Panasonic Viera 4k Television Review #VieraVIPClub

For the past year and a half I have been learning about 4k Ultra High definition television with the Panasonic Viera VIP Club.  This past few weeks I've finally been able to experience the difference that UHD 4k makes in my own home - I've been borrowing the TX-55CR852B, a 55 inch curved TV featuring Panasonic's 4K Pro technology.

The TV is stunning.  We love our existing Panasonic 55 inch model but the CR852 is even more beautiful (and noticeably lighter!)  Sleek, dark and with a very thin surround so that you can make the most of the picture.  It comes with two remote controls and even they look stunning.  The main controller is a brushed steel effect and the first button that jumps out at me when I use it?.. the NETFLIX button!

And that's important because Netflix are one of the few UK providers who are currently streaming 4k ultra high definition content.  I must admit that when we upgraded our Netflix account I was expecting there to only be two or three things that we could watch in 4k but in fact, many of the latest Netflix original series from Narcos to Breaking Bad and Marco Polo are all filmed and available in 4k if you upgrade your account.  There are a few "moving art" shows you can watch - and very stunning they are too, really showing off the power of 4k to demonstrate detail and depth.

When we first started using the new Viera television, I instantly noticed the difference in colour.  It is amazing how in one year Panasonic have made such big leaps forward in terms of colour reproduction.  Most of the television we watch during the day is CBeebies animations which demand bright colours and crisp lines - while CBeebies might not be pushing this TV to its limits, it REALLY is a noticeable difference in picture quality.

Once the girls are in bed, then the TV really comes into its own.  Over the past few weeks we have watched a lot of different materials on the television and we've used several of the different pre-set colour options (you can totally customise the colour display and brightness of the backlight but it comes with some handy pre-sets to get you started).  Here's our verdict...

SPORTS: Mr. B. watches a lot of football and rugby.  We don't think we can see a noticeable improvement over our existing HD TV for regular HD sports footage but, when you use the 4k power to watch some of the UHD material available on youtube (for instance, FC Barcelona material) then the difference in image quality is amazing.

NATURE: Watching nature and geography programmes on this TV is awe-inspiring.  We've tried some of the Netflix art materials such as "oceans" which are designed to showcase 4k in all its glory but we have also watched a few regular BBC programmes in regular HD and still been impressed.  If you experiment with the backlight settings you can really bring a programme alive.  The 4k pro televisions from Viera feature professional-grade colour accuracy that has previously only been used in monitors for the TV and film industries.  Using CMYK as well as RBG means that there are over 8000 different colours that this screen can display!

DRAMA: The most memorable content I've watched on the CR852 is Batman: The Dark Night.  It is a long time since I've seen the movie but I remember it being frustratingly dark and gloomy in places.  On this television, even the dark areas of the screen are visible.  I know, having seen the next wave of Panasonic Viera OLED technology being shown off at IFA late last year, that black colour reproduction ( the art of displaying black, and things approaching black) is going to become even more impressive in the coming years but I was still very impressed with how the movie displayed.

One more thing to note about the TX-55CR852 is that this year's move to use a mozilla browser and a more visual menu system is a MASSIVE step forwards for Panasonic.  Lara (6) finds the interface easy to use and navigate and I've used the apps on it, and the freeview channel browser a lot more in two weeks than I've ever used on our existing TV - when a user interface is easy, you use it!  We haven't really explored the power of Freeview Play as we have a BT box that does many of the things that Freeview play can - but when we have dabbled, it has been easy to navigate.

The only negative I have to say about the CR852 is that it's curved!  I can honestly say that it hasn't contributed anything to my viewing experience.  Even when playing on the kids consoles I haven't really noticed it.  When I sit in my seat on the sofa at the edge of the room, I am just aware of the curve and infact, it ever so slightly interferes with my viewing.  I think I'd choose a flat screen myself!

#VieraVIPClub - Why 4k?

This week, the sale of the world's first commercially-available 8k television made the BBC news headlines - 8k??? I've only just got my head around 4k!

Before I lose you all, let me explain.  4k television is Ultra-high-definition television content such as movies or photography which had been recorded in, and can be displayed in high definition with about 4 times as many pixels as Full-HD content.  Most television sets in households up and down the country can display Full HD content such as that broadcast by the BBC and Sky on their dedicated HD channels (and once you've started watching in HD, you find it very hard to go back).  

