Panasonic Z95B vs TCL C6KS / C69KS / Q6CS

The HDR effect quality in the Panasonic Z95B is among the absolute best. Thanks to the latest generation panel, named Primary RGB Tandem OLED by the manufacturer, the television can achieve over 2000 nits of brightness in movie scenes. The effect is impressive and can amaze with its intensity of light, giving a sense of contact with the screen that goes beyond previous experiences. Similar feelings were only experienced during tests of the LG G5, Samsung S95F, or Philips OLED910. Of course, there are moments when the device's algorithms decide to limit luminance – this especially applies to full-screen bright sequences, such as the ending credits in the movie The Meg. Even then, the Z95B maintains a level of around 1500 nits, which is still an extremely impressive result. Thus, it can be said that HDR in this model has been brought to a masterful form. A significant step forward is also visible in the reproduction of the colour palette. The new tandem OLED panel does not yet match the best QD-OLED screens in terms of gamut coverage, but the gap between these solutions has significantly decreased. When watching films, the differences are subtle enough that under normal conditions it's hard to notice them, and the colours remain vibrant and saturated.

And what about HDR? Here the C6KS performs quite well and – as is becoming the theme of this review – just like in the C6K model. The maximum brightness generated by this television is around 600 nits. In bright scenes, this translates to a really solid, cinematic effect and generally, video materials look good here. However, it's important to keep in mind the specifics of the dimming algorithm in this model. When very small, bright points (e.g. stars) appear on a dark background, the television can quite significantly dim them. The goal is simple: to eliminate blooming and maintain the best possible black. It's a reasonable compromise. Most viewers will definitely appreciate deep, “true black” more than additional microscopic details, the display of which could cause the screen to appear greyed out. Such is the nature of local dimming technology in this price range, and one must be aware of this. It’s also worth noting that the TCL C69KS (C6KS) has an additional PFS coating, which is marketed under the QLED technology slogan. Thanks to this, the colours are saturated and vibrant – our measurements showed that the coverage of a wide colour gamut reaches as much as 92%.

The factory colour reproduction in Filmmaker mode, my dear friends, is a true phenomenon in the case of the Panasonic Z95B. I'm talking about our test sample, but the results were so good that it's hard to believe. The only detail that one could nitpick is a slight lack of blue in the white balance, but apart from that, the television straight out of the box presented an image like we have never seen in factory mode. Colour palette tests, Color Checker – everything indicated values below Delta 2. This is a much lower result than the threshold of human eye perception, which means, to put it simply, that the viewer has no chance of noticing serious deviations. It looks as if Panasonic actually calibrated this model at the factory stage. Of course, we cannot exclude the possibility that we got an exceptionally well-set specimen, but the result still makes a stunning impression. We are very strict when it comes to assessing factory calibration, and here our jaws simply dropped.

In contrast to the more expensive C6K model, in the tested C6KS we don't find an option in the menu labelled as Filmmaker Mode. Is this a reason to cry? Absolutely not. Our tests showed that in practice, in terms of colour reproduction, the lack of this specific label makes virtually no difference. The best available Film/Cinema mode here offers an almost identical picture profile to the aforementioned Filmmaker in the more expensive model. So we get a very similar image, just under a different name. Therefore, if you were wondering whether paying extra for the C6K would give you better colours – the answer is: no, in both cases the base is the same and requires slight adjustments.

The colour reproduction after calibration on the Z95B is a topic that’s hard to elaborate on, as there wasn’t much to do here. A slight adjustment of the white balance was enough to eliminate the lack of blue, and at that moment, the picture jumped to an almost reference level. It must be said that we haven’t had such a small range of adjustments in a long time. If any of you are particularly perceptive, you might notice minimal deviations in the EOTF curve, but this is more related to the functioning of the dynamic tone mapping feature we mentioned earlier. In reality, this isn’t a flaw, but a characteristic of this solution, which intentionally alters the brightness profile depending on the scene. In summary, we are extremely impressed. The Panasonic Z95B is a television that looks great right out of the box, and after calibration, it reaches a level where we really struggle to find anything to improve.

