Verdict
Sony ’s unparalleled new contribute backlight engine helps its modish top telly range turn in the brightest , most colourful and fundamentally most all - round futuristic pictures I ’ve ever seen
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Sony like to keep people guessing about where it ’s straight heart lies when it come to telecasting technology . One minute it ’s turning out a state of the artOLED TV , the next it ’s serving up an extremist - bright8 K TVwith a price tag to match .
The late twist in Sony ’s ever - changing tv set journeying finds the brand going back to the backlight drawing gameboard for new 4 K Bravia 9 TVs design to be a perfect partner for the latest ultra - bright Hollywood mastering monitor .
Availability
The 65 - inch Bravia 9 costs £ 2,799 in the UK at the metre of review , and $ 3,000 in the US . It went on sales event towards the oddment of 2024 in the UK , a few months after its bigger 75- and 85 - column inch example launch . In Australia the Bravia 9 orbit is only usable in the two larger cover sizes .
Design
How much you like the Bravia 9 ’s design bet on whether you ’re more eviscerate to svelte scarcely thereness or tank - similar rigor and heft . If the latter float your boat , then the Bravia 9 is very much the TV for you .
Its robust bodywork librate a long ton by innovative TV standards , with even the 65 - inch model show a challenge for two people to set up on its stall – never mind wall - hang it if that ’s what you want to do .
The Bravia 9 is deep round the back than most modern premium TVs , mean that as well as straining your back if you want to fence hang it , it also sticks out more than most . In truth we ’re only talking about an superfluous centimetre or two .
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If you ’d rather pop the TV on article of furniture , the substructure it ships with can handily be attached either mightily under the covert ’s corner or much closer together , and with the television receiver either model right down low on them , or with the silver screen raised a brace of in to oblige a soundbar .
Connectivity
connection on the Bravia 9 are reign by fourHDMI embrasure . It ’s a slight disappointing to ascertain that only two of these comment are equipped to handle everything today ’s AV world can shed at them , including 4K/120Hz gaming feeds and variable refresh rates .
But I approximate there wo n’t be too many the great unwashed who have three mellow frame rate play devices they require to connect to their TV at once .
There are USB ports for streaming files from USB memory gimmick , too , as well as a unique - to - Sony S - Center port which can connect to a soundbar so that the TV ’s verbaliser take on center - channel duty .
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Features
Sony has long held the opinion that to doHDR properly , you demand brightness . A ( highly credible ! ) opinion that first led the blade ’s professional division to explicate a new mastering monitor adequate to of handling 4000 nit of cleverness , and then inspired the trade name ’s consumer television division to bump a way to make a solidification capable of doing these potentially radical - undimmed new source justice . Resulting in the Bravia 9s .
To accomplish its TV brightness goals without break either global baron consumption ordinance or the banks of anyone who wanted to buy one , Sony ’s engineers designed a whole new backlight contour and controller system for the Bravia 9 . I ’m not going to detail everything about it here ( not least because much of it was above my brain grade ) , but fundamentally it combinesMini LEDlighting with new electrical efficiency and arguably the most advanced blur geographical zone driver command system seen in the TV world to particular date .
So legion are the dimming zones on the 65 - inch Bravia 9 ( or perhaps a better means of putting it would be to say ‘ so seamlessly and efficaciously controlled are the Bravia 9 ’s dim zona ’ ) that I was n’t capable to numerate them using any of my common geographical zone - counting test signals . This is the first metre I ’ve ever had this problem with an LED TV – but it ’s a problem I ’m very happy to come up against !
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The young backlight system turn out capable of hitting peak brightness outputs of more than 3,000 nits , get it closer to Sony ’s new 4,000 - nit mastering measure than any previous Sony TV bar the brand ’s radical - expensiveZ9 G 8 K modelsfrom a few years back . And those 8 jet TVs did not have a power or dimming zone direction scheme as cutting edge as the one in the Bravia 9 .
A firing system as sophisticated as the one inside the Bravia 9 needs an advanced processing system to keep in line it – which in the Bravia 9 ’s case come good manners of Sony ’s latest XR C.P.U. .
The Bravia 9 stick out the HDR10,HLGandDolby Vision HDRformats , but notHDR10 + . It has lot of dynamic tone mapping fast one up its sleeve to optimise HDR10 sources to the screen ’s considerable capability , though – as well as a series of picture presets that includes a Professional one designed to cohere closely to establish industriousness monetary standard for motion picture fancier .
