OPINION : I was going to save this opinion for a rainy day , but it ’s been a slow word week and I might as well make a fool of myself : I do n’t quite understand Sony ’s television strategy .
I can see where it makes sense of the ship’s company – sort of , anyway . But I find myself confused as to where it ’s heading . I ’ll endeavor to explicate why in what might be a ramble opinion that reel off on many tangents . You ’ve been warned …
This opinion passably much flux duringmy time with theBravia 8 organic light-emitting diode . I cerebrate that TV was good enough to bring in 4.5 stars . Here ’s the affair , though : It’smore or less aslightimprovement over theA80L.
High brightness or low?
Now that score is skilful enough to put it among thebest TVsandbest 4 K TVs . Sony ’s word-painting processing is angiotensin-converting enzyme , the design is more accommodative than the A80L , and subtle improvements have been made here and there . But what ’s weird is that , according to the measure I take , in some picture modes it ’s dimmer than the A80L. Unless my measurements are wrong , you ’d expect a newer television receiver to be brighter , not dimmer .
It ismuchbrighter than before in its Professional and Vivid modality . But the fair individual is potential to stick with Standard and Cinema way , which are dimmer than the various modes on the A80L. In fact , the Standard manner seems to lose about 300 nits .
And this is from a company that’schampioned high brightness HDRas the future of TV . It trust so firmly in this notion that it make for out a new mastering monitor that can expose up to 4000 nit of peak brightness . And itsBravia 9 Mini LEDcan , obviously , hit around 3000 nit peak brightness .
But one problem is that most subject being mastered is not eminent brightness , but low-toned . The most talked - about instance have been episodes of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon , but even recently , I was struck by how a film such as Conclave was dimmer than I expected . camera operator and mastering specialists are experimenting with darkness and contrast , less so with full - on brightness .
This is another part where this gamey brightness scheme feel at betting odds , because you ’d assume that Sony would be chasing this light acrossallits TVs . It ’s crusade the limit withits LCDandMini LEDmodels , but has arguably been materialistic with its OLED .
The Bravia 8 can count bright , but only because of Sony ’s excellent picture processing . This has always confounded me , as Sony is n’t a TV brand name that ’s chased brightness as much as , say , Samsung . Ask Sony reps a question about how bright their TVs are , and you ’ll get a wry chortle . They ’re not concerned in a spec state of war .
When it derive to luminousness , Sony is just as interested in smutty levels , demarcation , and ultimately , command over how the fidelity of the image .
So yes , Sonyuses brightness to feed into movie processing . ItsQD - OLEDsweren’t as shiny as the competition , but they deliver some gorgeous images .
The Bravia 8 finger like a slicker but rebadged A80L , as if Sony had armoury leave alone over and ask to getrid of it . And this is me guessing , but the Bravia 8 does n’t attend like it uses the bright OLED EX that theLG C4andPhilips OLED809have , which , in some slipway , makes its operation more telling .
It has been a long time…
Now we get to Sony ’s launch schedule . Sony does n’t replace its tv yearly , or even every six months like some brands . It ’s resolve into an 18 - calendar month agenda , not because it ’s dull , but because Sony has move into the premium television receiver space . Flooding the market every year with expensive boob tube does n’t make sense .
I wish some telly brands took the same approach , but then I ’d have less to do …
Nevertheless , 18 months is a long meter , but in some display case , it ’s even longer . Do you remember the last 42- and 48 - inch OLED TV Sony made ? That ’s because thelast 48 - inch OLEDcame out in 2020 – fiveyearsago .
The42 - inch OLED?Three years ago . And that 42 - inch is still available and costs £ 1299 at Amazon UK.Philips has a 48 - column inch OLEDthat came out in 2024 and you’re able to get it for £ 756 .
Also , Sony ’s focal point on appealing to its PS5 radical with specific gambling features while most others support both console and PC gamers is curious . Rather than appeal toall gamers , Sony seems only interested in a ( perpendicular ) slice .
…and times have changed
Whether it ’s the approach path to its idiot box , its release schedule , pricing or feature , I ’m a little concerned about the direction of Sony ’s TVs . They ’re all high quality – at least the ones we ’ve review are – but clip have changed , and it does n’t feel as the Sony TV sword has the same cachet as before .
I get that it ’s not looking to invoke to the hoi polloi as it used to , but the deal are seemingly where the sales are happening , even if there ’s not as much money to be made . Sony may make more money at higher cost , but it ’s selling fewer TVs than Samsung in the UK , which has also pitched towards the premium TV grocery .
We ’re in a time where Chinese TV brands such as TCL and Hisense have put the squeeze on the Korean stigma ( LG and Samsung ) , who perform a exchangeable trick on the Japanese brands ( Panasonic , JVC , Sony , Sharp ) a decade and change ago . The Japanese video brands have n’t disappeared , but theirstatus has diminished , whether it ’s because others have innovated or are less expensive . They take chances being squeezed out of the market .
It feels as if 2025 could – or should – be a liberal year for Sony , but the last few twelvemonth have been surprisingly quiet . That tell , it ’s always calm before the violent storm , so here ’s hoping that Sony ’s new television declaration bring the thunder and lightning , God of War style .
