Segundo a forbes parece que resolveram o problema já conhecido das OLEDS LG a ver vamos....
Para a sony a topo de gama continua a ser a ZD9 , sabendo que a zd9 de 65" custa 5000€ teoricamente a A1 deverá ficar abaixo deste valor.
For starters, Sony showed me evidence that, like Panasonic with its EZ1000 (previewed here), it has ‘solved’ the issues with sudden greyness and noise when handling near-black image content that’s troubled LG OLED TVs up to this point. Black levels looked consistently deep and rich in detail - even with shots that caused obvious greyness on an LG E6 they had running alongside their 65A1.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarc...-sony-a1-oled-tvs-show-stoppers/#2651c3df7c09
As rumors had suggested would be the case, Sony launched its first big-screen OLED TVs at the 2017 CES. What I wasn’t fully prepared for, however, is how ambitious Sony is being with its new OLED babies. For as I discovered while spending some quality time with a 65-inch 65A1 in a dark room hidden away in quiet corner of the CES show floor, Sony has gone way, way beyond just rebadging an LG OLED.
For starters, the design of Sony’s A1 OLEDs is completely unique. From the front it really looks like you’re seeing nothing but a slightly angled back screen. There’s no visible stand, and the bezel is ultra-skinny and as dark as both a blacked out room and those mesmerizing black levels that are OLED technology’s calling card. Basically, if you’re watching the 65A1 in a black room you’ll only see the picture.
The Sony A1 OLEDs certainly turned heads at the CES. (Pic: John Archer)
This absolute focus on picture was, as Sony’s attending engineers confirm, absolutely at the heart of the brand’s concept for its first big-screen OLED TV. In fact, in what may be a first for the TV industry, Sony’s quest for absolute immersion has even seen it remove its logo from the A1’s frame!
The TV is supported by a large upturned ‘V’ stand that attaches to roughly the center of the its rear, and from the apex of which emanates a horizontal bar carrying two pairs of audio exciters. Yes, that’s right, audio exciters. For in a brilliantly clever move, Sony’s new OLED TVs ditch the conventional notion of speakers by using their entire screens as their sound systems.
Innovative sound
As well as having aesthetic benefits, using the glass-backed OLED panel to create sound means effects and vocals have more chance of sounding as if they’re appearing from exactly the right place on the screen. Indeed, Sony ran a fun little demo of an animated bird flitting around the screen tweeting away to itself, during which the tweeting sounds tracked the position of the bird with uncanny accuracy.
Recommended by Forbes
A couple of actual movie scenes mostly backed this audio accuracy up too - though from my listening position slightly to the left of center, I did notice a couple of occasions where the voice of someone just to the right of center of the image seemed to be coming from the left side of the screen.
Sony A1 OLED TV in profile. (Pic: Sony)
However, I was sat closer to the screen during the dark room demo than I would be in a typical test/living room environment, and would normally expect a ‘flat panel’ speaker system like the one Sony is using here to deliver a sound less affected by viewing position than typical sound systems. In other words, I’m not currently putting much store in this isolated demo oddity of what’s still a pre-production TV!
In fact, with a seemingly well integrated subwoofer built into the rear stand adding a reasonable amount of bass to what struck me as an impressively open, clean sound from the main speakers, I came away feeling more impressed by Sony’s latest TV sound innovation than I’d frankly expected to be.
Sony claims, by the way, that the subwoofer still functions fine if the rear stand is adjusted for wall hanging the TV.
The main event
Fun though the A1 OLED’s sound system might be, though, it’s their 4K picture quality that will be of most interest to AV enthusiasts. So I’m happy to report that things are looking very promising on this front too.
For starters, Sony showed me evidence that, like Panasonic with its EZ1000 (previewed here), it has ‘solved’ the issues with sudden greyness and noise when handling near-black image content that’s troubled LG OLED TVs up to this point. Black levels looked consistently deep and rich in detail - even with shots that caused obvious greyness on an LG E6 they had running alongside their 65A1. I should add, though, that both TVs were running in their Vivid preset - a preset which Sony now recommends you use on its OLEDs, but which certainly does not do LG’s OLEDs any favors.
The Sony 65A1's rear. (Pic: John Archer)
Colors, too, looked gorgeously rich and controlled during the Sony demo - even though pretty much the only colors we were shown actually came from standard dynamic range footage ‘upgraded’ to HDR by the TV’s internal processing (powered by the X1 Extreme chipset that proved such a hit in Sony’s Z9 TVs).
So confident is Sony in its SDR-to-HDR conversion, in fact, that the function (and a similar solution for apparently boosting the appearance of native HDR) remains permanently on unless you select the TVs’ Cinema picture preset.
