It’s going to be a big year for TVs. Now that 4K TVs have superceded Full HD TVs in all but the smallest screen sizes, the likes of Sony, Samsung and LG are set to roll out their ranges of 8K beasts.
IT’S GOING to be a big year for TVs. Now that 4K TVs have superceded Full HD TVs in all but the smallest screen sizes, the likes of Sony, Samsung and LG are set to roll out 8K colossi.
Samsung and LG have yet to reveal their NZ plans but Sony’s first 8K TV could be in shops by spring.
That’s when it’s due out in Australia, although Sony NZ has still to confirm local availability and pricing.
TV manufacturers often don’t release all of their models here because the small market for ultrahigh end TVs doesn’t justify the volume needed to bring them in to the country. Samsung launched its first 8K TV internationally last year but not in NZ.
If Sony NZ does market the KD85Z9G, it will be the biggest consumer TV it’s offered in NZ – and the best yet.
The 85-inch behemoth will spearhead Sony’s flagship Master series, the first example of which was Sony’s stunning 4K OLED TV, the A9F.
While the Z9G will be an LED rather than OLED TV, it will boast four times as many pixels as a 4K TV and 16 times the resolution of Full HD – which is what’s required for a screen this vast to maximise picture quality.
As amazing as that sounds, the catch is there won’t be any native 8K content to watch on it. New Zealand broadcasters don’t even transmit in 4K and even though the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video stream in the resolution, Spark won’t be offering 4K streaming when it launches its Spark Sport app this month.
However, Sony and the rest of the 8K camp are betting on their engineering ingenuity to persuade consumers that 8K is worth the higher cost years ahead of content becoming commonplace.
Sony says its proprietary algorithm, the Picture Processor X1 Ultimate, has been optimised for 8K’s 33 million pixels and will upscale lower-resolution content to near-8K quality while new 8K technologies will deliver unprecedented contrast and intelligently boost brightness where needed.
Even if Sony NZ opts not to launch the Z9G here this year, the good news is some of the technology behind it will feature in its higher-end 4K TVs.
And even size won’t be unduly compromised, with Sony adding a 77-inch OLED option for the first time.
The new A9G series, which will include 65- and 55-inch displays, will use the same processing engine as the Z9G to try to fool viewers into mistaking standard and high definition content for 4K (although Sky’s shabbier SD feeds could prove too tough a test).
But the best improvement for de´ cor-conscious homeowners will be the new wall mount system Sony’s developed.
For years Samsung had led the industry in designing TVs that fit snugly to the wall and at last Sony is countering with an option that will maximise the insane slimness of an OELD display.
With the SU-WL850 mounting system, Sony says the gap between the A9G and the wall will be about half that of the A9F’s, creating the illusion of the TV floating on the wall (it also will be able to swivel for optimal viewing).
And like the Z9G, A9G TVs will have a Netflix Calibrated Mode, be IMAX Enhanced, and offer Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos capabilities.
Both the Z9G and A9G series will work with popular smart speakers, such as Sony’s LF-S50G and SRSXB501G, and those from Google Home or Amazon Echo.
With these speakers, users will be able to direct them to control the TV and stream content.
There also will be an A8G OLED range with fewer features and less processing prowess. It will be available in 55- and 65-inch sizes from July and the A9G from August.
New from May will be Sony’s X9500 LED range (55, 65, 75, 85) and X8500 (65, 75, 85).
Like the Z9G, the X9500’s 75and 85-inch models will have an “X-Wide Angle” that minimises colour change when viewed from the side and will have the same processing power as the A8G TVs.
They will also have a full-array local dimming backlight with X-tended Dynamic Range PRO that Sony says will deliver six times the contrast of conventional LED TVs.
The lower-price X8500 won’t be as highly specified but all of Sony’s 2019 TVs will have a new, easier-tooperate smart remote control.
It will combine a slimmer, more rounded design with built-in voice control microphone and enhanced button layout, and will control set top boxes and other devices via HDMI.
Complementing these TVs will be two new soundbars: the HTX8500 (from next month) and HTS350 (from June).
The former is a 2.1-channel soundbar that Sony optimistically claims can virtually recreate 7.1.2-channel surround sound without the need for extra speakers – or even a subwoofer (dual subwoofers are built-in). It’s both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X compatible.
The HT-S350 will come with a wireless subwoofer and 5.1-channel decoding.