In the past year, 4k Ultra HD (which shows around 4 times as many pixels as Full HD) has really taken off and many new televisions in the Panasonic Viera range now feature their 4k pro technology as standard.  Broadcasters such as Netflix are now committing to a wave of new 4k content and even home 4k video and still cameras are becoming more affordable.  8k however seems like a very long way off!  Only a trickle of movie content is starting to be filmed in 8k.  I don't think I'll be saving for an 8k TV for some years to come!

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be invited, as part of the Viera VIP Club, to explore the world of 4k televisions at IFA in Berlin.  We met the men behind the technology that makes Panasonic's 4k pro technology stand streets ahead of the other 4k televisions.  Trust me, I saw enough TVs that day and not one of them came close to the Panasonic Viera OLED CZ950 4k Pro television.

The secret, they say, is that the "pro" in their 4k pro technology explains how they spend many long hours working with film making professionals from Hollywood to make sure that their TVs represent the colours of the pictures exactly as the director originally intended.  Until the massive screens and huuuuge data storage requirements of 8k can be shrunk to fit into our front rooms, 4k pro is as close as you or I can get to the full cinematic experience.

#VieraVIPClub - Experience OLED (and other shiny things) at IFA in Berlin

This weekend I was off gallivanting at IFA, the mahoosive technology trade show in Berlin, thanks to Panasonic UK who had lots of shiny things they wanted to show me.

If you've never heard of IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) before then let me tell you that it is Europe's showcase for consumer tech - from washing machines to smart watches, from digital cameras to showstopping televisions.

And by show-stopping, I mean the sort of television whose picture literally takes your breath away. I was at IFA last year to see the current range of Panasonic Viera 4K televisions on show and was impressed but this year Panasonic are launching their first consumer OLED television and it is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Blacker blacks, brighter brights and stunning colours you can't see on any other TV screen on the planet.

Clearly the new 65 inch CZ950 is going to be a bit beyond many people's budget (and let's face it, we don't all need our TVs to be backed with suede-effect fabric) but the good news is that 2015 sees the inclusion of Panasonic's 4K Pro technology on the wider Viera range.  I'd predict that, within a couple of years, 4K content will be widely accessible and 4K TV's will be the norm, whatever your TV budget.

At IFA I got the chance to hear from the Japanese engineers whose role is to ensure that Panasonic's TVs represent your 4k Ultra-high definition movies and TV programmes in exactly the way that the director originally intended them to be.  Hearing the lengths that they go to in order to make sure that each pixel on the screen does exactly what it needs to was, quite simply, astonishing.

Elsewhere on the mind-bogglingly huge Panasonic booth I spied the Nubo compact 4G portable video camera (perfect as a portable baby monitor), pink-trimmed nose-hair clippers (one of life's essentials?), and the impressive new Panasonic IPL hair reduction device (now this really is a life-changer). Keep your eyes peeled for new, smarter bread makers and the dawn of the "slow" juicer.

You can read more about IFA at pansonic.com/IFA

Viva la Viera #VieraVIPClub

This past year I've been a member of the #VieraVIPClub, a small group of online peeps who have had the chance to find out more about the Panasonic Viera range of smart televisions, and spread the Viera love.  I've visited Panasonic UK's HQ, visited IFA, Europe's biggest technology showcase in Berlin, and been one of the first to hear exciting news about the world of 4K HD television.  All along, I've been blogging my experiences over on my sister site, Family Tech.

As part of the Panasonic Viera VIP Club I've been putting the family-friendly features of smart TVs to the test.  I've been lucky enough to pose some of my questions about the future of family viewing experiences to senior engineers at Panasonic so I shall be excited to see how the brand responds to the ever-growing demand for usability and performance as well as great image quality and an immersive viewing experience.

I've used a couple of the Viera smart TV range now and now I'm the proud owner of this beauty, the TX – 55AS740B.  I'm still learning about all of the different viewing features (it shall be a while before I get used to 3D viewing) but the most overwhelming differences from my old TV are:-

• Depth of colour, especially dark colours and blacks which used to look washed out and grey in comparison.
• The mahoosive screen.
• The thin edge around the television means that more of the total size of the television is available for viewing.  I think it looks very sleek.  It's also surprisingly light.
• Not having to faff around with the BT box or Apple TV in order to watch BBC iPlayer or Netflix - I can do this directly though the apps on my Viera's home page.

