Sony Bravia 9 TV; K-85XR90: A Critical & Honest Review…

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sandeepmohan said:
This is flagship grade Sony!
There is an Anti Reflective coating on the panel. I don't know if there is much more you can do over whats already there.

For what is a very expensive TV, applying the pro series tech will inflate the cost by a factor or two. Minimum.

The TV has very well placed speakers. It is infact one of the better ones. I'm not quite sure under what conditions and source material you had playing to comment. At this price point, TV sound is sort of second fiddle. 9.9 out of 10 who buy this TV will have a sound bar paired to it.

The TV also has auto calibration for the audio, like an AV Receiver. It can analyze the room and make improvement. I'm not sure if you had run this. Then again, all of this is pointless in a TV Showroom. It will never get it right as the environment itself ain't right.

More and more folks are ditching ethernet and connecting over wifi. The AX standard is as fast (Possibly faster) than Gigabit, so why bother with wired ethernet. For what the TV is designed to do, Wifi Ax will exceed the needs of the TV, as far as data transfer speeds go.

Its a pretty awesome TV in its own right. I can't comment on how it stacks up with the best from the Koreans.
Click to expand...
Through rigorous testing, I have conclusively identified a significant flaw in the S B 9 TV's calibration mode with Netflix. Using my setup, comprising the S B 9 TV, HT-A7000 soundbar, SA SW5 subwoofer, and SA RS5 surround speakers, I conducted a comparative analysis.
In the first scenario, I played the Red Notice trailer on Netflix using the S B 9's built-in calibration mode. The audio output from the surround speakers (SA RS5) was notably subpar, characterized by a blooming and muffled sound.
In the second scenario, I played the same content through an Apple TV 4K, keeping all other settings unchanged. The results were striking: the audio from the SA RS5 surround speakers was crisp, clear, and audibly superior.
These findings unequivocally demonstrate a shortcoming in the S B 9 TV's calibration mode with Netflix, resulting in compromised audio quality. This issue is not inherent to the hardware, as evidenced by the improved performance when using an Apple TV 4K.
 
To be honest, all these calibration modes are Marketing nonsense that most TV manufacturers use. Not that you can't achieve perfect image quality without them.

These modes should ideally adhere to picture quality. It should not come in the way of the Sound. You should escalate this with Sony, though, with a better sample set instead of using a Trailer which runs for about 2 minutes.

You should also check if the same is observed when "not" using the calibration mode.
 
sandeepmohan said:
To be honest, all these calibration modes are Marketing nonsense that most TV manufacturers use. Not that you can't achieve perfect image quality without them.

These modes should ideally adhere to picture quality. It should not come in the way of the Sound. You should escalate this with Sony, though, with a better sample set instead of using a Trailer which runs for about 2 minutes.

You should also check if the same is observed when "not" using the calibration mode.
Click to expand...
That's what I intended to say...! TV is an audio-visual device and a perfect Calibration Mode should result not only the best picture quality but audio too. If a layman calibrate it shouldn't be perfect but when a global giant calibrate it should be perfect on dot. It doesn't matter whether it's a two minutes trailer or a full length movie...all it matters is flaws in the configuration.
 
Harish_Hyderabad_India said:
That's what I intended to say...!
Click to expand...
Your review is largely picking on all the negative aspects of the TV and faulting it for that.
A critical honest review should also talk about its positives. You've hardly elaborated on any.
If I go by what you're saying, this TV is no better than any of Sony's budget grade LED tv's.
 
With all due respect, I can understand your concern, sir… First and foremost, I’m not at all negative to find faults with this TV. Facts can’t be hindered, debated, or dismissed. It’s quite evident in my title line of the post with the words Critical & Honest. Next, let me elaborate once again, here we go…

I strongly disagree with the notion that my review is unbalanced. As a matter of fact, I have meticulously highlighted the TV's shortcomings to provide a realistic assessment of its performance. My observations are based on six months of hands-on experience, and I stand by my findings.

Rather than glossing over the TV's flaws, I believe it's essential to acknowledge and address them. By doing so, I aim to provide a transparent and honest evaluation that helps consumers make informed decisions.

I'm confident that my review accurately reflects the TV's capabilities and limitations. I will not compromise the integrity of my assessment to artificially inflate the product's rating or appease those who may disagree.

I firmly believe that S's brand reputation is built on its commitment to excellence. As a loyal S enthusiast, I have always held the brand to the highest standards. I honestly believe no other TV brand comes close to S's caliber.

