The postponement is finally over . receive to the most - requested TV recapitulation I ’ve ever made . It ’s clip to verbalize about the super - hyped , enormously challenging , extremely anticipated Sony Bravia 9 . Better buckle up !
For those of you who do n’t count yourselves among the TV enthusiast gang , the buildup to the Sony Bravia 9 TV — also lie with as the XR90 — has been rather dramatic . It commence withan exclusive trip to Sony ’s Tokyo HQ , where for the first time Sony peeled back the top-notch - secretive drapery ( and a few TV control panel layers ) on its mini - lead backlight technology . The anticipation was further intensified more recently at a special pressure event Sony held at the Sony Pictures Studio hatful in Culver City , California , where journalists who had antecedently only say about the extroverted Bravia 9 draw to see it in action . And the acclaim for this TV has been almost entirely universal .
So what wee-wee the Bravia 9 seem like such a big deal ? Sony developed a unexampled IC bit that allows very gritty dimming control over its mini - lead backlights . That command promise to have intensely bright HDR high spot and overall brightness while also delivering the kind of high - performance black degree and contrast one could previously get only from an OLED TV — which , to be clear , the Bravia 9 is not .
Does that mean the Sony Bravia 9 an OLED - killer ? I have always thought that was the wrong question to expect . But the Bravia 9 is in spades not an OLED - cause of death . No consumer LCD - based TV ever will be an OLED grampus , and I ’ll explain why in brief . But even asking if the Bravia 9 is an OLED killer is a distraction .
The Bravia 9 is an astonishing , thrilling , and otherwise absolutely delicious TV .
I ’m going to do something I normally do n’t do , and give you the goods on this TV right now . The Bravia 9 is an astonishing , thrilling , and otherwise perfectly delicious TV . It ’s a wonder of engineering . It raises the ginmill . And yet , it is not complete , and it will not be the right choice for everyone .
We have to talk about everything this TV offers — and does n’t offer — for one very important reason : The Bravia 9 is remarkably expensive . And while astral depiction timbre is reason enough for some folks to pry their wallets astray open , most want to cognise that it ’s pass to feel like one of the practiced investments they ’ve ever made . So get ’s compass into that whim first .
Video review
Bravia 9 design
Best I can tell , Sony skimped on nothing with the Bravia 9 . ( I ’ll address HDMI 2.1 in the nit nerds incision in a bit . ) Everything about this idiot box feel premium and is delicious . This tv set is exceptionally well - packed for dependable theodolite , minimizing the hazard of damage to the panel .
Sony offers a four - way stand that allows for modest cabinets , or wider one for a number more stability . In either position , the TV can be positioned at two summit — one low - slung for a sleeker look , the other slimly higher to oblige a soundbar . And the feet are alloy , not credit card .
The TV ’s cabinet is light , yet strong , with a brushed - metal form that give most no bezel along the top and side , and a thin plastic border at the bottom .
The remote is not alloy this twelvemonth , which may seem like a skimp until you live it is made of Sony ’s SORPLAS material — it ’s a post - consumer recycled plastic created by Sony ’s cloth scientific discipline division . It ’s idle , solid , and built to last . And the remote is backlit , USB - rechargeable , and has a distant finder speaker build up - in .
The Bravia 9 , like all Sony TV , runs the Google idiot box operating system with Sony ’s custom substance abuser interface on top . I ’ve grown to roll in the hay how Sony has all the essential preferences in a ribbon at the bottom of the screen , with less - pop and more grainy preferences useable if you dig a bit further . I really apprise that Sony limits the act of clicks you have to make to get to what you want . That extends to Sony ’s choice to have the boob tube melodic line to the last - used input . So if you have a overseas telegram box seat or some other streaming platform , it ’ll go directly to it when powered on . ( Other telecasting do that , too , of track . )
Perhaps the most premium non - picture - quality aspect of the Bravia 9 , though , is its on - card audio system . It is tremendously good and is by a significant margin the best - sounding telecasting I ’ve ever refresh — and that includes Sony ’s own OLED telly , where the sound literally comes from the screen . What this television has going on that others do n’t is some seriously robust bass reception . The freshwater bass does n’t just get deep and provide a common sense of rumble that other telecasting do n’t — it adds system of weights and makes the overall heavy crack robust .
