new models will have the improved colour accuracy, which uses a new colour filter in combination with an LED backlight to produce a colour gamut that covers 98% of the DCI Digital Cinema standard colour space. Advanced colour lookup tables and 8000 points of reference should make the sets some of the most accurate yet, right out of the box.
Mozilla and Panasonic originally teased a Smart TV partnership back at CES 2014, but this year marks the first time the system will actually be available to customers. Little is known about the system so far, with only a few short seconds of video giving us a glimpse of what to expect. The colourful icons, simple pastel shades and large blocks of colour are all very reminiscent of Firefox OS on mobile, as well as Google’s Android 5.0 Lollipop Material Design UI.
It’s also very similar to LG’s WebOS interface, although Panasonic will apparently set it apart by adding interactive notifications from applications and, further in the future, from connected home appliances. Essentially, your TV could let you know the washing machine has finished, so you can pause the action and hang out your clothes.
The move into TV is perhaps a bigger step for Mozilla than for Panasonic, as the software company had previously restricted its operating system to smartphone handsets. Panasonic has its own Smart TV system already, which will still appear on the remainder of the company’s new for 2015 TVs.
According to Panasonic, the first Firefox-powered TVs will start shipping in the coming months, but it’s unknown when they will arrive in the UK. We’re hoping to get a better look at the improved colour accuracy and the new Smart TV system as soon as the show opens tomorrow, so be sure to check back for our first impressions.