However, my concern lies in the fact that S's latest flagship model, the S B 9, falls short of its own exceptional standards. Despite its impressive other features, I find it lacking in overall picture & sound quality and calibration.

In reality, the viewing experience is often marred by eye-bleeding brightness, reflections, and poor calibration. Whether watching during the day or night, the issues persist. I fail to see the perfect equilibrium that S is renowned for. Does high brightness, and peak luminance simply make
it the flagship…? Crazy…! While watching a few movies/content, especially at nighttime, our eyes will literally bleed making us to just shut down the TV.

As I stated earlier, the S B 9's performance is, in my opinion, on par with S's budget-grade TVs. This is not a criticism of the brand as a whole, but rather a call to return to its own exceptional standards. S's flagship models should embody the pinnacle of innovation and excellence, not merely rely on extravagant brightness. (Will share my view, and opinion on this TV flagship, in the next reply, separately).

Finally, Bottom-line… It’s not simply to quote a premium price point with crazy taglines like flagship; the movie is coming home, ABCD, WXYZ…, bombarding the whole world with marketing gimmicks, spin and ultimately bulldozing on the heads of consumers. Hence, I reiterate…always it should be P = P (Price = Performance), this makes the equilibrium. The same I mentioned in my post, the last line to conclude is ’By implementing these changes, S can create a truly exceptional TV that justifies its premium price’.
 
sandeepmohan said:
This is flagship grade Sony!
There is an Anti Reflective coating on the panel. I don't know if there is much more you can do over whats already there.

For what is a very expensive TV, applying the pro series tech will inflate the cost by a factor or two. Minimum.

The TV has very well placed speakers. It is infact one of the better ones. I'm not quite sure under what conditions and source material you had playing to comment. At this price point, TV sound is sort of second fiddle. 9.9 out of 10 who buy this TV will have a sound bar paired to it.

The TV also has auto calibration for the audio, like an AV Receiver. It can analyze the room and make improvement. I'm not sure if you had run this. Then again, all of this is pointless in a TV Showroom. It will never get it right as the environment itself ain't right.

More and more folks are ditching ethernet and connecting over wifi. The AX standard is as fast (Possibly faster) than Gigabit, so why bother with wired ethernet. For what the TV is designed to do, Wifi Ax will exceed the needs of the TV, as far as data transfer speeds go.

Its a pretty awesome TV in its own right. I can't comment on how it stacks up with the best from the Koreans.
Click to expand...
Behold, the TV that's more mirror than the screen! Introducing the S B 9 where daytime viewing is a 50/50 split between your favorite shows and your living room decor...!
But wait, it gets better! Even at night, this TV has a knack for reflection – literally. Any ambient light in the room will turn your screen into a virtual mirror, complete with reflections of you, your furniture, and possibly even your snack-filled couch cushions...!!
And don't even get me started on dark scenes. It's like the TV is trying to recreate the room's ambiance – minus the ambiance. Dark colors? Forget about it! Your room's reflections will hijack the screen, leaving you wondering if you're watching a TV show or a surreal funhouse mirror...!!!
My six-month hands-on experience with this TV has been… shall we say, enlightening. Is it a flagship? More like a flagship of frustration! Crazy…, indeed!
 
Hey,

Sorry, I didn't realize you were looking for calibration settings. However, I have to warn you – tweaking settings like white balance can actually make the picture worse rather than improving it. I’d recommend simply setting your TV to Filmmaker Mode or IMAX Mode, and adjusting motion smoothing to your preference (since everyone has different preferences). The truth is, proper calibration is done on a specific unit of a TV model. Even RTINGS mentions this when they share calibration settings – they provide them more as a reference, because each individual unit can have different deviations, even within the same model.

On the website I sent earlier, I believe there was also a article abt it: https://www.choose.tv/articles/disp...-discover-the-secret-of-the-perfect-image_AEQ
 
I wonder to what extent adding an anti-reflective coating affect the picture quality - for a TV designed to provide the best quality, i can see the logic behind why Sony would choose to go for the best picture quality, with the expectation that the potential buyer would also do their best to get the most out of the TV. Some high-end speaker also tend to be very finicky and sound best when placement is optimized - ie, not at all spouse-friendly. :). This is the direct analog of that. Although i get the frustration with buying a high-end TV and then having issues with it.

As for audio - ehh. TV audio is almost universally poor. There is only so much that DSP can do to overcome physics.
 