What really push it over the top is Sony ’s Voice Zoom technical school .
The fidelity is spectacular for an on - board TV audio system . But what really labor it over the top is Sony ’s Voice Zoom tech , which makes dialog clean and intelligible even in super - challenging situation — when you plug into a compatible Sony sound recording system , that is . I had a way well experience with Voice Zoom on theBravia Theatre Quadthan I did directly from the TV . Still , The Bravia 9 has the goods to make dialog exceptionally percipient and audible . I just think Sony needs to tweak it a bit .
Numbers for nit nerds
For you Nit Nerds out there , here we go : For the most part , I did my evaluation with the telly in the Professional movie preset , both for SDR and HDR . ( This would be tantamount to a Filmmaker Mode on other tv . ) I did , however , also screen the Cinema and received picture presets so I could get a feel for the TVs bright - room potentiality for SDR substance .
In Professional SDR mode : I got almost exactly 100 nit peak cleverness , which is the most pro mode affair you may do , since SDR mental object only has information for up to 100 nits . you’re able to , of course , make the television receiver insanely bright for SDR if you want . Choosing Cinema modal value happen up superlative SDR brightness level to 400 nit , which is more than enough for most masses , even in bright room . Many professional calibrators I ’ve spoken to say they rarely take it past 300 nits for SDR . you’re able to , as you ’ll presently learn , make the TV even brighter , though — bright than you will call for or require it to be for most viewing situations .
The two - point white symmetry did n’t come out quite as I ’d expected . Sony does n’t tend to target D65 with its in - theater calibrations , so I did n’t expect that right out of the box . But I did n’t expect the aristocratic channel — and only the bluish channel — to be scurvy in the bright whites . This chart lay down it look far lower than it in reality is . The Delta E here is under 4 , so it ’s barely intelligible to the defenseless centre and easily remedied with a little standardisation . So it ’s not at all an issue , just a surprisal to me as a reviewer .
When we take a look at the grayscale , it track with what the two - point white balance evoke . It ’s deadly accurate toward the low end , and just scarce off at the high end — again , assuming a D65 bloodless period touchstone is the mean quarry . The gamma measurement is also very honorable here , though not consummate .
What ’s more important is full DCI - P3 color coverage , and the Bravia 9 nail that .
colour gamut readings are fantabulous . Everything other than white-hot is below a Delta E of two , though , technically , theLG G4 organic light-emitting diode I testedwas slightly good — not that you’re able to evidence with the raw eye .
The Bravia 9 also aces the challenging coloration checker in Calman again , with only the whites dare to march over a Delta E of 3 . colouring saturation , again , was fantabulous . Color luminance was mostly excellent except , queerly enough , low - luminance blue was not . That ’s odd .
Moving on to HDR , which I know is where the exciting numbers tend to be . PQ EOTF tracking was splendid — just about deadened on the entire way . Super telling . The brightest White , again , tip on sorry , which I ’d want to fix with a standardisation . This was in the Pro mode . If you choose Cinema mode , the EOTF tracks high , so it boost HDR luminousness across the plank . That ’s not exact , but it is going to be prefer by most witness . I consider that was passing smart on Sony ’s part .
Peak luminance with a 10 % white window was veracious at 2,800 nit , with full - screen Theodore Harold White come in just under 1,000 nits . That ’s important , because it is a clue toward just how intensely bright this TV ’s APL can be .
When I play the Calman peak HDR high spot trial run , HDR highlights came in at 1,800 nits . Think of that as an average . The TV did supply HDR highlighting above the 2,000 - nit level — it just depended on the APL of the tantrum it was working on .
HDR color accuracy was , again , striking . Color book was excellent . And , predictably , the TV does neat with Rec . 2020 color up to a certain color smartness level , where it peters out . That ’s just LCD technology for you . QD - OLED remains the king of Rec . 2020 reportage , but keep in mind there ’s precious little Rec . 2020 color contentedness out there today . What ’s more authoritative is total DCI - P3 colour coverage , and the Bravia 9 nails that .
