Sony is shaking up its premium TV business, with the announcement of a new range of high performance BRAVIA branded 4k televisions. Out goes its old model numbering system, and in come sets branded BRAVIA 7, 8 and 9, along with a raft of clever technologies designed to bring home the cinema experience like never before.
The BRAVIA 9 is Sony’s flagship TV for 2024, and it’s a blockbuster. Available in 75- and 85-inch screen sizes, it’s a Mini LED model with advanced new backlighting technology that delivers brighter, more precise HDR.
The BRAVIA 8 is an OLED model, for those that favour the cinema style of OLED screen technology; it comes in 55-, 65-inch and 77-inch screen sizes.
The BRAVIA 7 is a more affordable Mini LED model, and comes in 55-, 65-, 75- and 85-inch screen sizes, offering more room placement choice than the BRAVIA 9.
The BRAVIA 9 is Sony’s flagship TV for 2024, and it’s a blockbuster…
I travelled to Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, to take an early look at all three models, at a glitzy launch event, and was knocked out by their performance.
The BRAVIA 9 in particular could well be the screen beat in 2024. Long story short: it’s the best looking Mini LED TV I’ve ever seen.
Much of its appeal can be attributed to a new Sony-developed XR Backlight Master Drive, coupled to a powerful local dimming algorithm. This new set boasts 3x the number of dimming zones in Sony’s X95L, and is able to hit very high peak brightness.
That said, it’s not the number of dimming zones that determines absolute image quality. It’s what you do with them that counts – and the BRAVIA 9 does a lot.
Of course, there’s no shortage of Mini LED TVs can hit extreme peak HDR brightness. What sets the BRAVIA 9 apart from rivals is its ability to deliver near OLED-quality black levels with ultra precise HDR handling and minimal blooming around bright objects. It also offers quite sensational colour depth and vibrancy.
I ran through a variety of challenging movie sequences in both its Custom and Standard picture modes, and thought its performance was exemplary.
Sister set, the BRAVIA 7, isn’t quite as dazzling, but it is offered in a wider range of screen sizes, and looks just as colour rich. If you can’t accommodate a panel 75-inches upward, it’s probably the next best choice.
OLED remains beloved of home cinema fans, and the BRAVIA 8 plays to that technology’s strengths, with superb dynamics, perfect inky blacks and loads of low light shadow detail.
In many ways it’s comparable to the Sony A80L, but comes with an upgraded XR processor that has better Scene Selection technology and face detection, both of which help direct its picture processing muscle.
It’s also rather nicer looking, with a flat back panel that can be mounted near-flush to a wall.
At this big BRAVIA TV unveiling in LA, complete with champagne-dressed hosts, Sony announced an exclusive partnership with Prime Video that will see each of these new sets offer a dedicated Prime Video Calibrated viewing mode. This preset joins a Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode and a Sony Pictures Core Calibrated Mode (for Sony’s own streaming service).
The Prime Video Calibrated Mode optimises picture quality based on the type of content being streamed (movies, TV show, live sports) and takes into account ambient lighting conditions, adjusting things like white balance, brightness and colour, all automatically.
Speaking at the event, Prime Video’s VP of Technology BA Winston declared: “We are proud to be the first streamer to auto-calibrate picture settings, not just for movies and series, but for live sports as well,” adding: “As an entertainment destination, Prime Video is focused on delivering the best streaming experience possible for all customers, including the creators we work with, and with Calibrated mode, we have designed a way to help preserve their creative intent.”
Also present at the launch was Top Gun Maverick movie director Joseph Kosinski, who stressed how important accurate HDR presentation was in the home. Said Kosinski: “It’s critical the consumer has an option to see it exactly as we intended.”
The director also endorsed Sony’s new high brightness BVM-3110 reference monitor, used for colour grading movies. “I was blown away with 4000 nits. It’s incredible to see how far it has come in just a few years. I am excited to work with it on our new film (F1, with Brad Pitt) – we have daylight exteriors and that seems to be where HDR shines in a way that feels very natural.”
The 75-inch Sony BRAVIA 9 retails for £4,499. The 85-inch BRAVIA 9 will sell for £4,999.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 55-, 65- and 77-inch models are priced at £2,199, £2,699 and £3,499 respectively.
The BRAVIA 7 55-, 65- 75- and 85-inch models sell for £1,899, £2,199, £2,799, and £3,499.
Imagine Back to the Future made with hidden cameras, improvised dialogue and a shoestring budget; Marty McFly and Doc Brown gatecrashing a Canadian indie comedy. That’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. For those unfamiliar with its peculiar lineage, this isn’t a reboot, remake or spin-off but a direct continuation of a fictional universe…
The best reason to go see Supergirl is Krypto – and he spends most of the movie playing dead. The film follows Kara Zor-El, Superman’s sullen cousin, as she reluctantly joins a young alien girl on an interstellar mission of revenge against the mercenary Krem of the Yellow Hills. Along the way, Kara needs to…
The right Father’s Day gift isn’t always about extravagance, it’s about the gesture. A well-chosen gift says: I know what you love. And yes, I noticed that your favourite aftershave ran out three months ago. In this guide, we’ve done the hard work for you, scouring the shelves, scrolling the sites, and calling in a…
The Luxe Review 
Sony is shaking up its premium TV business, with the announcement of a new range of high performance BRAVIA branded 4k televisions. Out goes its old model numbering system, and in come sets branded BRAVIA 7, 8 and 9, along with a raft of clever technologies designed to bring home the cinema experience like never before.
