Panasonic W70A vs Philips PUS8500

HDR on the Panasonic W70A unfortunately does not impress. A brightness level of 250–300 nits is simply too low to feel the true magic of cinematic effects in dynamic, bright scenes. Images that should “burst” with light look rather flat, and fine details in bright areas often get lost in the average luminance of the panel. On the positive side, the HDR effect is at least stable. The television does not fall into excessive brightness or lose details during rapid scene changes. Everything is predictable and calm, although unfortunately rather unimpressive. Another issue is the colour gamut coverage. The W70A has not been equipped with an additional layer of quantum dots (often known as QLED), which means the colours appear rather mediocre. There is a lack of depth in reds, saturation in greens, and precision in reproducing subtle shades.

When it comes to the HDR effect on the PUS8560, it can fairly confidently be stated that it is very average. The panel brightness is around 350 nits, which we consider to be the absolute minimum for watching content in this format. However, this is not a result that will astonish a viewer searching for the best possible picture.

On the plus side, it is worth noting that the PUS8500 series – including the PUS8560/12 we tested – is advertised as a QLED television. And indeed, we can expect a wider colour spectrum here. This model is equipped with an additional filter (PFS), and a DCI-P3 colour coverage of around 90% should suffice for the majority of users. This filter works very similarly to quantum dots. As a result, the colours are quite well saturated. It is not an outstanding result, but it is entirely sufficient for watching films and series from streaming platforms.

The Panasonic W70A was tested by us in movie mode, which theoretically should guarantee the most natural image reproduction. Unfortunately, as is often the case with budget TVs, the reality proved far from ideal.

In HD (SDR) content, the white balance was severely disrupted by an excess of red and a noticeable drop in blue tones. The effect? The image had a distinctly warm, almost yellowish glow, which is clearly visible in the comparison photo. In the case of 4K HDR material, the situation reversed. Here, the image became excessively cold and bluish, causing scenes to lose their naturalness and depth. The differences are visible even to the naked eye, especially in the bright areas of the image. The Colour Checker palette test confirmed our observations. Most colour samples did not hit their intended points, "drifting" towards warmer shades in SDR and cooler ones in HDR. As for brightness characteristics, both gamma and the EOTF curve showed significant issues. The image tended to excessively brighten certain areas, disrupting balance and leading to a loss of detail in darker and lighter regions.

In summary – the factory colour reproduction settings in the Panasonic W70A leave much to be desired. The image is far from neutral, and errors in white balance and gamma mean that a solid calibration is needed to extract the TV's full potential.

We tested the television with the best available factory settings, namely in Film/Filmmaker mode – this is the mode we recommend for everyday viewing. Unfortunately, it is not without its flaws. Both in HD and HDR content, the image had a noticeable tendency to a pink tint, caused by an excessive amount of red and blue in the white balance. Another issue turned out to be excessive brightness in the image, which was confirmed by both the gamma chart and the EOTF curve. This feature was responsible for loss of detail and washed-out colours in more challenging HDR scenes that we mentioned earlier. The overall result led to significant colour reproduction errors – in extreme cases, the delta E value exceeded 7, while the threshold for visible errors for the human eye is around 3. This situation can be improved with calibration, and you can read about its effects below.

Panasonic W70A, despite its limitations, provided us with considerable scope during calibration. Thanks to well-developed tools, we managed to achieve a significantly better white balance in both HD (SDR) and 4K HDR content. The issues with excess red in SDR and overly cool images in HDR have disappeared. The gamma brightness characteristic has also improved, maintaining stability and preventing excessive brightening or loss of detail in darker areas.

So where is the problem? Unfortunately, there are barriers that even professional calibration cannot overcome. Poor coverage of a wide color gamut means that the television cannot fully reproduce colours in HDR material. There is a lack of saturation, and subtle colour transitions still appear somewhat "flattened." Another limitation is brightness management, which results from the applied IPS panel. In the comparative image with the actress's face in colourful clothing, it is clearly visible how some shades are noticeably muted, and colours lose their depth and vibrancy.

Calibration has extracted from the W70A as much as possible. The image is now significantly more natural, and the errors in the factory settings have been effectively corrected. Unfortunately, hardware limitations in the form of poor colour gamut coverage and an average panel mean that even after calibration, we are unable to achieve spectacular effects, especially in HDR content.

The Dutch manufacturer offers quite a sizable amount of settings in its products, so as usual, we decided to tinker with them a bit. The effects are immediately noticeable – we managed to correct the white balance, which made the image stop appearing excessively pink. The brightness characteristic has also been partially evened out, of course, within the limits set by the television itself. The image is no longer overly exaggerated, and the overall reception after calibration is definitely better than in the factory settings of the Filmmaker mode.

