Newark, N.J. – Panasonic said this week that its AX800 series 4K Ultra HDTVs are now capable of receiving streamed Netflix 4K Ultra HD programming.
Existing AX800 owners in North America have received a firmware update enabling them to enjoy 4K Netflix movies and shows such as “House of Cards,” “Breaking Bad,” and a new slate of Netflix Originals that begin in December with “Marco Polo.”
Panasonic’s sets have had the ability to decode the new HEVC H.265 signals used by Netflix 4K service and others, but the Netflix 4K service requires special permissions and systems to activate playback on 4K Ultra HDTV sets. Panasonic’s 4K Ultra HD sets, on sale from its web store and at leading Best Buy locations, join a list of Ultra HDTV brands now capable of streaming the new high-resolution content.
In addition, Panasonic’s 65-inch class AX900 and 85-inch class AX850 4K Ultra HD LED LCD TVs, which will go on sale next month via www.panasonic.com and other retailers, will be compatible with 4K Netflix streaming out of the box.
Netflix assesses subscribers an $11.99 monthly fee for 4K Ultra-High Definition service. Subscribers also get the ability to watch four streams at once.
A similar firmware update for European AX800 models will be released next month.
