Sony KD-85ZG9 Evaluation

The Sony KD-85ZG9 is a shocking, true next-generation TV, able to delivering photos the like of which we have by no means seen earlier than. It is a disgrace that you simply most likely cannot afford it, then

Execs

• Sensational 8K HDR image high quality
• Superb, immersive upscaling
• Glorious video processing and backlight administration

Cons

• Tremendous-expensive
• Occasional restricted backlight blooming points
• Voices can get misplaced in motion film audio mixes

Key Specs

• Evaluation Value: £13999
• 85-inch TV with direct LED lighting system and 720 dimming zones
• Native 8K decision
• X1 Final processor
• Android Oreo sensible system, plus YouView
• Dolby Atmos decoding by way of upcoming firmware replace

What’s the Sony KD-85Z9G?

The Sony KD-85Z9G is the Japanese model’s first ever 8K TV. Sensibly it doesn’t depend on its decision alone to justify its £14,000 value. It additionally boasts unprecedented ranges of brightness, huge viewing angle expertise, Sony’s Triluminos color system, and Sony’s top-of-the-range X1 Final processor.

Better of all, it options the long-awaited return of Sony’s Backlight Grasp Drive system, with its a whole lot of zones of native LED dimming.

This all provides as much as a spectacle the likes of which I’ve by no means seen earlier than.

Associated: Greatest TVs 2019

Sony KD-85ZG9 – Design and construct high quality

The 85-inch 85ZG9 isn’t simply massive – it’s unapologetically massive. Wrapped round its large display screen you’ll discover not only one body however two, one sitting inside and ahead of the opposite.

It sits unceremoniously on a pair of pretty brutish toes, and its rear stands out a country-mile in contrast with most of right now’s slinky units.

The Sony KD-85ZG9

The bodywork is severely properly constructed, and the way in which the rear angles ahead at its edges introduces a touch of favor. Channeling within the set’s toes and rear, in the meantime, allow you to cover all your cabling away.

The true level of the KD-85ZG9’s design is that it’s sensible. As an illustration, the display screen’s depth performs host to a direct LED lighting system with greater than 700 native dimming zones. As well as, the big “double body” homes 4 forward-facing audio system, every with two mid-range drivers and a separate tweeter. Two of those audio system sit within the backside edge, whereas the opposite two, unusually, are housed alongside the highest.

The set’s depth additionally lets Sony construct in a few subwoofers to avoid wasting the primary drivers from changing into overwhelmed by bass.

One final little bit of design information issues the KD-85ZG9’s distant management. Lastly, Sony ditches the practically flush buttons and overcrowded structure of its earlier handset. Now we get an interesting metallic end, good button spacing and a tactile response. There’s a lot much less probability of this unit being hurled in frustration, which is fairly helpful when there’s a £14,000 tv within the room.

Associated: Sony TVs 2019 – All of the Sony Grasp and Bravia TVs for 2019

Sony KD-85ZG9 – Options

To set a suitably futuristic tone for its debut 8K TV, Sony has thrown just about the whole lot on the KD-85ZG9.

For starters, its 33 million-plus pixels are backed up by probably the most superior backlighting programs within the TV world. Its LEDs are positioned immediately behind the display screen reasonably than round its edges, and a minimum of 720 totally different zones of those LEDs ship their very own unbiased mild ranges at any given second. There’s Sony’s distinctive calibrated beam expertise, too, for focusing the sunshine with much more accuracy.

As if this wasn’t already sufficient, Sony’s X-Tended Dynamic Vary Professional system dynamically trades energy across the display screen, taking it away from darkish image areas to feed vivid ones. This form of mild configuration yielded spectacular outcomes on Sony’s ZD9 TVs just a few years again, so hopefully it’ll accomplish that once more right here.

Sony’s massively highly effective and intelligent X1 Final processor, in the meantime, ought to come in useful on this 8K debutante. Particularly for the reason that database of image data it makes use of to shortly establish totally different sources has been up to date to incorporate 8K examples.

