Panasonic W90A (TX-55W90AEB) review: Ideal for cinephiles on a budget

The Panasonic W90A is the brand’s latest mid-range 4K LCD TV, sitting below the W95A Mini LED model and above the W80A. It combines a full array LED backlight and local dimming with the brand’s HCX Pro AI MKII processor for superior picture quality.

There’s also immersive audio with Theatre Surround and Dolby Atmos, plus the Fire TV operating system and a host of gaming features. All of which could make this 4K HDR TV a great choice for film fans unable to fork out for pricey flagship models.

Panasonic W90A review: Key specifications

Panasonic W90A review: What you need to know

The Panasonic W90A is a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) HDR TV that uses a VA LCD panel with a direct LED backlight and local dimming. The range offers models with 43in, 50in, 55in and 65in screen sizes, and for this review, Panasonic provided the 55in TX-55W90AEB for testing.

The W90A’s imaging is the result of the latest AI-enhanced HCX Pro MKII processor, while the smart platform uses Amazon’s Fire TV operating system. There’s also a Filmmaker mode, 144Hz frame rate and support for every version of HDR including HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision IQ.

This LED LCD TV also includes Theatre Surround combined with onboard Dolby Atmos decoding. All the major content streaming platforms are present and correct, plus Game Mode Extreme and an upgraded Game Control Board help get the most out of the latest gaming consoles and PCs.

Panasonic W90A review: Price and competition

The Panasonic W90A is available in four screen sizes: the 43in model retails for £499; the 50in version costs £599; the 55in screen size reviewed here is priced at £799; and the bigger 65in will set you back £999.

When you consider the performance, smart platform and features available on the W90A, these prices are certainly competitive compared to a majority of the alternatives.

If you’re looking for even better value, the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is the obvious alternative with the same selection of screen sizes, Fire TV smart system and feature set. The Omni is currently a lot cheaper at £550 for the 55in model, but the W90A has the edge in terms of picture and processing. It’s also better for gaming with support for frame rates up to 4K/144Hz, while the Omni is limited to 4K/60Hz.

Panasonic W90A review: Design, connections and control

The Panasonic W90A is fairly nondescript, with its minimalist design, thin black bezel around the screen and black plastic chassis. It comes with a pair of matching black plastic screw-in feet that are spaced over a metre apart. This is a real nuisance if your TV stand is narrow, although you can always wall-mount the W90A using a standard 400 x 300mm VESA bracket.

The connections are on the right-hand side as you face the screen, with all of them pointing sideways. The four HDMI inputs all support ALLM, HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, plus eARC in the case of the second HDMI port. This input, along with HDMI 1, also supports 4K/144Hz and VRR for gamers.

The other physical connections include two USB ports, an Ethernet port, satellite and terrestrial tuners, an optical digital output, a common interface slot and a 3.5mm headphone/subwoofer jack. In terms of wireless connectivity, there’s dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay.

The included remote is elegant, with its solid construction and silver finish. All the controls you need to set up and operate the W90A are present and correct, with the buttons laid out sensibly and intuitively. The zapper is comfortable to hold and easy to use with one hand, and there are direct access keys for Netflix, Prime, Disney+, YouTube and Freely.

Panasonic W90A review: Smart TV platform

The Panasonic W90A uses Amazon’s Fire TV operating system, with its full-screen home page that integrates the built-in tuner and Freely apps. It’s a well-designed interface, although the emphasis is obviously on Amazon services and products, including the built-in Alexa smart assistant.

The interaction is intuitive thanks to a single bar along the middle that provides access to inputs, live TV, settings and various loaded apps. There’s plenty of choice, with all the UK catch-up apps, Freely and streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix, Prime, Disney+, Apple TV and Now.

Installation is straightforward, thanks to an effective wizard and settings page that lays out all the options clearly and concisely. The user interface is good, but I did find that accessing apps and content comes first, while normal TV settings feel tacked on and difficult to find.

I was pleased to discover that Panasonic has given the W90A sufficient processing power to run the Fire TV operating system effectively. As a result, operating the TV and navigating the smart system was smooth and responsive, with none of the sluggishness seen on some of the competition.

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Panasonic W90A review: Image quality

The Panasonic W90A uses a VA panel, which ensures good blacks but results in limited optimal viewing angles. As long as you’re directly in front of the screen you get a native contrast ratio of 5,400:1, which is excellent for an LCD TV, but move off-axis and the contrast and colour drop off.

The W90A ships in the normal mode that produces an excess of blue and a very baggy gamma, which in turn results in an average Delta E error of 14. These large errors in the greyscale are pulling the white point towards blue, skewing all the colours and creating an average error of 13.

Filmmaker mode immediately makes everything more accurate, with the gamma tracking the target of 2.4 and the greyscale with equal amounts of red, green and blue. Now the average errors are only one for both the greyscale and colour, which is well below the visible threshold of three.