I haven't yet set up any of the more advanced home network capabilities of the AS740B yet but I do plan to - it'll be great to be able to watch the TV remotely via TV Anywhere.  Plus... I must find time to set up the voice recognition.  So many things to do, so little time to do it.

I think I'll just chill out here in front of 'House'.

Logitech Harmony Ultimate Hub Review

As you know, I like my tech.  In our house, I'm often a little embarrassed when a babysitter comes over, trying to explain the 5 remote controls needed simply to use the television; but after a few recent "Holly, where have you hidden the remote control this time?" episodes, I've fallen a bit out of love with my remote controls.  This week I have been trialing a solution to my remote control issues - the Harmony Ultimate Hub from Logitech which can turn your smart phone or tablet into a universal remote control.

The Harmony Hub operates using a combination of your home Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies.  If you have a device you want to control which is a little further away from your hub, it can also operate using an additional Infra-red booster (the mini blaster!).  Most of our tech resides in our living room within close proximity of our Harmony hub, and our Wi-Fi router so set-up was phenomenally easy.

Other than having to scrabble around behind my BT Vision box and television in order to find the model numbers, it was a stress-free experience setting up the Harmony Ultimate Hub.  You need to set up a harmony account first and then after that you can add upto 8 different devices - in our case the television, BT vision box, blu-ray player, surround sound, XBox and AppleTV.

In the past I've always been wary of traditional "universal" TV remote controls because I've found a physical remote to offer some iffy IR coverage and I've been regularly disappointed.  The beauty of the Harmony Ultimate is that your phone or your tablet becomes the physical remote control so you can use a tool that you are comfortable with (and proud of).  My tablet is always here with me in the evenings when I'm blogging so I always have it to hand... unlike the remote.

Losing remotes is a common problem in our house.  The AppleTV remote is a particularly annoying remote control because it is tiny, slips down the side of the sofa, is great as a kitchen utensil in Holly's toy kitchen, and because without it, the Apple TV is unworkable.  I've already had to replace it once already.  Apple do supply their own remote control app but I can't begin to tell you how much easier it is to use the Harmony control app in comparison!  As a big fan of Apple UIs, I find this weird, but true.  

It is incredibly convenient to have all of your devices configurable in one place.  If nothing else,  I'm achieving MASSIVE time savings by being able to click one button "Watch Apple TV" rather than having to switch on the AppleTV and then change the TV AV channel (an additional 5 menu clicks in total).  I think this ability to configure and switch quickly from one AV input to another is the most impressive part of the Logitech Harmony Ultimate Hub.

I've found the speed and responsiveness of the Harmony app to be great.  Mr. B. has the app on his Android tablet, and I have it on my iPad and we're both really happy.  Using the app you can change channel, select menu options, adjust volume, swipe up and down between channels and even fast forward (where appropriate).

Could this be the end of the remote control altogether???

The Logitech Harmony Ultimate Hub costs around £79.99 and is compatible with around 225,000 different home entertainment devices.

Hopster - Kids TV App Review

This week my girls have been trying out Hopster, an app for the iPad which allows them to watch children's TV programmes on-demand.  Lara and Holly are definitely of the on-demand generation and they know no different.  But since we downgraded our television package 12 months ago, I will admit that we have missed some of our favourite programmes which are available on commercial channels.

Hopster is available on iPad and is designed for 2-6 year olds.  The app itself is free but you pay a monthly subscription of £5.99 to access the on-demand content.  The subscription is all managed through your iTunes account where you can cancel it, should you want to.  The benefit of this is that there are no in-app purchases for your children to go wild with!

The app features LOTS and LOTS of episodes of many of our favourite television programmes such as Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom and Humf.  While these are available on terrestrial channels, they aren't at a time of day that works for us.  The girls have been so excited to watch these programmes together on the iPad screen.

I really like the fact that Hopster doesn't have any text or instructions that need to be read. Even Holly, at 20 months old, is able to navigate throughout the app because it is all driven by pictures.  Each episode is represented by a key image, rather than its title.

While I don't want my girls glued to the screen all the time, I am very relaxed (these days) about their screen time.  I'm happy for them to use the app themselves and so far they haven't sat for more than a couple of short episodes of any one programme.  I would certainly prefer for them to be watching through Hopster than on commercial channels because there are no adverts in this app so Lara won't be pestering me for expensive pink toys like she used to when we had Sky.