If not an OLED-killer, what?
If you ’re just repay us because you pass over in advance , the summary is this : By the measurement , the Bravia 9 comes in as one of the top three TVs you could purchase in 2024 . The LG G4 and LG C4 are its toughest competition in the measurements department . But the Bravia 9 holds its own very well , considering it is n’t an OLED .
I mentioned it is n’t an OLED - killer , but why is that ? What is this TV ?
In short , the Bravia 9 is the best mini - go goggle box ever made , in my sagaciousness . And that ’s because it manages to strike the in force potential balance between what a mini - run backlit LCD goggle box can do , and what an OLED goggle box can do . The Bravia 9 , at clip , could pass for an OLED TV . In very challenging dark scenes , you could see where it comes up unawares on organic light-emitting diode . But in most scenes , its surpassing brightness power make it clean that it is a good brilliant - room TV than even the LG G4 organic light-emitting diode . It ’s just got more muscle .
Let me be crystal clear : If you do most of your watching in a grim room , an OLED is still the respectable choice . But if you need your TV to be as flexible as possible — if you require it to expect awful no matter what the ambient conditions may be ? The Bravia 9 does that good than anything else . Here ’s how and why .
Off-angle
I ’ll set out with one of the Bravia 9 ’s few weak points , at least compared to organic light-emitting diode , and that ’s off - angle viewing . Even with Sony ’s X - Wide Angle technology , you will lose some color chroma and see a bit more of the backlight effect on this TV . It ’s better than most LCD TV ’s for off - angle viewing , but Samsung ’s best off - angle board is a little bit better .
Reflection handling
The Bravia 9 ’s reflection treatment is as honorable as it get for a non - matte blind . Unfortunately , you may see some rainbow impression across the sieve if you ’re watching dark content with light directly hitting the screenland , but that ’s true of a LOT of telly . It ’s that , or pestiferous reflection and washed - out picture quality . give the choice , I ’ll take this every time .
Brightness/Punch
The Bravia 9 ’s brightness capabilities are right on up there with the bright idiot box on the marketplace . That might not make sense when I have report on TVs that measured much brighter , but genuine brightness level capabilities must always be measure out in literal - world functioning , and that performance is determined by the TV ’s processor . Sony ’s processing delivers the brightness where and when you need it . It often come off as brighter than goggle box like TCL ’s QM8 , which bar in the 4,000- to 5,000 - nit zone , simply because it can deliver high brightness in more scene scenarios . Real world ? This TV is awesomely shining if you ask it to be , and when you need it to be .
I do need to be exceedingly percipient here , though . The smartness capabilities of this TV wo n’t always be manifest . It ’s extremely content - dependent . I watched theMad Max : Fury Road4 K HDR Blu - ray on both the Bravia 9 and theA95L QD - OLED . Both are exact in Professional way . You might expect the bright flames to be notably hopeful on the Bravia 9 than they are on the A95L , but they are n’t . In fact , they are very closely matched . But what make the Bravia 9 unlike than other mini - guide TVs here is the subtlety in the contrast that other mini - top TVs ca n’t pull off . That ’s why it looks so OLED - alike .
But in other scenes , particularly those get the hang at 4,000 nit , the tiny HDR highlights will be bright than the A95L OLED can pull off . And in very gamy APL scene with a mass of snow or or maybe field hockey or something like that ? It will not only be vivid on the Bravia 9 . But it is n’t going to dim , ever .
So that ’s the storey with this TV ’s brightness . It ’s there when it should be , there when it needs to be , and it gets out of the means at the right times , too — which brings us to the next section .
Blacks/resulting contrast
gamy luminosity is only impressive if it is part of a high - dividing line range of a function . If you do n’t have deep blacks and great overall contrast scene to scene , that gamey brightness level makes a picture look washed out or else of pop . That is what makes the Bravia 9 so special . It bring in the correct selection when managing its backlight so that you get the right portmanteau word of deep blacks , mellow contrast , and bright highlight , as well as brilliant and punchy high - luminance scene . And due to the decisions Sony ’s processor take , you also get blossom and halo that is so minimized it ’s a non - issue .
