Panasonic's new OLED TV took inspiration from Formula 1 cars to improve performance — here’s how

The Panasonic Z95B OLED TV mounted on a wall in an upscale living room setting. Its displaying the image of a Formula 1 race car in motion.

(Image credit: Panasonic/James Sutton/Getty)

Believe it or not, some of the year’s best TVs are about to roll out. Top-shelf sets from top-selling brands coming around the bend — and fast. The recently announced Panasonic Z95B is one such TV, and to help it stand out among the best OLED TVs on the market, Panasonic tapped an unexpected source for its design: Formula 1 racing.

Under the Z95B’s hood is a unique cooling system inspired by the aerodynamic nature of F1 race cars. Panasonic calls it ThermalFlow, and we’ve got all the details on how it works and why it might put Panasonic in the lead.

How does ThermalFlow work?

An artistic interpretation of Panasonic's ThermalFlow system in use on the Z95B. The back of the TV is presented against a black background and light-colored air is illustrated in such a way as to emphasize directional flow into the bottom of the TV and out of the top vents. — (Image credit: Panasonic)

Like most powerful electronics, TVs can get hot. This can be an issue for delicate hardware of all types, but it’s historically been tricky for OLED displays, whose finicky organic materials call for more coddling than those of sturdier technologies. You can prevent OLED burn-in, but it’s harder to do so at higher brightness levels due to the associated heat.

Panasonic moved the TV's subwoofer further up in the chassis, which reportedly creates more space along the back of the panel for heat dissipation.

ThermalFlow aims to dissipate and reduce the heat generated by the Z95B's OLED panel. To do so, Panasonic moved the TV's subwoofer further up in the chassis, which reportedly creates more space along the back of the panel for heat dissipation.

What’s more, by rearranging the subwoofer placement in order to maximize space for heat dissipation, Panasonic’s engineers claim that they’ve also increased airflow efficiency. Now that there isn’t a major obstruction between the bottom and top vents, air can more effectively pass through the panel, cooling the TV down.

In an era of fierce competition, TV brands — much like F1 teams — will go to great lengths to gain an edge. But can ThermalFlow really have a big enough impact to propel Panasonic into the lead?

Is ThermalFlow a difference-maker for Panasonic?

A diagram illustrating the effectiveness of ThermalFlow technology which highlights how subwoofer placement creates smoother, uninterrupted airflow — (Image credit: Panasonic)

Having seen the Z95B up close at CES 2025, I can tell you that it'll almost certainly be in the running for best OLED TV of the year. It sports an impressive-looking picture.

And, given the fact that the Z95B is leveraging LG Display's new Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel technology, I'm confident that if ThermalFlow works as advertised, it'll be one of the secrets of the Z95B's success.

This new panel type (also known as a four-stack OLED panel) is said to get significantly brighter than LG Display's previous top panel type, which blends a WOLED panel with Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology. The added horsepower is sure to put more stress on the display, especially if you watch TV or play games on a bright picture mode.

But preventing burn-in is just one of the benefits I'm hoping to see from ThermalFlow. Unless modified, OLED TVs often dim themselves automatically during long periods of high full-screen brightness, usually when the picture has remained mostly static. It's a built-in defense against burn-in, but it can pull you out of the experience if it happens during a movie or TV show.

My hope is that ThermalFlow allows the Z95B to play it fast and loose with automatic brightness limiting —but we won't know for certain what effects it will have on overall performance until we take one for a test ride in our own homes later this year.

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Michael Desjardin is a Senior Editor for TVs at Tom's Guide. He's been testing and tinkering with TVs professionally for over a decade, previously for Reviewed and USA Today. Michael graduated from Emerson College where he studied media production and screenwriting. He loves cooking, zoning out to ambient music, and getting way too invested in the Red Sox. He considers himself living proof that TV doesn't necessarily rot your brain.