The Bravia 9 ’s sound recording has a Acoustic Multi - Audio+ system that places tweeters around the boob tube ’s bodywork , include its top and side edge , to cast out a turgid soundstage – especially when listening toDolby AtmosorDTS : Xsoundtracks .
The Bravia 9 ’s late processor can also up conflate stereo source to 5.1.2 distribution channel , as well as separate out dialog lead using AI to line up the lucidity and volume of dialogue without affecting the residuum of the mix .
User Experience
As with all Sony premium TVs , the Bravia 9 adoptsGoogle TVfor its impertinent feature , adding separate app support to cover Sony ’s blind dapple when it comes to the catch up apps of some of the UK ’s main terrestrial broadcaster .
The Google TV organisation also supports Google Cast right out of the boxwood , and the Google Assistant voice control / recognition organization .
The Bravia 9 also transport with two remote control : one steady push heavy one , and one more streamlined , stylish ‘ overbold ’ option with a built in mic . Most citizenry will favour the smart one for most of the time , I suspect .
Gaming
Sony has provided a couplet of specific gaming features for possessor of the sword ’s PS5 console table , as part of its Perfect For PlayStation 5 scheme . Auto HDR Tone Mapping tells the console precisely which Sony TV it ’s connect to , so that it can mechanically output optimum brightness horizontal surface , while Auto Genre Picture fashion tells the TV when the PS5 is used as a play gimmick or a video playback twist , so it can adapt its configurations accordingly .
While the Bravia 9 excels as an HDR - loving home cinema automobile , it ’s also for my money Sony ’s best TV to date for gaming . Its innate light , contrast and semblance lastingness chime perfectly with the sort of 4 K , high frame charge per unit HDR graphics any triple A plot released these 24-hour interval can cater .
It also only take a fraction over 10ms to render images when move in its Game mode – a severely impressive final result for a TV with so much figure management move on .
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Picture Quality
It ’s toilsome to see how the Bravia 9 TVs could have done a much better Book of Job of give up on Sony ’s ‘ luminosity is good ’ content without taking their price into the stratosphere .
The amount of luminousness the 65 - inch Bravia 9 pump out is instant and systematically spectacular , perforate HDR film off the screen with an strength I ’ve only get a line on a handful of tv set before .
In fact , for my money , it can claim to be the most consistently hopeful 4 special K picture around , partially because unlike even the most high-pitched - remnant OLED TVs it do to keep huge measure of easy output – more than 800 nits – with full - screen bright HDR footage , and partly because it does n’t join rival brands , most notably Samsung , in heavy dimming the intensity of pocket-sized bright object if they come out against morose backcloth .
The full talents of the new backlight array are only revealed when you consider how deep and ordered the TV ’s black colours calculate despite the brightness level the screen can belt out out . Very dark shots are depict with pretty much OLED - corresponding grade of smuggled tier profundity , with no hint of the kind of grey wash over pictures that LCD TV typically exhibit with grim content .
There ’s nothing squeeze about the Bravia 9 ’s olympian black levels , either , in that even the darkest street corner of the darkest picture still contain all the subtle shading and colour details they were subdue to show . Nothing gets ‘ crushed ’ out of the picture . The discreetness of power and scant management required to handle such dear - black image depicted object so effectively is brain - gasconade
The remarkable abilities of Sony ’s unexampled backlight organization do n’t terminate there . They also help the Bravia 9 divulge subtleties of colour and shade in the brightest parts of HDR range of a function beyond anything I ’ve assure on any other television . Which in turn unlocks a gorgeous sense of sharpness , deepness and detail .
This is particularly dead on target with aboriginal 4 kB HDR images – though actually Sony ’s processing also both upscales HD sources to 4 K bright , and convert SDR to HDR more insightfully and believably than any other exchangeable system of rules I ’ve realize .
you could retain pretty much all of the mental image ’s clarity and subtlety when there ’s motion in the inning , too , good manners of a combination of a fast - react kernel LCD panel , and the tolerate quality of some of Sony ’s MotionFlow processing options . These include options that can take the border off judder when watching 24p source without turning them into scoop operas or throwing up undesirable processing side effects such as lagging , waver or smudging around the edges of move objects .