The colors in the upgraded SDR demo actually looked slightly more controlled than the native HDR ones on show on the screens out on show on Sony’s CES stand. For while those ‘on-stand’ TVs certainly looked spectacularly vibrant, they occasionally exhibited a clipped or ‘blown’ tone.
HDR no-show
Add this to the way Sony seemingly only wanted to show us upconverted SDR in its dark room demo, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Sony’s engineers are still working on optimizing the way the brand’s usually impressive Triluminos color system operates with HDR in an OLED rather than LCD environment.
Sony is not a brand prone to talking about the specifications of its TVs, and wouldn’t be drawn into revealing brightness specifications for the A1 OLEDs. I was struck, though, by how unexpectedly bright the A1s looked, especially the models out on the Sony stand, where they were running consistently bright, color-rich HDR images that filled their entire screens (rather than the bright elements only taking up a small area of the available screen space as we usually get with OLED demos).
The Sony A1 OLEDs look seriously attractive from any angle. (Pic: Sony)
Other noticeable strengths of Sony’s OLED TVs versus previous LG models were really natural looking motion, less color noise, zero color banding in areas of fine blends, and excellent clarity and detailing - all courtesy, no doubt, of Sony’s X1 Extreme processor. A processor without which, according to Dolby, it would have been impossible to add Dolby Vision to Sony’s Z9 LCD TVs, as well as introducing it from launch on the A1 OLEDs.
A Sony engineer suggested to me that the brand still sees the Z9 LCDs as its top-tier TVs rather than the A1 OLEDs, because of the way the Z9s brightness and color volume delivers a ‘more HDR’ experience. The new OLEDs are being seen - correctly, it seems to me - as opening up a potential separate market for Sony with the sort of AV enthusiast who likely watches a lot of TV in a dark room and who still (and may well always) sees black level response as the most important part of TV picture quality.
I came away from my early look at the A1 OLEDs feeling mostly seriously impressed - and they seemed to be wowing the crowds out on Sony’s booth too, more than arguably any other TV at the CES. This is no mean feat given the big increase in quality there seemed to be this year from all the main TV brands.
My early guess would be that provided Sony gets the pricing right, it should have a hit on its hands with the A1 OLEDs. Keep an eye on my Forbes feed for updates and a full review as soon as finished samples become available.
Para a sony a topo de gama continua a ser a ZD9 , sabendo que a zd9 de 65" custa 5000€ teoricamente a A1 deverá ficar abaixo deste valor.
For starters, Sony showed me evidence that, like Panasonic with its EZ1000 (previewed here), it has ‘solved’ the issues with sudden greyness and noise when handling near-black image content that’s troubled LG OLED TVs up to this point. Black levels looked consistently deep and rich in detail - even with shots that caused obvious greyness on an LG E6 they had running alongside their 65A1.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarc...-sony-a1-oled-tvs-show-stoppers/#2651c3df7c09
As rumors had suggested would be the case, Sony launched its first big-screen OLED TVs at the 2017 CES. What I wasn’t fully prepared for, however, is how ambitious Sony is being with its new OLED babies. For as I discovered while spending some quality time with a 65-inch 65A1 in a dark room hidden away in quiet corner of the CES show floor, Sony has gone way, way beyond just rebadging an LG OLED.
For starters, the design of Sony’s A1 OLEDs is completely unique. From the front it really looks like you’re seeing nothing but a slightly angled back screen. There’s no visible stand, and the bezel is ultra-skinny and as dark as both a blacked out room and those mesmerizing black levels that are OLED technology’s calling card. Basically, if you’re watching the 65A1 in a black room you’ll only see the picture.
The Sony A1 OLEDs certainly turned heads at the CES. (Pic: John Archer)
This absolute focus on picture was, as Sony’s attending engineers confirm, absolutely at the heart of the brand’s concept for its first big-screen OLED TV. In fact, in what may be a first for the TV industry, Sony’s quest for absolute immersion has even seen it remove its logo from the A1’s frame!
The TV is supported by a large upturned ‘V’ stand that attaches to roughly the center of the its rear, and from the apex of which emanates a horizontal bar carrying two pairs of audio exciters. Yes, that’s right, audio exciters. For in a brilliantly clever move, Sony’s new OLED TVs ditch the conventional notion of speakers by using their entire screens as their sound systems.
Innovative sound
As well as having aesthetic benefits, using the glass-backed OLED panel to create sound means effects and vocals have more chance of sounding as if they’re appearing from exactly the right place on the screen. Indeed, Sony ran a fun little demo of an animated bird flitting around the screen tweeting away to itself, during which the tweeting sounds tracked the position of the bird with uncanny accuracy.