Harish_Hyderabad_India said:
Behold, the TV that's more mirror than the screen! Introducing the S B 9 where daytime viewing is a 50/50 split between your favorite shows and your living room decor...!
But wait, it gets better! Even at night, this TV has a knack for reflection – literally. Any ambient light in the room will turn your screen into a virtual mirror, complete with reflections of you, your furniture, and possibly even your snack-filled couch cushions...!!
And don't even get me started on dark scenes. It's like the TV is trying to recreate the room's ambiance – minus the ambiance. Dark colors? Forget about it! Your room's reflections will hijack the screen, leaving you wondering if you're watching a TV show or a surreal funhouse mirror...!!!
My six-month hands-on experience with this TV has been… shall we say, enlightening. Is it a flagship? More like a flagship of frustration! Crazy…, indeed!
Click to expand...
Are you sure you dont have faulty TV or your TV is Bravia 9 model? First of off all, the pictures you have uploaded in the OP is from rtings. And some pictures where it shows reflection is static black screen or no signal screen. Sorry if i'm misunderstood, can you post the pictures of the reflections when TV is showing some content?

I do know pure black or very dark screens does show some reflections like tubelight...which is same in my other LG OLED as well. Probably this is better handled in samsung 95D matte screen, but other than that every TV will have this kind of reflection.
 
Harish_Hyderabad_India said:
Behold, the TV that's more mirror than the screen! Introducing the S B 9 where daytime viewing is a 50/50 split between your favorite shows and your living room decor...!
But wait, it gets better! Even at night, this TV has a knack for reflection – literally. Any ambient light in the room will turn your screen into a virtual mirror, complete with reflections of you, your furniture, and possibly even your snack-filled couch cushions...!!
And don't even get me started on dark scenes. It's like the TV is trying to recreate the room's ambiance – minus the ambiance. Dark colors? Forget about it! Your room's reflections will hijack the screen, leaving you wondering if you're watching a TV show or a surreal funhouse mirror...!!!
My six-month hands-on experience with this TV has been… shall we say, enlightening. Is it a flagship? More like a flagship of frustration! Crazy…, indeed!
Click to expand...
I went to demo the 85 incher Bravia 9 TV in detail today at a nearby store and compared to popular OLEDs as well as other Sony TVs. I must Sony has done a great job in this miniled tv, the colours were really great and compared to OLEDs I can say its close to 85-90% in deep blacks. The showroom was brightly lit and still I could watch the TV without any issues. I also requested to switch on another TV just opposite to it so I could check the reflections and I was amazed by the reflection handling, though not the greatest but much better than what I've seen earlier.

I am in the boat to buy an 83/85 inches and had finalised the 83 LG C4 but the price is killing. Bravia 9, I got a price today for 460000 with 25k cb on emi, so effective price is 435000/- which is really good and will further come down a little in the coming weeks due to festival approaching. LG I got 550000 with cb.

After reading your comments I am in a dilemma.
 
saketb said:
I went to demo the 85 incher Bravia 9 TV in detail today at a nearby store and compared to popular OLEDs as well as other Sony TVs. I must Sony has done a great job in this miniled tv, the colours were really great and compared to OLEDs I can say its close to 85-90% in deep blacks. The showroom was brightly lit and still I could watch the TV without any issues. I also requested to switch on another TV just opposite to it so I could check the reflections and I was amazed by the reflection handling, though not the greatest but much better than what I've seen earlier.

I am in the boat to buy an 83/85 inches and had finalised the 83 LG C4 but the price is killing. Bravia 9, I got a price today for 460000 with 25k cb on emi, so effective price is 435000/- which is really good and will further come down a little in the coming weeks due to festival approaching. LG I got 550000 with cb.

After reading your comments I am in a dilemma.
Click to expand...
Thats a pretty sweet price for the 85". Any idea howmuch the 75" version is going for now?

Cheers..
 
I, finally have taken the bait for the Sony 85" bravia 9 and I must admit that the overall experience with the TV till now is good. I have spent a little over a month now and have noticed few good and bad things about it.

First the good...

1. Colours are just superb and popping, skin tones are very real and natural. All these I have set in the cinema mode.

2. Brightness levels are as advertised and are great, I've tested with content which have more than 1000 nits and they display well. Black levels are really good and comparable with an Oled TV. One of my concerns was the black levels and this TV gives the goods at a much lower price point than Oled counterparts.

3. Google software on TV is smooth, intuitive, good suggestions, searches are precise. The OS is fast enough and does not lag for now. Switching between apps is also fast enough.

4. Sony Pictures Core, picture and sound quality is amazing (limited to Sony productions), much better than the same content on other OTT platforms, though the credits are limited to just 10.