Sony’s proud upscaling heritage will hopefully step as much as the 8K problem, too, particularly since there’s valuable little native 8K content material on the market proper now. And Sony’s movement processing prowess ought to assist take away the form of judder and movement blur that has the potential to be so damaging to 8K’s in any other case typically excessive readability.

Then there’s Sony’s color processing. The Triluminos color system will hopefully assist the KD-85ZG9 resolve tones finely sufficient to maintain tempo with the 8K pixel rely. Sony’s Tremendous Bitmapping system, too, will hopefully do because it has on the model’s 4K TVs, conserving color banding out of the ultra-pure 8K equation.

I’m extra nervous concerning the return of the model’s X-Extensive Angle tech. This sounds good on paper – who wouldn’t need virtually limitless viewing angles from an LCD TV? Nevertheless, the expertise did trigger vital black degree points when it debuted on Sony’s 65ZF9 final 12 months. So right here’s hoping Sony has tweaked it right here – or that it’s “solved” by the KD-85ZG9’s rather more superior backlighting engine.

One final picture-related characteristic of the KD-85ZG9 price mentioning is its object-based HDR Remaster system. That is Sony’s system for changing customary dynamic vary content material into excessive dynamic vary. Notice which you could’t toggle this characteristic within the menus; it’s utilized robotically with all image presets bar Customized.

The Sony KD-85ZG9’s connections are good, however might have been higher. The primary cause I say that is that whereas it has 4 HDMIs, just one helps the most recent v2.1 specification. Which means that just one can help 8K at 60fps. The opposite three are caught at 8K 30fps.

That is arguably not that massive a deal proper now given the present lack of any exterior 8K sources. However a bit extra future-proofing might need been good given how forward-thinking the TV is in different methods. That is much more true in mild of the truth that LG is providing 4 HDMI 2.1s on most of its 4K OLED TVs this 12 months!

Associated: What’s 8K TV?

Sony’s X1 Final processor performs an enormous half within the KD-85ZG9’s success

The KD-85ZG9 does help HDMI 2.1’s eARC characteristic, nonetheless. This implies you’ll be able to move lossless Dolby Atmos or DTS:X audio out by the TV’s HDMIs to soundbars or receivers. Surprisingly, although, Sony hasn’t opted to help the HDMI 2.1-related variable refresh charge gaming characteristic. There may be some succour for players, nonetheless, within the form of a respectably low 30ms of enter lag utilizing the Sport image preset.

The bizarre speaker association within the Sony KD-85ZG9 will finally help Dolby Atmos audio playback. On the time of penning this characteristic hadn’t been enabled; apparently it is going to be added by way of a firmware replace later within the 12 months.

Associated: What’s Dolby Atmos? All you must know

Lastly, the Sony KD-85ZG9’s sensible options come courtesy of Google’s Android Oreo. This isn’t notably nice information for my part. In any case, whereas Oreo is an enchancment on earlier Android TV generations, it nonetheless feels cumbersome and dictatorial. Actually when put next with the likes of LG’s webOS and Samsung’s Eden 2.0 platforms.

Its foremost points are that the homescreen takes over the entire display screen reasonably than simply a part of it; it isn’t as customisable as I’d like, and that it nonetheless isn’t intelligent sufficient about studying and prioritising your most well-liked varieties of content material.

Nevertheless, it does run extra slickly and stably than earlier than. Plus, there’s noticeably extra concentrate on highlighting video over sport content material, which appears fairly wise once you’re working in a TV reasonably than a smartphone or PC setting.

The UK implementation of Android TV nonetheless doesn’t embody all of the catch-up apps for the UK’s key terrestrial broadcasters. Nevertheless, Sony has compensated for this by individually offering YouView. This incorporates all of the UK catch-up providers into one umbrella app, and allows you to browse catch-up content material by way of a easy digital programme information that appears backwards in addition to forwards in time.

Associated: What’s HDMI 2.1?

