Skip to main content
  • The Picture

  • The Look

  • The Experience

  • The Verdict

  • Behind the Screens

  • Calibration

  • Color Gamut

  • Viewing Angle

  • Contrast Ratio

  • Other Tests

  • The Picture
  • The Look
  • The Experience
  • The Verdict
  • Behind the Screens
  • Calibration
  • Color Gamut
  • Viewing Angle
  • Contrast Ratio
  • Other Tests

Yet the WT600 doesn't exactly feel next-gen. Its picture quality is decent, and Panasonic's Hexa upscaling engine makes most content look good. But the fact is, an astronomically expensive UHD TV should also offer a wider, more impressive array of colors—and the WT600 struggles to match yesterday's standards.

Once again, we recommend waiting for the 2014 crop of UHD models rather than jumping at a 2013 debut 4K TV.

The Picture

Somewhere under the rainbow

The TC-L65WT600 does a lot of things right. Dark black level? Check. Smooth motion? Check. Good white balance? Double check. Unfortunately, people tend to prefer color TVs in this day and age, and color production is one area where the WT600 falls a little short.

Color production is one area where the WT600 falls a little short.

Testing revealed that this huge Panasonic struggles to meet the minimum requirements for TV color. Basically, its colors are just a little less vivid than they should be, which gives it a somewhat washed-out look. It's not necessarily a deal breaker, but it's still a shame—especially for what you're paying.

This 4K display found success in plenty of other areas, though. It's pretty much perfectly suited for a home theater, producing solid black levels and maintaining good screen uniformity, meaning areas of shadow in an image are richly detailed and lifelike, and the light spreads evenly over the panel without any unwanted splotches. It also gets bright enough for normal living room lighting—but it really does flourish in a dark room.

Sports fans will find something to cheer about in how this TV handles motion.

Sports fans will find something to cheer about in how this TV handles motion—we tested very little blur during action scenes and noted only mild juddering during panning, though you'd never have these issues with a plasma. Gamers will also be happy to know that Panasonic's Game mode is still alive and kicking, and does a stellar job reducing input lag.

Finally, the WT600 would be a great choice for wall-mounting, but we have to warn you: The viewing angle is quite narrow, so mount with care. You won't want to watch this TV from extreme off-angles, as you'll notice a serious drop in picture quality if you stray too far from the center.

Be sure to check the Science Page for my final calibration settings, and all of the test results.

The Look

The King on the Wall

Panasonic knows how to craft a handsome TV. The company's displays are usually a mix of durability and style, and the WT600 is no exception. Clean silver bezels frame the massive 65-inch screen, which terminates into a glowing plastic lip below. The WT600 is heavy and imposing; in fact, it's a little too big for its minimalist silver stand. If you can, go ahead and wall mount this TV—it was made for it.

If you can, go ahead and wall mount this TV—it was made for it.

If you do decide to toss the WT600 on a wall, just be sure you install it carefully so as not to block any ports: There's a baker's dozen of them. On the TV's left side, you'll find no less than three USB inputs, three HDMI inputs, and an optical audio out jack.

Then we get around back, where things get even crazier. You'll find a fourth HDMI—this one tasked specifically for an HDMI 2.0 cable (meaning 4K-compliant). There's also a 4K-capable DisplayPort input—what planet is this thing from? DisplayPort is a video connection standard capable of higher resolution and color depth usually found on graphics monitors. Last but not least, all of the usual offenders: a shared component/composite input, LAN (ethernet) hookup, and a coaxial cable jack.

Finally, alongside the hulking panel and equally heavy stand, Panasonic includes two remote controls. One is a standard, button-heavy affair, silver and immodest, with a steep learning curve. The other—the Viera Touch Pad controller, as it's called—is much simpler. A mouse-like silver pad with just a few buttons, it works especially well with the TV's web browser—but more on that in the next section.

{{ photo_gallery "design" }}

The Experience

What kind of features are worth $6,000?

This TV's price is the hardest part to swallow—at least figuratively. To remedy your almost inevitable buyer's remorse, Panasonic throws in everything but the kitchen sink: Active Shutter 3D, the Viera Connect smart platform, voice command functionality, and a built-in camera, to name a few.

My biggest gripe is with Viera Connect, specifically the 2013 iteration available on this TV. It's sluggish, bloated, and overblown. There are too many options, too many windows on screen, and too many different ways to interact with it: Two remotes with completely different buttons and uses, plus voice commands via the Smart Touch remote's microphone, and facial recognition software built into the camera's functionality. It sounds fun, but it complicates simple tasks like jumping into an app or even finding the web browser.

Viera Connect 2013 is sluggish, bloated, and overblown.

Viera Connect 2013 isn't equal to this TV's weighty price tag, but you know what is? The Hexa processing engine, Panasonic's proprietary upscaling chipset. We were able to sit down and play Super Smash Bros. at 480i resolution and—after tweaking the picture settings a bit—it looked just fine.

