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They are finally here: Sony has just announced its latest flagship TVs, the Master Series Z9F LED and A8F OLED. The TVs pack the Sony X1 Extreme processor, which brings with it several benefits, but the intention of these TVs is right there in the name: Master Series. With its latest flagship products, Sony aims to offer the same quality of image that the studio professionals want to see. This is not a new idea, but to accomplish it has been easier said than done. Is Sony successful?
It's been two years since Sony unveiled the venerable Z9D TV, considered by many to be the best LED / LCD TV ever. Since Sony has jumped on the annual replacement tradition of the industry, critics and TV enthusiasts are wondering when we could see the replacement of the Z9D, and what it might look like. Today, our questions have been answered.
"The Master Series eliminates the 4K HDR home viewing experience to a whole new level … Sony's approach is different than our industry's," said Mike Fasulo, COO of Sony Electronics North America. "Our engineers specifically designed [the Master Series] from the contributions they received from the creative community."
Indeed, according to the specifications, the Z9F reads like a fever dream of a TV enthusiast: thousands of slow dimmed LED backlights, the best black levels of the industry and , of course, the Android TV operating system (we will give him a pass for the latter)
But what does all this mean?
Z9F 4K HDR LED TV
In a market dominated by two competing TV panel technologies, LCD and OLED, the Z9F attempts to bring the deep blacks and contrast offered by OLED while surpassing in all LCD TV facets: Intense brightness, punchy HDR and massive color palate, which benefits those of us who watch TV pretty much anywhere else than in a dedicated dark room. Indeed, the Z9F seems to succeed in this objective. And then some.
Sony introduced two new key features in the Z9F TV. The first is a so-called X-Wide Angle technology that, true to its name, aims to solve the problem of off-angle washing that is an integral part of LCD panels to date. Samsung's QLED TV series promises a similar improvement, and at first glance, Sony's efforts seem to equal or exceed QLED in this regard. Viewed from extreme angles, the colors appeared almost as saturated as when viewed directly from the front. There is no doubt, there are more seats "sweet spot" with this TV than with any other LCD set available today.
The Z9F runs on Sony's new X1-Extreme processor, which we previewed at CES earlier this year in an eye-blaze 10,000 nit 85-inch 8K TV. Although this TV is not brilliant at 8,000 or 10,000 nits, the benefits of the new processor are obvious.
This X1 Extreme chip opens up a world of possibilities for Sony and, in the case of the new Master series, benefits with more intense HDR reflections, more refined details through object-based analysis, a system auto-calibration using CalMAN software and support for a brand new feature called Netflix Calibrated Mode.
The Z9F TV directly targets Samsung's QLED TV series, especially the Samsung Q9FN, as it is the only TV capable of competing with the new Z9F. We are looking forward to opposing the two against each other soon.
A8F 4K HDR OLED TV
Latest addition to Sony's OLED TV range, the A8F also runs on the new X1-Extreme processor, further enhancing the already excellent image quality. The new OLED TV also advances Sony's Acoustic Surface technology by adding a third central actuator. Wait … say what?
If you're not familiar, Sony uses its OLED panels as a speaker. You have read correctly: The screen is the speaker. By using small actuators behind the OLED panel, Sony is able to make sure that the screen itself emits a sound. This sound is enhanced by a subwoofer mounted on the back of the television. With a built-in left and right actuator, previous Sony OLED TVs could offer stereo sound. Now, with the additional central actuator, there is a central channel to anchor the dialog box from the center of the screen when needed. A second subwoofer promises to add even more bass.
In addition, the TV can act as a center channel in a multi-channel home theater speaker system, eliminating the need to place an individual speaker above or below the TV. This means that the dialogue and effects seem to emanate from the image, not from above or from below
HDR on the A8F subjectively appears much more punchy than those of previous Sony OLED TVs, and the new X engine -Motion Clarity of Sony smoothly clearly out judder without introducing the effect says "soap opera". This alone is a big problem for future OLED owners.
Netflix Calibrated Mode
A novelty for the Sony TV Series Master Series is a feature developed in conjunction with Netflix called Netflix Calibrated Mode. The idea is to restore compressed 4K HDR video from Netflix to levels close to master quality using a combination of Sony's X1 Extreme processor and a predefined dedicated image mode. Without doing anything, viewers are expected to get Netflix content with an image quality close to Ultra HD Blu-ray levels – good news for the vast majority of us who broadcast rather than d & # 39; buy discs for a dedicated player.
We are about to have a technical briefing that will bring a little more light and specific details to the new Master Series TVs, so we will update this article later today. hui. Notably, the details on sizes and prices are still ahead. For the moment, it's safe to say that Sony has done a great job pushing the boundaries of what's possible with mainstream TVs. In the coming weeks, we will be doing full reviews on these TVs and we will see how much they compare to the competition – but if today's first impressions are any indication, they will stand up very well.
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