The KD-85ZG9’s rear angles sit ahead in direction of the display screen’s edges. A design component Sony optimistically calls the “blade”

The Sony KD-85ZG9’s HDR help consists of the business customary HDR10 format, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, and the HLG platform principally designed for broadcast implementations. However there’s no help for the comparatively new HDR10+ platform – which, like Dolby Imaginative and prescient, provides further scene-by-scene info to the HDR stream.

Sony argues that it doesn’t want it for HDR10+, since its personal video processors can ship the identical form of outcomes. Having seen HDR10+ improve the look of titles reminiscent of Alien and Bohemian Rhapsody, even on high-end Samsung TVs nonetheless, personally I’d prefer to see it supported by Sony too. Though let’s not neglect that Samsung for its half doesn’t help Dolby Imaginative and prescient…

Associated: Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR – All the things you must know

Sony KD-85ZG9 – Setup

With HDR content material, I’d advocate utilizing the Customized preset for almost all of your viewing time – at the least when watching movies. This supplies the simplest all-round management and steadiness of the TV’s backlighting system. Particularly, it suffers much less with backlight blooming than different preset choices.

Whether or not you stick to the Customized image mode for SDR viewing relies on whether or not or not you wish to keep away from Sony’s HDR remastering. All different settings robotically activate the HDR conversion. Personally, I feel Sony’s HDR Remaster system works so properly, typically I most well-liked to make use of it. However the set nonetheless does nice with SDR in its native kind, if that’s your choice.

Relating to movement processing, virtually all of the supplied modes are superior to the movement processing choices of most TVs, so be at liberty to experiment.

Make sure that the Native Dimming setting is on at the least Medium; in any other case, black ranges take a extreme hit. I’d additionally advocate setting the Superior Distinction characteristic on Medium. This doesn’t give probably the most explosive dynamic picture, but it surely improves shadow element and makes the image really feel extra balanced.

One final thing to contemplate is your most well-liked HDR image preset. The Customized mode produces the least element clipping in very vivid image areas, however the Cinema setting produces a extra intense, punchy look, on the expense of vivid element.

Sony KD-85ZG9 – Efficiency

Not surprisingly, I couldn’t resist kicking testing off with the Sony KD-85ZG9’s native 8K efficiency – which, not surprisingly, meant turning to 8K footage specifically shot by Sony. In any case, except you reside in Japan and may watch NHK’s 8K channel, you’ll have one hell of a job discovering native 8K content material wherever else – particularly since Sony’s debut 8K TVs don’t help YouTube’s 8K content material compression format.

Sony has actually gone to city on its 8K showreel. 5 clips had been supplied, all mastered in HDR, and all of them regarded nothing wanting breathtaking; simple adverts for the distinction 8K could make to the viewing expertise. Particularly once you’re speaking about screens as massive because the 85-inch one below scrutiny right here.

Element ranges are actually immense. The best way the display screen can resolve what appears like particular person grains of glitter in footage of the Rio Carnival, or distant leaves and brickwork in large depth pictures throughout landscapes and cities, must be seen to be believed.

The truth is, the decision reaches the purpose the place you don’t even really feel such as you’re picture element any extra. It simply feels such as you’re the true world. The entire sense of a display screen is gone – and I completely like it.

The Sony KD-85ZG9 makes use of the Android Oreo sensible system

What’s extra, the impression of this sense of actuality – which features a startlingly enhanced sense of depth – holds up from a fairly common seating distance. So whereas Sony was eager to take a seat me at a distance of 1.5x display screen top from the KD-85ZG9, native 8K nonetheless delivered palpable advantages from additional away.

After all, simply having greater than 33 million pixels in a display screen will get you solely thus far. Fortunately, the Sony KD-85ZG9 supplies all of the help instruments essential to unlock 8K’s full potential. As an illustration, its movement processing does a fantastic job of suppressing LCD TVs’ blurring and juddering points throughout comparatively action-packed Sony 8K footage such because the Rio Carnival clip and gorgeous footage of driving sport Gran Turismo operating in 8K.

