The extra excessive dynamic vary (HDR) TVs I see, the extra I worth direct LED lighting. It appears to me that TVs illuminated by lights sitting straight behind the display screen constantly deal with the extra excessive gentle vary related to HDR higher than TVs that place their lights round their edges.
Sony, it appears, agrees with me. Having solely provided direct LED lighting TVs on very high-end fashions in 2016, it’s now including a very new XE90 TV sequence to its 2017 vary that’s expressly designed to present savvy TV consumers a direct LED HDR resolution they could really be capable to afford.
I received the prospect to spend some one-on-one time with a 65XE90 at a product launch occasion at Sony’s UK headquarters final week, and the outcomes have been… fascinating.
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The 65-inch KD-65XE90 (75-inch, 55-inch and even 49-inch choices may also be out there) was on present in a reasonably darkish room, operating inventory Sony 4K HDR demo footage from a tough drive server.
Whereas this footage didn’t embody any precise film sequences, it did embody some footage of neon lights in opposition to an evening sky that offered an unusually excessive take a look at of the display screen’s distinction efficiency. And the very first thing that struck me whereas watching this difficult scene was how a lot brighter and extra intense its neon highlights look in contrast with the edge-lit XE85 display screen sitting alongside the XE90.
The reds, blues and whites of the neon lights exploded off the 65XE90’s display screen and stood out in opposition to the blackness round them with far more depth than they did on a brand new edge-lit XE85 mannequin sitting subsequent to it. This instantly created a extra intense and ‘HDR’ impact.
There was extra brightness-induced quantity to the colors on present too, making them look extra pure and dynamic.
Shut inspection of a number of the extra uniformly vibrant and detailed demo footage out there on Sony’s exhausting drive revealed that the XE90’s increased brightness versus the XE85 isn’t simply palpable over comparatively small areas of the display screen, both. The entire display screen can hit a better general brightness degree than the XE85 too.
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Sony continues to be secretive in regards to the peak brightness of its TVs. It additionally continues to really feel no want to hunt the Extremely HD Alliance’s Extremely HD Premium badge that may at the very least give us some reassurance that it’s hitting a minimal HDR-friendly degree of brightness, color and distinction. Nonetheless, from this demo there’s no query that the XE90 is able to delivering a punchy and convincing HDR distinction efficiency.
Sony’s normally efficient Triluminos expertise joins the display screen’s brightness in delivering a powerful sense of the broader color gamuts related to nearly all of HDR content material. The depth of the colors on present was backed up by spectacular tonal subtlety, which even appeared to carry up properly in darkish elements of the image – one thing that’s historically tough for LCD TVs.
The XE90 doesn’t get the ‘Excessive’ model of Sony’s X1 processing chipset discovered on the ZD9, A1 OLEDs and XE93/XE94 TVs. This implies it is not going to be upgradable for Dolby Imaginative and prescient, and doesn’t sport the Excessive’s Twin Database system for extra superior upscaling and noise discount. Nonetheless, the 4K HDR X1 chipset has beforehand proved itself greater than adequate to maintain viewers blissful – offered Sony will get the XE90’s pricing proper.
In addition to not speaking in regards to the most brightness its TVs can obtain, Sony isn’t a fan of discussing what number of zones of native dimming its TVs may need. However my suspicion, from each the vary positioning of the XE90 and what I noticed on the commerce present, is that it’s utilizing fewer zones than final yr’s XD94 sequence, and much fewer than the 600-plus zones discovered on the ZD9.
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I say this as a result of in the course of the neon-lights-at-night sequence, it actually was fairly straightforward to see a number of inches of sunshine blooming across the stand-out vibrant areas. Particularly – although not completely – once you’re watching from an angle of 20-30 levels.
Throughout these scenes, it even appeared as if the XE90 was really struggling to ship black ranges as deep with excessive content material as these seen on the edge-lit XE85 beside it! Although, the highlights of those scenes appeared far much less vibrant and dynamic on the XE85 than they did on the XE90.
The extent of the XE90’s blooming is, in fact, regarding. Nonetheless, it’s vital to emphasize that the demo content material was very excessive, and that I couldn’t play with the XE90’s settings on the commerce present. So, I maintain out greater than somewhat hope that the XE90’s blooming is perhaps efficiently tamed by way of cautious dealing with of its backlight and dimming choices. That’s, as soon as I can get my arms on one in a correct take a look at state of affairs – one thing I hope to do in mid to late spring.
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