Televisions

High And Wide
The JX850 has instant sofa appeal; to see it is to want to watch it. Average panel brightness is high and the wide colour presentation is lush. Although it has its mid-tier TV foibles (more on which later), these are easily forgiven.

The set is also easy to live with. Panasonic's latest HCX processor comes with the usual selection of image presets but adds an Auto AI picture mode, which means you don't have to dig around in the menus if you don't want to. Under this autopilot setting, the TV is smart enough to identify different content types and adjust image parameters accordingly. This works reasonably well, but does favour image interpolation, often setting Panasonic's Intelligent Frame Creation algorithm to its Max setting. You've been warned.

Similarly, the Sports preset doesn't just tweak the picture, oversaturating greens and blues; it'll also apply post-processing to audio for enhanced sonic immersion.

The set's HDR performance (with supported formats including HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision) ranks among the best in its class. There's a believable sense of depth to native HDR images, and a peak HDR brightness measurement of just under 500 nits (using the Normal preset and a 10 per cent window), while not searing, is fine for the price.

Of course, with simplified edge LED lighting, really precise HDR control isn't possible, and there are some uniformity issues. Watch a letterbox film and you'll notice light pooling around the bottom bar, turning what should be solid black into splashy grey. However, with 16:9 content, this kind of anomaly isn't easily noticed. The evenness of tone actually looks quite polished. When viewing Dolby Vision content, image options change to Dolby Vision Bright, Dolby Vision Dark and Dolby Vision Vivid. Given the naturally bright nature of the panel, my preference was always Dolby Vision Dark. If you opt for Dolby Vision Bright, the JX850 dilutes colour intensity and contrast. This was particularly notable on Netflix popcorn actioner Red Notice. When Dwayne Johnson finds himself incarcerated with Ryan Reynolds, his imprisonment looks particularly bright, even over-lit. Colour depth also suffers. Harsh punishment indeed.

When watching with a high level of ambient light, try Dolby Vision Vivid, as this restores colour pop. Just watch out for motion interpolation, as this is another mode where it kicks in on its Max setting. The TV's audio system sits on the right side of functional, and isn't short of volume thanks to a decent amount of amp power (rated at 2 x 10W). However, it does sound rather monophonic; the widely spaced action of Marvel's Hawkeye (episode 6, Disney+) is constrained by its speaker configuration, and when the big action finale takes off the result sounds a little messy.

Audio modes cover Standard, Music, Speech, Stadium and User, and it's worth having a play. For more immersive audio, you could eARC out to a Dolby Atmos-equipped soundbar and still keep the price down to under £1,000.

Value Added
When it comes to bang for buck, it's difficult not to be impressed by the 50JX850. The combination of an intrinsically bright LED panel coupled with Panasonic's AI-infused HCX processing engine is a winner. There are some minor caveats: the set comes under pressure when it comes to backlight uniformity, struggling with black level detail, while off-axis viewing angles are also limited. But it's a brilliant bright room screen, at home with daytime TV and sports coverage, and its feature roster ticks most boxes. A top-value all-rounder n

HCC Verdict

Panasonic TX-50JX850

Price: £630
www.panasonic.co.uk

We say: As long as you're not looking for 4K HFR support, this high-value LED thinscreen is a brilliant option. A few picture niggles are easy to overlook at the price.

Overall: 4.5/5

Specifications

4K: Yes. 3,840 x 2,160 HDR: Yes. Dolby Vision; HDR10; HDR10+ Adaptive; HLG; HDR Photo TUNER: Yes. Freeview HD, plus generic satellite CONNECTIONS: 3 x HDMI inputs; 2 x USB; optical digital audio output; Ethernet; headphone/subwoofer output SOUND (CLAIMED): 2 x 10W BRIGHTNESS (CLAIMED): 'Bright Panel Plus'CONTRAST RATIO (CLAIMED): N/A 4K/120 PLAYBACK: No DIMENSIONS (OFF STAND): 1,120(w) x 651(h) x 63(d)mm WEIGHT (OFF STAND): 14kg

Features: Wi-Fi; Bluetooth (with dual output); Dolby Atmos audio passthrough; HCX Pro AI Processor; Filmmaker Mode with Intelligent Sensing; my Home Screen 6.0; Auto AI picture mode; Alexa and Google Assistant; Local Dimming Pro