{{ photo_gallery "software" }}

What this confirms is that the upscaling process really works. UHD (Ultra High Definition) TVs have a resolution of at least 3,840 x 2,160—twice the horizontal and vertical resolution as 1080p. To be backwards compatible, almost all UHD TVs are built with upscaling processes that "guess" at how to stretch sub-UHD content based on pixel properties. Thus, the Hexa engine makes content at 720p looks almost as good as native 1080p, and content at 1080p looks almost as good as native 4K. Everything from media content popped onto the TV via Swipe & Share and websites in Viera Connect's web browser are optimized for 4K resolution. No, they don't look amazing—it's still an early adopter's technology—but they don't look any worse than they would in 1080p, either.

Videophiles will be glad to know that picture customization is the WT600's bread and butter.

Die hard videophiles will be glad to know that picture customization is the WT600's bread and butter. Like the vaunted ZT60 before it, the menu here is loaded with all of the fixins: 2- and 10-point white balance, a Color Management System, 10-point Gamma control, and even the Panel brightness pre-sets from Panasonic's 2013 plasma line-up. You also get the usual picture mode presets, including Cinema, Home Theater, and ISF Professional.

While half of this TV's features are potentially gimmicks, the other half will certainly find fans. Even the most casual viewers can enjoy the easy access to Netflix, while those of you with piles of Blu-ray discs get to twiddle with sub-pixel balance and grayscale gamma to your heart's content. Most importantly, the only feature that owners of this TV really need—the upscaling engine—works just fine.

The Verdict

Not quite up to par, like every other 2013 UHD we've tested

The TC-L65WT600 has a lot going for it. It's a huge future-proof 4K TV that supports 3D, smart features, and a bunch of cool extras like voice control and facial recognition. But from a picture quality perspective, it does alright—and "alright" isn't good enough when you're paying $6,000. One of the top two highest rated TVs we've ever tested is on sale for a similar price right now. If you spend big, shoot for killer picture quality.

Truly great UHD TVs ought to offer more than just four times the pixel count of 1080p. They should also provide rich, vivid colors that put the last generation's TVs to shame—and that's where the WT600 falls short. Panasonic is hot on the trail of something great, but the WT600 just isn't quite there yet.

Behind the Screens

The Panasonic TC-L65WT600 (MSRP $5,999.99) started off strong, but didn't finish so smooth when it came to our gamut of tests. I measured a deep black level and solid motion—two problem areas for LCDs—but not-so-stellar color production, which ultimately really hurt this TV's score. Reds, greens, and blues just really don't "pop" like they ought to, and things tend to look a little washed out even after a lengthy calibration session.

Calibration

Calibrating the TC-L65WT600 took a long time. I'm talking just under two hours, which is a lot longer than average. Starting out in Cinema mode, I adjusted the CCT (correlated color temperature) as close as possible to 6500K, corrected the 2- and 10-point white balance, evened out the gamma curve to our 2.4 ideal, and boosted the color saturation and accuracy of this display. The end result? The WT600 has more than enough calibration controls to allow an experienced calibrator to get it perfect—but the only place that actually needed serious attention was the color gamut, and there wasn't anything that could be done in that regard.

Below, you'll find the starting settings for the WT600's Cinema mode, and my final calibration to the right of them.

Color Gamut

The WT600's color gamut was its biggest problem area, so let's tackle that first. Generally, HDTVs are expected to adhere to an international color standard called Rec. 709. UHD TVs usually hit this standard easily because they will eventually be expected to adhere to an even wider color space. Unfortunately, the WT600 isn't capable of a wider color space, and in fact struggles to adequately display the Rec. 709 gamut. This means that its reds, greens, and blues won't look as vibrant and rich as they should, while the secondary colors—cyan, magenta, and yellow—skew into the wrong hues.

The hue and luminance errors can be corrected, albeit with a length calibration. However, even with color at 97, the WT600 can't saturate the primary points to their required vivacity.

Viewing Angle

The other thing to watch out for if you're interested in this TV is its viewing angle, which is narrow. Compared to three other 65-inch UHD TVs, the WT600 has the worst horizontal viewing angle. We tested a total viewing angle of 31°, or about 16° from the center to either side of the screen. LCDs like the WT600 often struggle to produce a clean picture when viewed from off-angles, but this Panasonic's result is actually a little below average. This is especially egregious if you plan on wall mounting this TV.

Contrast Ratio

Contrast ratio—and specifically black level, or minimum luminance level—are two of this TV's strongest points. We determine a display's contrast ratio by dividing its peak or default brightness by its black level. In this case, I measured a black level of 0.039 cd/m2 , which is much darker than any of the other UHDs we compared the WT600 to—a Toshiba, a Samsung, and an LG. Coupled with a standard brightness of 140.60 cd/m2 , you get a contrast ratio of 3605:1—not bad at all. This TV's dark black levels really add to its picture quality, it looks quite good in the dark.

Other Tests

{{ photo_gallery name="Other Tests" }}

Meet the tester

Lee Neikirk

Lee Neikirk

Former Editor, Home Theater

@Koanshark

Lee was Reviewed's point person for most television and home theater products from 2012 until early 2022. Lee received Level II certification in TV calibration from the Imaging Science Foundation in 2013. As Editor of the Home Theater vertical, Lee oversaw reviews of TVs, monitors, soundbars, and Bluetooth speakers. He also reviewed headphones, and has a background in music performance.

See all of Lee Neikirk's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email

Up next