Colors, too, are resolved right down to the tiny pixel degree made attainable by 8K TVs. This enhances the decision’s impression on the TV’s sense of realism.

There’s no trace of any banding or blocking in even the subtlest color mix, both. Partly because of the pixel density of the 8K display screen, but in addition, I believe, because of Sony’s ever-reliable Tremendous Bit mapping processing, which smooths away any potential color striping points.

One ultimate contributor to the Sony KD-85ZG9’s extraordinary native 8K HDR photos is its excellent backlight system. For starters, it delivers a exceptional 3700 nits of brightness on a white HDR field protecting 10% of the display screen. This extremely excessive mild output is inside touching distance of the 4000 nits achieved by the megabucks, water-cooled mastering monitor Dolby makes use of when mastering residence video titles in Dolby Imaginative and prescient.

What actually helps the KD-85ZG9’s HDR photos pop, nonetheless, is the mixture of its excessive brightness with the distinction management supplied by having greater than 700 separate dimming zones. This allows it to ship impressively deep black ranges and severely punchy mild highlights inside a single shot.

What’s extra, regardless of the picture’s brightness, the KD-85ZG9 delivers its excessive ranges of HDR dynamism with out throwing up a lot backlight blooming round stand-out vivid objects. The truth is, the lighting system’s means to select very small however extraordinarily vivid HDR highlights is like nothing I’ve seen earlier than. As is its means to carry on to excessive ranges of brightness when displaying uniformly vivid HDR photos.

The Sony KD-85ZG9’s wonderful distinction efficiency is miles higher than that of Sony’s earlier flagship 4K TV, the KD-65ZF9 – despite the fact that the brand new 8K TV makes use of the huge viewing angle expertise that contributed to the KD-65ZF9’s distinction points.

I can’t say if this enchancment is only right down to the 8K mannequin’s Sony’s Backlight Grasp Drive lighting system, or whether or not Sony has in some way tweaked the huge angle expertise. But it surely’s an enormous aid to search out that the Sony KD-85ZG9’s photos maintain up from any angle, but now additionally take pleasure in good core black ranges.

Shifting to the sub-8K content material that shall be its foremost supply of sustenance for the forseeable future, the Sony KD-85ZG9 continues to impress. Upscaled 4K and HD content material seems to be each remarkably clear and interesting. Not emphatically extra detailed or crisp than it will on a great 4K TV, maybe, however crucially unaffected by undesirable processing negative effects or upscaling inconsistencies.

The Sony KD-85ZG9 supplies a helpful answer to maintain cable muddle to an absolute minimal

What’s extra, whereas Sony’s upscaled 8K photos don’t appear fairly as sharp as these of Samsung’s 8K TVs (though I couldn’t affirm this with direct facet by facet testing), they really feel extra persistently natural, for need of a greater phrase. Additionally, the sheer “pixels per inch” impact 8K brings – particularly on TVs this massive – makes upscaled photos look in some way extra actual; much less like mere pixels on a display screen.

It’s startling, too, how successfully the Sony KD-85ZG9’s upscaling holds up with even super-low high quality sources, reminiscent of closely compressed customary definition on-line streams or digital broadcasts. No less than in relation to dealing with the varied noise components inherent to such photos.

That stated, probably the most “8K-like” photos do come from the perfect high quality 4K sources – the 16:9-ratio IMAX sections of the Mission: Inconceivable – Fallout 4K Blu-ray, for instance.

Sony’s HDR up-conversion system is one other processing triumph. Sony is, as famous earlier, so assured about this that it applies it by default to SDR sources with most of its image presets. And it’s exceptional how successfully it opens up the color and brightness of SDR photos, with out the outcomes wanting unnatural or uneven.

Whereas the KD-85ZG9 is able to producing the best photos I’ve ever seen on a TV, inevitably it isn’t good. The most important problem is that whereas its backlight system is in most methods excellent, very intense, contrast-rich photos may cause a little bit backlight clouding. That is typically restricted when it comes to when it seems, however can often distractingly impinge on the black bars above and under 2.35/2.4:1 photos.