At this price point you probably won’t be paying for a professional calibration, but to be honest you don’t need to. The Filmmaker mode is already delivering a reference level of accuracy, and even after I had calibrated the W90A the average errors were only a tiny bit lower.

The picture processing is also excellent, upscaling lower-resolution content cleanly and without introducing unwanted artefacts. Feed the W90A a high-quality source and the results are very impressive, but the AI processor can also handle heavily compressed material with great skill.

The same goes for the motion handling, which is smooth and free of judder. The IFC settings are best left off with movies, but when it comes to fast-paced sports action using the custom mode and experimenting with the blur reduction and film smooth controls can pay dividends.

Thanks to the accurate greyscale, gamma and colours, SDR images look excellent, with solid blacks, nice shadow detail, precisely upscaled pictures and rich colours. The benefits of the direct full-array LED backlight are also evident, with the local dimming playing its part effectively.

Panasonic W90A review: HDR performance

The Panasonic W90A is a solid performer in high dynamic range, with support for HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision IQ. For HDR10 and HLG the Filmmaker mode is the most accurate option, and for Dolby Vision choose the Dark setting for critical viewing at night.

HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision IQ use the built-in light sensor to adjust tone mapping based on the dynamic metadata and are useful for watching HDR during the day. However, at night I’d recommend turning them off so you can enjoy the well-defined highlights and deeper blacks.

The W90A isn’t the brightest of HDR TVs, with a peak luminance of just over 600cd/m² on a 10% window and 518cd/m² on a full-field pattern. However, the greyscale is very accurate and the tone mapping for HDR10 graded at 1,000 nits, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are all excellent.

Unfortunately, with 4,000 and 10,000 nits content there is an obvious loss of detail in the highlights. Thankfully most HDR10 content tends to be graded at 1,000 nits, and thanks to the accurate images and effective tone mapping the results are often very punchy in delivery.

The colour performance is impressive, hitting 95% of the DCI-P3 colour space, meaning you’re getting almost the full benefit of HDR’s wider colour gamut. In addition, the colour accuracy is also excellent, with all the primary colours correctly hitting their saturation targets from 20 to 100%.

Watching La La Land, the bright and saturated colours pop, while the darkness of the jazz clubs is suitably inky aside from spotlights. The Dolby Vision encoding of Ready Player One results in beautifully rendered images, and the same is true for The Shining in HDR10+.

To test the Panasonic W90A we used Portrait Display’s Calman colour calibration software.

Panasonic W90A review: Gaming

The Panasonic W90A is a great TV for gamers thanks to all of its HDMI inputs supporting ALLM, and the two HDMI 2.1 inputs also supporting the latest console features such as 4K/120Hz and VRR, along with 4K/144Hz and AMD FreeSync Premium for those who enjoy PC gaming.

The dedicated Game Mode Extreme delivers a very low input lag of 13ms with 60Hz and a lightning-fast 5.5ms with 120Hz. This ensures gameplay is smooth and highly responsive, with excellent motion handling free of tearing or other artefacts, even at the highest frame rates.

The Game Control Board enables quick access to all the main gaming settings and information, as well as key game-related menus that users can adjust to personalise their gaming experience. So regardless of how you play, the W90A has you covered and can be optimised to your needs.

Panasonic W90A review: Sound quality

The Panasonic W90A is a bit disappointing when it comes to its audio features and sound quality. That’s not to say it sounds bad, but a two-channel system with 10W per channel is hardly going to blow your hair back. It’s fine at lower volumes, but go too high and the sound starts to distort.

It’s certainly sufficient for general TV watching, but if you’re looking for something with a bit more scale you’ll need to look elsewhere. Having said that, the ability to plug a subwoofer in is useful and allows you to quickly and easily give the sound greater depth and impact at the low end.

There are sound modes for music, sports and gaming, along with an auto AI option. There’s also the Theatre Surround feature for watching movies, along with Dolby Atmos decoding that uses sophisticated psychoacoustic processing to give the soundstage a bit more dimensionality.

However, there’s only so much you can do with two speakers, so manage your expectations accordingly. Given the excellent picture quality, any self-respecting film fan should invest in a decent soundbar for a more immersive experience.

Panasonic W90A review: Verdict

The Panasonic W90A is a great choice for cinephiles on a budget thanks to its accurate pictures, excellent image processing and decent motion handling. The panel isn’t as bright as some of the competition, but the tone mapping is good and the overall HDR experience is very enjoyable.

The Fire TV smart system is intuitive, responsive and comprehensive, while the gaming features will keep even the most demanding gamer happy. The design is unassuming and the sound could be better, but otherwise, this is a solid and capable mid-range TV that offers great value for money.