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Panasonic continues to plough its own distinctive TV furrow with the 50CX802, focussing on what some may see as old-fashioned values of accuracy and subtlety rather than aggressive colours and brightness.
So far as I'm concerned, though, there's nothing old-fashioned about caring about picture quality, especially when it results in images as mesmerisingly immersive and detailed as those the 50CX802 delivers.
The set's shiny new Firefox/YouView smart system and imminent HDR compatibility mean that it's actually anything but old-fashioned, too.
We liked
The 50CX802's pictures show a gorgeous and unique appreciation for the finer things in AV life, choosing subtlety over aggression in a way that will likely really appeal to the sort of AV enthusiast who used to love plasma.
Panasonic's new Firefox smart system does a great job of simplifying the job of finding content in today's complicated world, and the set is aggressively priced for what it offers.
We disliked
By the time you've reduced the image's brightness enough to get round some slight backlight flaws, the picture isn't as bright as those of some rivals this year.
It's a pity, too, that two key features - HDR playback and YouView Play - aren't yet available (though they must be getting close to being added now), and that motion tends to look a touch soft in the context of the gorgeous detail and sharpness elsewhere in the 4K images.
Verdict
While there's room for improvement with its backlight and motion handling, the 50CX802 is far and away Panasonic's best LCD TV to date.
Its pictures benefit from a unique focus on colour and greyscale nuances that give it a genuine USP, and it backs this up with an appealingly friendly new Firefox smart TV interface and - following imminent firmware updates - both HDR and Freeview Play functionality.
All at what is, all things considered, an attractive price.