Associated: Why IMAX is the largest sport on the town – Interview with CTO Brian Bonnick

The Sony KD-85ZG9’s greater sibling, the 98-inch KD-98ZG9, comes with engaging floor-standing legs

The blooming tends to be barely extra noticeable with Dolby Imaginative and prescient sources, because of DV’s further dynamics and 4000-nit mastering. It additionally turns into extra noticeable when you’re watching the TV from a lot of an angle. To be clear on all this, although, contemplating how massive and very vivid this TV is, blooming points are literally remarkably properly managed, and solely seem over a fairly restricted collection of picture sorts.

On a few events I additionally noticed an odd “black gap” impact over the very brightest peaks (glinting metallic, as an example) in aggressively mastered HDR photos – as if the display screen’s overdrive expertise was being pressured into some form of meltdown. This problem is uncommon, although, and my feeling is that Sony might be able to repair it by way of firmware.

The Sony KD-85ZG9’s core black ranges aren’t all the time as deep as these you get from Samsung’s newest 8K TVs. There’s a fairly key commerce off for this, although, with the Sony doing a extra persistently nice job of showing low-brightness particulars in darkish scenes.

Sony’s 8K debutante doesn’t ship as huge a variety of color tones as Samsung’s QLED TVs, which simply often leaves a (normally darkish) color tone or two wanting a contact strained.

Lastly, I wasn’t fairly as blown away by the Sony KD-85ZG9’s audio as I’d hoped to be. It’s decently highly effective, and delivers a widespread “wall of sound” impact. The soundstage has loads of dynamism and element, too, and has the bass and dynamism to swell powerfully for motion scenes. Nevertheless, it doesn’t ship as a lot room-filling presence as I’d hoped a forward-facing, four-speaker system may. Additionally, voices can change into fairly subdued in a dense combine.

Why purchase the Sony KD-85ZG9?

The Sony KD-85ZG9 has solely two equally sized 8K rivals proper now: Samsung’s 82-inch and 85-inch Q950Rs. These are considerably cheaper than Sony’s set, and ship deeper black ranges and sharper upscaling.

Samsung additionally delivers a barely wider color vary than the Sony – though for a lot of the time, the distinctive brightness and light-weight management of the KD-85ZG9 disguises this very properly.

The KD-85ZG9 renders dark-scene element extra successfully, nonetheless, and delivers probably the most dynamic and dramatic HDR photos I’ve ever seen. The form of expertise solely an enormous variety of native dimming zones can present on an LED TV.

Its 8K efficiency is excellent, too, with phenomenal element and color decision. Whereas its upscaled photos could not match the sharpness of Samsung’s, they arguably supply a extra immersive, constant really feel.

The Sony additionally supplies a terrific SDR-to-HDR conversion system, whereas Samsung has carried out away with its personal such system this 12 months. Sony’s TV typically sounds higher than the Samsung fashions, too.

A separate problem is whether or not you really need an 8K TV in a time when no 8K content material is out there. Personally, when you can afford it, I feel it’s. Sony’s upscaling engine works properly, at the least to the extent that photos don’t look worse than they do on native 4K TVs, whereas benefitting from 8K display screen’s further pixel density. And it’s price taking into consideration that the following PlayStation will apparently carry some form of 8K help, whereas Rakuten has urged it’ll begin 8K streams this 12 months.

Briefly, 8K content material will come – even when solely in very restricted portions within the brief to mid-term.

Associated: What’s HDR? – Excessive Dynamic Vary defined

Verdict

The Sony KD-85ZG9 is able to delivering probably the most spectacular and beautiful photos the TV world has ever seen.

After all, most of us mere mortals gained’t be capable of discover the £13,999 crucial to acquire a Sony 85ZG9. However I’m severely, severely jealous of anybody who can.

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• Options 9

• Worth 7

• Good TV 7

• Picture High quality 10

• Design 8

• Sound High quality 8

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