No television to date has accomplish picture perfection , of course , and this is true also of the Sony Bravia 9 . Niggles with Sony ’s latest goggle box star in the main represent fairly limited viewing Angle before backlight blooming start to become detectable .
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on occasion being able-bodied to see too patently the workings of the local dimming engine when watching aggressively subdue HDR content ; a slightly over - carmine looking to HDR10 skin tones with some of the TV ’s presets that you ask to try and calibrate away in the boob tube ’s ripe colour setting menus . And a tendency for the observation - reducing filter the screen carry to cause a sort of rainbowing burden to spread out a few in across the cover around particularly vivid unclouded beginning reflections ( so try and obviate have a wall light opposite the screen if at all possible ) .
These niggles are either minor in the great scheme of things or addressable through the TV ’s available moving picture preferences . So do n’t countenance them deter you from seriously consider arguably the most compressed - out and all - round spectacular 4 K TV ever made .
Sound Quality
The in high spirits power handling and channel numeration of the Bravia 9 ’s Acoustic Multi Audio+ system contribute to an integrated sound recording execution that does the TV ’s uncompromising picture majestic .
The positioning of speakers all around the TV ’s bodywork , for starters , help it cast out an imposingly broad soundstage . Sound consequence can be hear way beyond the goggle box ’s physical appendage in all directions – including upwards , thanks to the TVs ’ dedicated up - firing channels . The levelheaded emanates forward with more intensity than you get with most modern TVs too , help it create a sense of real three dimensional sound outer space .
I would n’t say this three - dimensional soundscape actually wraps around you like a lawful surround audio speaker or soundbar bundle does , but the space between you and the onscreen action certainly feel busy , live and immersive .
by from the occasional high - pitch ambient sound gist pull a little too much attention to itself , the Bravia 9 ’s sound stage typically sound balanced and well - construct , with no deficiency of cohesiveness or sentiency of crispness at its extremes . treble are produced without sounding strident or hard - butt , while at the other end of the frequency range sea bass sounds punchy and fair for the vast legal age of the time .
A tactual sensation of buzzing can cringe into the TV ’s audio display if a film or boob tube show features a particularly deep and prolonged deep bass rumbling , but such distortion - inducing moments will be uncommon in the great dodge of an average home ’s total TV viewing time .
Should you buy it?
The new backlight organisation and driver Sony has developed for the Bravia 9 television receiver series cede unprecedented levels of LCD boob tube backlight control . With all the knock on advantages you ’d hope for
While I ’d argue the Sony Bravia 9 is worth its money given it ’s genuine ground - breaking status , that does n’t exchange the fact that its asking terms may simply be beyond reach for many Ab fans
Final Thoughts
The Bravia 9 is expensive by today ’s 65 - inch telecasting standards – but your wages is one of those big leaps forward in picture character that Sony systematically deliver every few years .
This is a statement product , and by statement ware standard , the 65 - in Bravia 9 ’s Mary Leontyne Price actually look pretty reasonable . Especially when its ground - ruin pictures are accompanied by powerful sound , content - productive Google TV smart and a strong gaming performance .
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How we test
The Sony 65 - inch Bravia 9 was tested over a period of 17 days , during which time it was used in a smorgasbord of scope . These included 10 days where it was a main living way TV , as well as many hours of being fed many of our favourite flick and trial sequences from a mix of 4 K Blu - ray , HD Blu - ray and streaming sources in a darkened test room .
I also put the Bravia 9 TV through its rate with Portrait Studios ’ Calman Ultimate display analysis / standardisation software , G1 trial signal author and C6 C5000 light / color meter .
FAQs
Mini LEDs are much smaller light sources than the normal LED traditionally used in LCD television . This help oneself TVs deliver more luminosity and importantly better light control .
Two of the Bravia 9 ’s HDMI port can sustain 4K/120Hz graphics and varying refresh rates , a game mode gets input lag down to a rapid 10ms or so , and there ’s support for screen - specific HDR playback capabilities courtesy of Sony ’s ‘ Perfect For PlayStation 5 feature .
The Bravia 9 can play HDR10 , HLG and Dolby Vision . But there ’s no livelihood for HDR10 + .
Test Data
Full Specs
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