Recommended by Forbes
A couple of actual movie scenes mostly backed this audio accuracy up too - though from my listening position slightly to the left of center, I did notice a couple of occasions where the voice of someone just to the right of center of the image seemed to be coming from the left side of the screen.
Sony A1 OLED TV in profile. (Pic: Sony)
However, I was sat closer to the screen during the dark room demo than I would be in a typical test/living room environment, and would normally expect a ‘flat panel’ speaker system like the one Sony is using here to deliver a sound less affected by viewing position than typical sound systems. In other words, I’m not currently putting much store in this isolated demo oddity of what’s still a pre-production TV!
In fact, with a seemingly well integrated subwoofer built into the rear stand adding a reasonable amount of bass to what struck me as an impressively open, clean sound from the main speakers, I came away feeling more impressed by Sony’s latest TV sound innovation than I’d frankly expected to be.
Sony claims, by the way, that the subwoofer still functions fine if the rear stand is adjusted for wall hanging the TV.
The main event
Fun though the A1 OLED’s sound system might be, though, it’s their 4K picture quality that will be of most interest to AV enthusiasts. So I’m happy to report that things are looking very promising on this front too.
For starters, Sony showed me evidence that, like Panasonic with its EZ1000 (previewed here), it has ‘solved’ the issues with sudden greyness and noise when handling near-black image content that’s troubled LG OLED TVs up to this point. Black levels looked consistently deep and rich in detail - even with shots that caused obvious greyness on an LG E6 they had running alongside their 65A1. I should add, though, that both TVs were running in their Vivid preset - a preset which Sony now recommends you use on its OLEDs, but which certainly does not do LG’s OLEDs any favors.
The Sony 65A1's rear. (Pic: John Archer)
Colors, too, looked gorgeously rich and controlled during the Sony demo - even though pretty much the only colors we were shown actually came from standard dynamic range footage ‘upgraded’ to HDR by the TV’s internal processing (powered by the X1 Extreme chipset that proved such a hit in Sony’s Z9 TVs).
So confident is Sony in its SDR-to-HDR conversion, in fact, that the function (and a similar solution for apparently boosting the appearance of native HDR) remains permanently on unless you select the TVs’ Cinema picture preset.
The colors in the upgraded SDR demo actually looked slightly more controlled than the native HDR ones on show on the screens out on show on Sony’s CES stand. For while those ‘on-stand’ TVs certainly looked spectacularly vibrant, they occasionally exhibited a clipped or ‘blown’ tone.
HDR no-show
Add this to the way Sony seemingly only wanted to show us upconverted SDR in its dark room demo, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Sony’s engineers are still working on optimizing the way the brand’s usually impressive Triluminos color system operates with HDR in an OLED rather than LCD environment.
Sony is not a brand prone to talking about the specifications of its TVs, and wouldn’t be drawn into revealing brightness specifications for the A1 OLEDs. I was struck, though, by how unexpectedly bright the A1s looked, especially the models out on the Sony stand, where they were running consistently bright, color-rich HDR images that filled their entire screens (rather than the bright elements only taking up a small area of the available screen space as we usually get with OLED demos).
The Sony A1 OLEDs look seriously attractive from any angle. (Pic: Sony)
Other noticeable strengths of Sony’s OLED TVs versus previous LG models were really natural looking motion, less color noise, zero color banding in areas of fine blends, and excellent clarity and detailing - all courtesy, no doubt, of Sony’s X1 Extreme processor. A processor without which, according to Dolby, it would have been impossible to add Dolby Vision to Sony’s Z9 LCD TVs, as well as introducing it from launch on the A1 OLEDs.
A Sony engineer suggested to me that the brand still sees the Z9 LCDs as its top-tier TVs rather than the A1 OLEDs, because of the way the Z9s brightness and color volume delivers a ‘more HDR’ experience. The new OLEDs are being seen - correctly, it seems to me - as opening up a potential separate market for Sony with the sort of AV enthusiast who likely watches a lot of TV in a dark room and who still (and may well always) sees black level response as the most important part of TV picture quality.
I came away from my early look at the A1 OLEDs feeling mostly seriously impressed - and they seemed to be wowing the crowds out on Sony’s booth too, more than arguably any other TV at the CES. This is no mean feat given the big increase in quality there seemed to be this year from all the main TV brands.
My early guess would be that provided Sony gets the pricing right, it should have a hit on its hands with the A1 OLEDs. Keep an eye on my Forbes feed for updates and a full review as soon as finished samples become available.
