Technology

Sony’s new TVs make the most of Mini-LED: here’s what you need to know

Published

3 months ago

April 19, 2024

A Sony television with home theater set-up staged in a pretend living room.

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Sony launched its new TV and soundbar range on April 17 with the slogan ‘Cinema is coming home’. But a month earlier, they invited me to travel far from home – from the East Coast to Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California – for a behind-the-scenes taste of the philosophy and technology that went into the 2024 models.

Ecto-1. Johnny 5. BRAVIA9. Our two-day tour of the site showcased the applied science of the past and present. Movie props and filmmakers giving props from Sony technicians. Classic characters and new naming conventions. I found myself in it DANGER! and on a holodeck. It was a soup-to-nuts, lens-to-living room look at mastering monitors, home theater setups and the drive to narrow the gap between creators and consumers.

Sony

Seeing what we don’t see

Sony’s new TVs include four models and two major acronyms: BRAVIA and HDR. The “Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture” brand has been part of Sony televisions for almost 20 years, but is now the unifying label for the BRAVIA 3, 7, 8 and 9 screens, as well as the BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 and Theater Bar 9. For anyone used to Sony’s sets like the X95L, X90L, etc., X no longer marks the spot except on the SKU. (The A80L is also gone – no more separate LED and OLED series – but that didn’t fit the pun of the last sentence either.)

The BRAVIA 9 is now the Mini-LED flagship, with the most extensive, authentic contrast, while the BRAVIA 8 is an OLED alternative. The BRAVIA 7 is a more accessible mini LED, while the BRAVIA 3 is an entry-level LED. Does renaming the game make shopping easier than the previous system? Discussable, and it doesn’t help that the flagship A95L remains on the market. At the very least, the new names make it clear that the BRAVIA 9 is the set that Sony sees as the real pinnacle of this year’s innovations, especially peak brightness.

On to that second acronym. The ability to independently turn off each diode ensures that OLED displays deliver unparalleled black levels and contrast, so they look great in low-light environments. But when it comes to HDR, or High Dynamic Range, the maximum brightness levels that can be achieved by a Mini-LED screen allow for greater control over fine highlights and brightness that can withstand rooms with more natural light.

Sony’s brightest 4K TV yet (50% brighter with 325% more dimming zones), the BRAVIA 9’s High Peak Luminance aims to close the gap with OLED’s pixel level control while improving its ability to perform accurately wherever people want (or need) to have). to set up their TV, not just in an optimized home theater or demo room. Sony hosted its studio-wide product unveiling and invited directors and cinematographers to talk to us, reinforcing the role the company plays at every stage of the cinema signal chain – from professional Venice cameras like those used on Top Gun: Maverick from sound design to color corrected monitors. And it’s Sony’s belief in HDR’s ability to preserve the detail and intent of every frame that explains why the first, basic screen we saw was one that none of us will ever buy.

The backlight panel of the Sony BRAVIA 9 — *Tony Ware*

Shining a light on backlight

The HX3110 is a 31-inch 4K reference monitor with a dual-layer LCD panel that allows color correction up to 4,000 nits. Until now, most movies are mastered to 1,000 nits due to the limitations of previous monitors. The NX3110 allows even the smallest highlights to be displayed without clipping, and with 2,000/1,000 nits settings, filmmakers can ensure details translate to all current viewing scenarios. And the slopes shown were convincing. But it is that 4000 nits future that informed the development of the BRAVIA 9’s local dimming and backlighting.

Our hosts handed out sunglasses and ushered us to the other side of the darkened room, wrapped in blackout curtains. On one table was a BRAVIA 9 without an LCD panel, with an intact TV on the floor in front of it. To the side were two sets from a competitor in an identical setup. Can the BRAVIA 9 achieve the brightness levels or shadows of a tens of thousands of dollar professional monitor without clipping? No, but it did demonstrate the response time and object recognition of the “XR Backlight Master Drive” and the newly developed IC (LED Driver) system, as well as the color volume and specular highlights, which are part of the vibrant reproduction of the HX3110 admirably emulated. The naked backlight illuminated the level of definition that 22-bit channel control can produce. And detailed insight into each component and the current also means 20% less energy consumption, according to Sony.

This will also play a role in one of Sony’s new partnerships. The BRAVIA 7, 8 and 9 will all feature Prime Video Calibrated Mode, a feature announced at the event by BA Winston, VP of technology for Amazon Prime Video, which automatically adjusts picture settings for streaming content (movies, TV, live sports, etc.), screen type and the lighting conditions in the room. (Prime Video joins similar processing for Netflix and the Sony Pictures Core app.) IMAX Enhanced, Dolby Vision, HLG and HDR10 support, plus 4K 120Hz, VRR, ALLM, Auto Tone Mapping and other “Perfect for PS5” features for gamers —make sure all the picture mode boxes are checked.

The BRAVIA 8 OLED is 10% brighter and 30% slimmer than the A80L from 2023. The BRAVIA 7 is 790% brighter than last year’s full-array LED X90L. But it’s the BRAVIA 9 that’s an upgrade from every angle, including the viewing angle, which showed low off-axis desaturation. I’m looking forward to testing one out to bring all the shadowy details into the light.