5. Sound quality I did not check as I use a Marantz AVR and Focal speakers with Atmos.

6. Find your remote feature which makes an audible beeping sound is very good and it really helped me pin-point it when it went under my sofa side.

7. Most important... Reflections are not so well handled but I am surprised to see that even when my living room curtains are open, ceiling lights are on the TV is bright enough with decent handling of reflections. Though not as great as my LG C3 Oled which is even better in this. I was actually very hesitant to buy after reading detailed reviews here about the bad reflection handling but then its not that bad. Without the TV being on, its like a mirror for sure, but when its on along with ceiling lights on and even outdoor light peeping in, the TV is bright enough and handles them well. Certaintly, a direct light projecting on the TV will be clearly visible and the experience will be very much diminished.

Now the so called bad...

1. First start (cold boot) takes significant time, the power is fed to the TV after few secs just like a stablizer. Could be good but its annoying at times.

2. Very heavy TV compared to other counterparts. But once fixed on the wall, no worries.

3. Pretty expensive comapared to the ratio of going by inches. But no other option available for the features it offers. Still I got a very good price compared to other quotes I received.

4. Ethernet is limited to 100 Mbps but its with most of the TVs.

Overall, I'm happy with the TV and hope that this works and goes on for years to come.
 
Harish_Hyderabad_India said:
For over 25 years, I have remained loyal to the Sony brand, drawn to its unwavering commitment to superior product quality, reliability, long-lasting durability and minimal repair issues, particularly in the TV lineup.

I was excited to experience the Sony Bravia 9 TV; K-85XR90. While this TV excels in video/picture quality and capabilities. There are several areas that require paramount improvement.

Picture Quality: A Double-Edged Sword

The TV's picture quality is exceptional, but it comes with a caveat. To fully appreciate its capabilities, the TV must be placed in a closed, dark room. Any ambient light will cause reflections on the screen, reminiscent of a mirror. To address this, Sony should incorporate a 100% haze factor, similar to their professional display model BZ 53L/BZ 50L.

Audio Quality: A Missed Opportunity

Despite boasting multiple speakers with 70W output, the audio quality is average at best. The primary issue lies in the speaker placement – all speakers are placed in the back panel, back-firing, causing sound waves to bounce off the decorum cardboard/acoustic panel, resulting in a dry, dull and low-quality sound output. The sound settings are also confusing and not user-friendly, catering more to traditional users who prefer low, quiet sound effects rather than those seeking a cinematic experience.

The Immersive Audio Paradox: Separating Reality from Hype

Despite the proliferation of advanced speaker technologies, such as surround firing, beam firing, and object-based audio, the promise of cinematic, immersive sound remains elusive. In reality, even with genuine Dolby Atmos and DTS: X content, the immersive sound experience falls short of expectations. Poor dialogue intelligibility in action scenes and low-pitch vocals, hard to hear, understand, follow, no matter you tweak in all sound settings like voice zoom, dialogue enhancer, equalizer, etc… In essence, the immersive audio experience often devolves into a familiar old-school stereophonic effect-a far cry from the stated cinematic experience-“ Cinema is Coming Home “!

Calibration Mode

Netflix and Prime Video's Calibration Modes are touted as unique selling points, offering users a personalized viewing experience. However, our experiences suggest that these calibration modes are not foolproof and require manual fine-tuning to achieve optimal results. Hence, room for improvement exists in calibration mode algorithms and user interface.

Connectivity Limitations

The TV's connectivity options are limited, with only two HDMI ports supporting 2.1. Furthermore, the Ethernet connectivity speed is capped at 100 Mbps, a significant drawback.


Conclusion:

At its premium price point, the Sony Bravia K-85XR90 falls short in several areas. To make it a game-changer, Sony must address these shortcomings:

Improve screen reflectivity with a 100% haze factor

Redesign speaker placement for better sound quality

Simplify sound settings for a more user-friendly experience

Increase HDMI ports with 2.1 supports

Upgrade Ethernet connectivity speed

By implementing these changes, Sony can create a truly exceptional TV that justifies its premium price.
Click to expand...
Did you buy the tv without demoing it first? I think the glossy glass is easily noticeable at the showroom. Most oleds or higher end series tvs have glossy panels which helps on having the color pop
 
based on feedbacks any possibilities they attend related improvements through firmware updates? I mean possible ones...not referring to screen reflections or other being type of hardware?
also any one got latest pricing for 75 & 85 inch 9 series please share.
 
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