When I first downloaded Hopster, I did wonder about the cost.  Even though the subscription price is A LOT LOWER than our old TV subscription with Sky, I worried about the value for money.  After all, most of the children's TV programmes can be found online in other places such as the TV channel's own on-demand services but these are all tricky for my girls to navigate; I certainly wouldn't expect my 4 year old to know how to find her favourite programmes to watch through 5OD or iPlayer just yet.  And finding television programmes on Youtube is just a recipe for disaster as there are too many opportunities to find "the wrong thing".  So actually, I'm pretty impressed with Hopster's value for money here and I can see myself using it quite a bit at home and when we are travelling.

Hopster does have a 'learning' element with a games option available alongside the TV programmes.  The games are fine.  Lara quite enjoys the spelling and word games but my gut feeling is that it is an after-thought and I can't see the girls using this part that often as we have lots of other apps that focus on learning games.  The value of Hopster is definitely in the on-demand programming.

I would expect to see a few bigger names of programmes available through Hopster in the future.  Lara was just a little disappointed that there was no Peppa Pig or Dora the Explorer available.  But, when she rediscovered Max & Ruby after a very long break she was happy to sit down and enjoy the show.

The Room On The Broom - a Christmas Day Spectacular

The Room on The Broom is the latest Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler creation to be turned into a magical animated film and we will all get a chance to see it on Christmas Day on BBC1. Lara has absolutely loved The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child these past two years as they are extremely special stories animated in an extremely impressive way and The Room On The Broom is no different - Lara was mesmerised by it when we watched a preview.

I haven't actually read the book The Room On The Broom yet (I'll admit I never read The Gruffalo until I had seen the film but since then we've become big Julia Donaldson fans) but the movie was perfect - that slow, captivating rhyme that draws you in.  The story is narrated by Simon Pegg.

The Room On The Broom is described as a story about a kind witch who invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. The gang ultimately saves the witch from a fearsome dragon, and in gratitude she rewards them with a magnificent new broom which has room for everyone.

Once again there is a star-studded cast that ensures this film gets star status on Christmas Day.  Gillian Anderson takes the leading role of the Witch with Rob Brydon as the cat who is, quite honestly, my favourite  character of all with lots of very cat-like characteristics! The film also stars Martin Clunes, Sally Hawkins, Simon Pegg, Timothy Spall and even David Walliams.

Lara found moments of the film quite scary even though she knew the story from nursery but having watched it once from behind the living room door a big smile came to her face when the previously scary dragon turned a bit bashful instead.

The Room On The Broom is broadcast on Christmas Day, BBC1, 4.35PM.

Poppy Cat - Lara's Bedtime Stories

In an attempt to wean Lara off her unhealthy obsession with Peppa Pig, I have this week, introduced her to the joys of Poppy Cat – another of Nick Jr.'s pre-school animations which was launched at the start of May.

In the Mellow household, our little Lara winds down for the evening with a couple of episodes of her favourite TV programme before heading up to bed for her bedtime story. The new programme, Poppy Cat, is all about a little girl called Lara (!!!) who likes to make up stories to read to her sleepy cat, Poppy.



Lara appears to concentrate quite hard when she is watching Poppy Cat – it seems to require a bit more thought than Peppa Pig in order that she can take in the content. I find the programme to be a little more mature – not in terms of its content, but in the amount of artistic and story content such as a beautiful soundtrack and sound effects, and lots of small moving pieces throughout the whole screen during the animation. I think it is beautifully animated and, in a way, mesmerising.



Poppy the Cat is not the only lovely character in the series (although she is my favourite) – she is joined by a band of friends such as Alma the rabbit, Egbert the badger and Owl – they all have crazy walks and wonderful voices from well-known voices such as Joanna Page from Gavin & Stacey. We've seen episodes with fun stories featuring topics as wide ranging as singing crickets to hot-air-balloons adventures.

The complexity of the animation, the length of the episodes (they are 10 minutes long which is a welcome relief from the adverts!) and the levels of imagination required mean that I wouldn't expect Lara to sit and watch a number of episodes of Poppy Cat in one sitting as she would struggle to maintain her concentration but I'm glad to have something to offer her in the evenings that will help her develop her imagination and think up fun adventures and stories of her own.

The Poppy Cat TV series is based on a series of beautifully illustrated books written by Lara Jones – we have one which is a stunning pop-up book that is currently our own Lara's favourite bedtime story. It's just a shame that our own family cat (who looked remarkably like Poppy) passed away a couple of weeks ago :-(

Poppy Cat is shown every weekday morning at 10am during May.