When you make an announcement as big as Panasonic's last one, in the TV world, it puts more than a little pressure on your brand. After a couple of years of rampant rumours, it just confirmed that it's outsourcing its US and EU business to Shenzhen Skyworth, in a similar manner to Sony selling the Bravia brand to TCL.
That's huge news, but in the room in Munich where the change was announced, Panasonic and Skyworth's public face was obviously full of bullish optimism and enthusiasm. As part of that marketing effort, it had set aside a section of its showfloor to demonstrate some of the prototype TV tech that it was working on, with some interestingly mixed results.
Even with its future previously under threat, it's been a safe enough assumption that Panasonic would be working on new TV tech to avoid being left behind, but it was still interesting to see what some of this actually meant.
The main attraction was a couple of large panels – one a chunky OLED that offered up a new version of the integrated sound systems that feature on the five-star Z95B, among others. It added a small additional display in the middle of this under-display soundbar, for added context menus, smart home displays or more. I'll be honest, it's not a concept I can see catching on, but it's a fairly out-there idea and indicative of some fun in the R&D department.
The other display was more traditional, in that it was a first look at the super-bright capabilities of a microRGB display from Panasonic. True to the format, it looked great (and pin-sharp), but there's no way to avoid the elephant in the room here. Panasonic showing off a microRGB concept is a little bit of an odd move when other TV manufacturers are already selling them to customers – this is one where it perhaps ended up looking a bit behind the curve.
It's other section was even more out-there. Two portable displays were there to check out, looking for all the world like they'd be intended to compete with LG's odd StanbyMe 2 range. They had the same rough dimensions, like a 27-inch monitor with a handle, effectively.
Where Panasonic's concepts differentiated themselves, though, was on the back. Each concept featured rear speakers to make them more of a powerful all-in-one solution, and one of them even had a built-in CD player to act like a funky sort of update of an old boombox.
As pointed out by Panasonic's own spokesperson at the time, swap that CD drive for a Blu-ray player and you probably have a more attractive option for outdoor or on-the-go movie nights.
Either way, though, this is another case of Panasonic showing off something that another TV-maker (LG) can claim to already be selling, with whatever degree of success. It didn't fill me with confidence about the pace of development that'll come in the next 12 months.
The last station in the prototype showcase was of a feature that's far more imminent, reassuringly. This year Panasonic might not be releasing a brand-new top-of-the-line OLED flagship to replace the Z95B, but it does have new anti-glare coatings for its TVs that impressed me.
Available in three versions, each a little more severe than the last, these matte coatings do what they say on the tin, diffusing light as it hits the TV to massively reduce reflections and glare, making a huge difference in brightly-lit rooms.
One challenge will be in knowing which version to pick, and that's where going to a shop that stocks Panasonic's new range might be key, but, in essence, there's absolutely no downside to consumers having these new options. Whether it's enough to move the needle in marketing terms is a more open question.
In fact, that sentiment was my main takeaway from Panasonic's prototypes more widely. They were fine enough in isolation, but as an attempt to demonstrate cutting-edge work, they fell short of what I'd like to see. The big test now is probably how much progress Panasonic can make with its new structure in the next year.