The BRAVIA 9 is Sony’s flagship TV for 2024, and it’s a blockbuster. Available in 75- and 85-inch screen sizes, it’s a Mini LED model with advanced new backlighting technology that delivers brighter, more precise HDR.
The BRAVIA 8 is an OLED model, for those that favour the cinema style of OLED screen technology; it comes in 55-, 65-inch and 77-inch screen sizes.
The BRAVIA 7 is a more affordable Mini LED model, and comes in 55-, 65-, 75- and 85-inch screen sizes, offering more room placement choice than the BRAVIA 9.
I travelled to Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, to take an early look at all three models, at a glitzy launch event, and was knocked out by their performance.
The BRAVIA 9 in particular could well be the screen beat in 2024. Long story short: it’s the best looking Mini LED TV I’ve ever seen.
Much of its appeal can be attributed to a new Sony-developed XR Backlight Master Drive, coupled to a powerful local dimming algorithm. This new set boasts 3x the number of dimming zones in Sony’s X95L, and is able to hit very high peak brightness.
That said, it’s not the number of dimming zones that determines absolute image quality. It’s what you do with them that counts – and the BRAVIA 9 does a lot.
Of course, there’s no shortage of Mini LED TVs can hit extreme peak HDR brightness. What sets the BRAVIA 9 apart from rivals is its ability to deliver near OLED-quality black levels with ultra precise HDR handling and minimal blooming around bright objects. It also offers quite sensational colour depth and vibrancy.
I ran through a variety of challenging movie sequences in both its Custom and Standard picture modes, and thought its performance was exemplary.
Sister set, the BRAVIA 7, isn’t quite as dazzling, but it is offered in a wider range of screen sizes, and looks just as colour rich. If you can’t accommodate a panel 75-inches upward, it’s probably the next best choice.
OLED remains beloved of home cinema fans, and the BRAVIA 8 plays to that technology’s strengths, with superb dynamics, perfect inky blacks and loads of low light shadow detail.
In many ways it’s comparable to the Sony A80L, but comes with an upgraded XR processor that has better Scene Selection technology and face detection, both of which help direct its picture processing muscle.
It’s also rather nicer looking, with a flat back panel that can be mounted near-flush to a wall.
At this big BRAVIA TV unveiling in LA, complete with champagne-dressed hosts, Sony announced an exclusive partnership with Prime Video that will see each of these new sets offer a dedicated Prime Video Calibrated viewing mode. This preset joins a Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode and a Sony Pictures Core Calibrated Mode (for Sony’s own streaming service).
The Prime Video Calibrated Mode optimises picture quality based on the type of content being streamed (movies, TV show, live sports) and takes into account ambient lighting conditions, adjusting things like white balance, brightness and colour, all automatically.
Speaking at the event, Prime Video’s VP of Technology BA Winston declared: “We are proud to be the first streamer to auto-calibrate picture settings, not just for movies and series, but for live sports as well,” adding: “As an entertainment destination, Prime Video is focused on delivering the best streaming experience possible for all customers, including the creators we work with, and with Calibrated mode, we have designed a way to help preserve their creative intent.”
Also present at the launch was Top Gun Maverick movie director Joseph Kosinski, who stressed how important accurate HDR presentation was in the home. Said Kosinski: “It’s critical the consumer has an option to see it exactly as we intended.”
The director also endorsed Sony’s new high brightness BVM-3110 reference monitor, used for colour grading movies. “I was blown away with 4000 nits. It’s incredible to see how far it has come in just a few years. I am excited to work with it on our new film (F1, with Brad Pitt) – we have daylight exteriors and that seems to be where HDR shines in a way that feels very natural.”
The 75-inch Sony BRAVIA 9 retails for £4,499. The 85-inch BRAVIA 9 will sell for £4,999.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 55-, 65- and 77-inch models are priced at £2,199, £2,699 and £3,499 respectively.
The BRAVIA 7 55-, 65- 75- and 85-inch models sell for £1,899, £2,199, £2,799, and £3,499.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie review: Wildy imaginative and riotously funny
Imagine Back to the Future made with hidden cameras, improvised dialogue and a shoestring budget; Marty McFly and Doc Brown gatecrashing a Canadian indie comedy. That’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. For those unfamiliar with its peculiar lineage, this isn’t a reboot, remake or spin-off but a direct continuation of a fictional universe…
Supergirl review: charmless maid of steel adrift in DC Studios comic book universe
The best reason to go see Supergirl is Krypto – and he spends most of the movie playing dead. The film follows Kara Zor-El, Superman’s sullen cousin, as she reluctantly joins a young alien girl on an interstellar mission of revenge against the mercenary Krem of the Yellow Hills. Along the way, Kara needs to…
61 of the best luxury Father’s Day gifts: watches, booze, fashion, experiences and tech treats
The right Father’s Day gift isn’t always about extravagance, it’s about the gesture. A well-chosen gift says: I know what you love. And yes, I noticed that your favourite aftershave ran out three months ago. In this guide, we’ve done the hard work for you, scouring the shelves, scrolling the sites, and calling in a…
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