One could only critique the EOTF curve characteristic, which still indicates that the image has a tendency to brighten HDR materials. Despite our efforts, the darkest parts of scenes are still sometimes too bright, and the brightest ones do not always achieve their full contrast potential. However, it must be clearly stated that we are dealing with a typically budget construction – one cannot expect reference-level reproduction of HDR content from it.

Calibration has definitely helped this model – it improved the balance, toned down the aggressive colour palette, and brought the image closer to what one might expect from a well-configured movie mode. However, there are certain limitations that cannot be overcome.

We checked how the Panasonic W70A performs when improving content of lower quality than 4K, and it must be said that in this regard, the television does quite respectably. The "Zeroing Counter" function is responsible for smoothing tonal transitions. The optimal setting turned out to be the Average option, which effectively smooths out issues with colour gradation while not ruining the film grain. This is the setting we recommend for most users, as it provides a balance between enhancing the smoothness of transitions and maintaining the naturalness of the image.

When it comes to image scaling, the Panasonic W70A performed really well. The test panel with a model was positively received – the details on her clothing were well reproduced, and the contours of her face retained clarity. In the background, we noticed slight "jaggies" on thin branches, but these are details that only a very keen eye would catch. However, it is worth noting a certain drawback of this model – the television tends to overscan, or slightly cropping the edges of the image. This is not a very intense phenomenon and will be practically unnoticeable for most users, but if we care about a perfect fit of the frame, it is worth keeping this in mind.

Philips PUS8560 offers a function for reducing posterization, hidden under the name "distortion reduction". And although it indeed fulfills its role by smoothing out problematic tonal transitions, it works a bit too broadly. In practice, it affects not only colourful gradients but also softens faces, the textures of clothing, and the surfaces of furniture. This compromises the authenticity of the image – especially in films where natural texture is very important. However, if someone is looking for smoothing at all costs, it's best to set this option to "Low". For cinema image enthusiasts – we definitely do not recommend it.

On the positive side, the quality of upscaling older materials is noteworthy – the PUS8560 model handles them surprisingly well. The image retains its natural softness, without artificially boosted sharpness. It is also worth mentioning that the television correctly displays content with very low resolution, avoiding issues with image edge cutting (so-called overscan).

The Panasonic W70A is equipped with a 60 Hz panel, which immediately suggests that the television is best suited for watching films, series, or everyday TV content. In more dynamic scenes, such as sports broadcasts or games, the limitations of the panel become more noticeable. However, it is worth noting the presence of a motion smoother called "Effect", which offers three degrees of adjustment - low, medium, and high.

Each of the settings allows you to adjust the smoothness of motion to your own preferences, minimising motion blur and improving clarity in dynamic shots. In practice, the Medium setting seems to be the most versatile – it offers better fluidity without excessive "soap opera effect", which can look artificial in feature films. The High setting may work well for sports broadcasts, but in films, it can disrupt the natural character of motion.

The Philips PUS8560 is a television equipped with a panel featuring a refresh rate of 60 Hz, which immediately limits its capabilities in terms of displaying dynamic content. Watching sports or playing on a console is not particularly enjoyable. The situation is further worsened by the lack of any option to improve the smoothness of films. In the menu, we won't find settings that would allow us to enable a motion smoother or even a slight motion smoothing for films recorded at 24 frames per second. You can imagine the effect. The image can appear jerky, especially in shots with panoramic camera movements.

The Panasonic W70A is a television that is more suited to occasional gamers than to avid players. The 60 Hz panel does not allow for the full potential of next-generation consoles to be realised, especially in dynamic titles. The lack of HDMI 2.1 somewhat limits its capabilities, but fortunately, it features functions such as ALLM, which automatically switches to game mode, and VRR, which helps minimise screen tearing. It is worth noting the support for Dolby Vision in games and HGiG, which makes HDR more predictable and looks solid. It is just a shame that there is no Game Bar. This feature has become standard in many televisions and provides quick access to the most important settings for gamers. The W70A performs adequately for gaming, but it has its limitations. It will work well for calmer titles, but more demanding gamers may feel a lack of fulfilment.

Although the Philips PUS8560 is not designed with gamers in mind, the manufacturer has decided to equip it with a few features that may prove useful when connecting a console. On board, we find automatic switching to game mode (ALLM), as well as a simple connection status information bar – the so-called Game Bar. It does not make a particularly strong visual impression, but it serves its purpose. The presence of variable refresh rate (VRR), operating in the range of 48 to 60 Hz, may come as a surprise. While this is not a wide range, in the case of less demanding games or titles with unstable frame rates, VRR can help reduce screen tearing. However, this is the only element that could be considered beyond the minimum.

It must be made clear that the PUS8560 is not equipment for gamers looking for a responsive screen and full support for modern console features. It lacks HDMI 2.1 ports, the refresh rate is limited to 60 Hz, and the response time of the panel is not among the fastest. This model may be suitable at most for casual gamers who want to enjoy the Ambilight system.