That does imply that there are some extremely challenging conniption in which you’re able to see the backlight doing something you might not expect . That happen to me during this evaluation .
This screenshot is of the end credits ofObi - Wan Kenobion Disney+ . As you could see , we ’ve get a starry blank space conniption here , and onto it splashes these bright credits . When the bright credit comes up , you ’ll point out that all of the champion get brighter , too . And then when the credit rating disappears , the luminance of the stars exit back down .
Now , you may wonder , as I did , why Sony did n’t just juice up only the backlights behind the credit . Is n’t that the stop of local dimming ? But as Sony explicate it to me , there are two choices here : One is that you do increase just the backlights behind the credit , which would leave the ease of the scene at the same brightness level . But the trade - off there is that if you did that you ’d have a stack of blooming . And then we ’d quetch about that , because blooming is n’t very OLED - like .
Or , you’re able to choose to raise everything in a challenging fit like this — the virtuoso lighten up and then dim back down — but you do n’t get any blooming . There are only two choices : a dual - cell LCD TV that has fundamentally pixel - level dimming , or an OLED television set . Those are the two pick . I consider Sony made the right-hand one .
The benefit of this approach is that when those instance do take place , you do n’t get blooming .
So , if you have a particularly morose image on the screen and then a huge shiny objective comes up , you ’ll notice the lighted factor on the dark scope might get a little bright . But those example are few and far between , and the benefit of this approach is that when those instance do bump , you do n’t get blooming .
And the honorable news is that something small , and more localized to one portion of the projection screen — like closed caption — does n’t trigger that determination . So you get near bloom - free closed captions on a blue jet - black letterbox bar , with no alteration to the overall icon storey .
Color performance — gamut and volume
As I mentioned in the nit wonk subdivision , the color on this TV is fantastic . QD - OLED can quiver it with some capacity ? But for most of what you ’ll watch , the colouring material is top notch , both in term of accuracy and pop .
Motion
As for move ? Well , it ’s an LCD TV , so it is n’t going to have the instant response metre of an OLED . But I actually see that as a welfare more than a liability . With OLEDs , the pixel reception time is so instant that bright pixels light up so rapidly can create a strobing or stutter effect . You wo n’t get that here . And Sony ’s processing slenderize judder as well as if not better than others . You ’re getting top - quality movement with this TV . I did n’t watch a ton of sports , but what I did watch was fast - paced , and it reckon big to me without the aid of motion smoothing . That ’s a win for the motion section .
Gaming
What makes this boob tube dandy for gaming is the fact that it has all the gambling characteristic reinforcement most people want and take , and extend some of the best picture timbre you’re able to get from a non - OLED TV while not run any risk of suntan - in or running into auto - brightness - clipper botheration . Yeah , it does n’t do 144Hz refresh rate , so it is n’t perhaps going to unlock that one feature for those using high - end play microcomputer . But it does endorse VRR , ALLM , and generator - based feeling mapping , so it ’s a enceinte fellow to both of the Xbox and PlayStation 5 consoles . Again , pixel reception time is n’t as quick as OLED , so you may get a bit more coloring smearing . But with picture show quality like this — no burn - in risk , no dimming — it ’s unvoiced to imagine most folks playing television biz being let down .
The bottom line
The Bravia 9 is not trying to be an OLED . It ’s trying to be the best of both worlds , when that is nearly unacceptable to pull off . Remember , compromise are inevitable . It ’s always a inquiry of “ were the right decisions made ? ” And I think Sony has made all the correct decisions — that ’s a topic of personal predilection , but that ’s where I fend on the issue .
There ’s no interrogation the Bravia 9 is a remarkable TV . It ’s set out a singular toll to match . I suppose Sony feels empowered to price it that way when it ’s making something nobody else is making . But , frankly , the gamy damage is the Bravia 9 ’s only real impuissance . And it ’s a major one , since it is what will stand in the way of more kinsfolk owning such an awesome television receiver .
But at the final stage of the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , it is amazing . And I ’m beaming . I enquire if it could fend up to the hype , and I think it does .