Thanks to the white balance adjustment, the C69KS's tendency to distort colours has been effectively limited, leading to a very good final effect. After calibration, we will no longer see excessive warmth in SDR scenes or overly cool tones in HDR. However, it is worth noting the brightness characteristic. In SDR content, there are hardly any objections – the image looks very good, especially in older films, TV shows, or YouTube materials. Evaluating the television's performance in HDR is much more difficult. Analysis of the EOTF curve suggests correct behaviour, but its practical variant shows certain limitations. The C69KS can overly brighten the smallest elements of the frame, while at other times it can dim the entire scene. Calibration has therefore brought clear benefits in terms of colour, but certain limitations resulting from local dimming and the way it is controlled by the C69KS cannot be avoided, which we also observed in the C6K test.

Let's start with what works well. The upscaling in the Z95B is at a very high level – the image in lower resolutions is clear and sharp, and the only minor shortcomings are slight banding in some areas of the picture. It's also important that the television doesn't crop the material in any way and maintains its proportions, which is not always an obvious fact even in 2025.

The situation looks worse when it comes to digital processing. Features like "gradation smoothing" or "block noise reduction" essentially do not work – the tested material looked identical regardless of the settings. We might as well say that this feature simply doesn't exist. It's a bit disappointing, especially since Panasonic heavily promotes its HCX Pro AI II processor, boasting the presence of artificial intelligence improving image quality. Meanwhile, in such a basic matter, the television does not deliver a real effect and it looks weaker than one would expect from top-tier equipment.

The C69KS handles upscaling quite well. The tested 576p content looks surprisingly decent – a considerable amount of detail is preserved, and the algorithm adds a subtle ‘rounding’ effect to sharp edges, making the image appear more cohesive. However, it doesn't perform as well when it comes to smoothing tonal transitions. The television practically cannot improve them, leaving the image in a rather raw state. With older materials, this can be simply exhausting, as the lack of additional processing highlights all imperfections.

The OLED panel with very high refresh rates already provides an incredibly sharp image even in dynamic sports scenes, such as football or basketball matches, and the Z95B is no exception. It's also very important that the television is equipped with the proprietary motion smoothing system 'Intelligent Frame Creation'. Among the available sliders, the most crucial one turns out to be the one called 'film smoothness', as it allows for adjusting the motion to personal preferences with 24-frame content, meaning films – from a more 'choppy' appearance to a smooth, almost theatrical effect. It's a bit disappointing that Panasonic didn't opt to push the latest OLED panel to 165 Hz, as Samsung did with the S95F or LG with the G5, because we know that the panel is technically capable of it. On the other hand, it mainly benefits PC gamers, so in everyday viewing, it's not a significant drawback as we are limited to 120Hz.

C69KS offers a simplified motion enhancement panel in movies, allowing users to adjust the intensity of the effect using a slider. This makes it easy to tailor the smoothness to personal preferences. It also deserves credit for the ability to utilise higher refresh rates – even though the panel operates natively in 4K at 60 Hz, by lowering the resolution to 1440p, modes of 120 and 144 Hz can be enabled, on both consoles and PC. This sounds like great news, however, in practice, the image at these settings trails exceptionally badly. The effect is so pronounced that the overall experience simply appears mediocre and loses its appeal in everyday use.

The Panasonic Z95B is fully equipped for gaming. Two HDMI 2.1 ports with a full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s guarantee support for everything you can expect from a modern screen. It features VRR frame syncing, an automatic game mode (ALLM), and full compatibility with HDR formats used in gaming. The TV supports both Dolby Vision for Xbox and the popular HGiG, which in this case has been implemented correctly, so it actually works as it should.

Although the brand is mainly associated with home cinema and equipment for filmmakers, there’s also space for gamer conveniences here. Onboard is the Game Bar (or rather Game Circles) – it looks a bit unusual visually, but it does its job and allows you to quickly check the most important image parameters. The only thing missing for complete satisfaction is actually having four HDMI 2.1 ports instead of two. It’s a minor detail, but with a TV of this class, one could expect a full set.

If we overlook the smudging and lack of native 4K at 120 Hz, the C69KS is impressive in how well it performs for gaming. You get everything you would expect from a gaming TV: Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Dolby Vision Gaming mode, and a consistently functioning HGiG. The TV can also operate at 120 or even 144 Hz at lower resolutions, making gameplay on console or PC smoother. Additionally, there's a clear Game Bar that allows you to quickly check key settings while gaming. As a result — despite a few limitations — the C69KS can be a genuinely successful screen for gamers.