First appearance: Sony ZD9 4K HDR television

Sony has taken the wraps off a brand new 4K HDR (excessive Dynamic variety) television range, the Z collection – and it's wonderful. simply while all of us idea we could type our HDR apples from SDR pears, the organisation has kicked-over the apple cart.

TechRadar had a risk to stand up-close and personal with the brand new ZD9 range, at its european unveil at Sony images HQ in London, and took a closer appearance in the back of the display (actually) at the novel grasp Backlight power generation which makes them so special.

Threes the attraction

The Sony ZD9 will land in sixty five-, 75- and one hundred-inch guises later this 12 months, maximum in all likelihood just after the IFA 2016 tech display, which runs September 2 – 7. The KD-65ZD9, KD-75ZD9 and KD-100ZD are priced at £four,000 ($6999, round AU$7048), £7000 ($9999, round AU$12,335) and £60,000 (round $seventy nine,148, AU$105,728), respectively.

yes, you examine that proper.

Sony first teased its Backlight grasp pressure wizardry at CES 2016. unlike traditional edge-lit LED backlights, and to a sure quantity full Array neighborhood Dimming (FALD), the master Backlight drive employs controllable LEDs, able to glow at top intensity with mind-blowing precision. The onscreen impact looks a whole lot extra like what you'll assume to see on a self illuminating OLED than on an LED lcd tv. simplest a heck of loads brighter.

when shown in prototype form at CES, Sony claimed a peak brightness of 4000 nits, with a thousand zones of manipulate

when shown in prototype form at CES, Sony claimed a peak brightness of 4000 nits, with 1000 zones of manipulate.

but with this industrial roll-out the business enterprise is preserving numbers close to its chest.

"We aren't pronouncing the actual brightness or what number of zones of backlighting manipulate we use," showed Sony Europe's television GM Motoi Kawamura. not even a clue? "No. that is our policy."

whilst pushed time and again, Motoi conceded the height nit output become "more than 1000 nits." but, this might not exchange Sony's stance at the UHD Alliance and its ultra HD premium certification.

"We aren't pronouncing the real brightness or what number of zones of backlighting control we use"

"we will not be filing the ZD9," he said blithely.

It in all likelihood makes top experience for Sony to hold specifics below wraps. It encourages speculation that the Z series screens are able to 4000 nits, just like the prototype, which isn't any bad range to bandy approximately. And if the fact is those models offer substantially less, Sony still benefits from the speculation.

Of path, all that definitely subjects is what the ZD9's photographs appear to be. And in that regard, the screen is a chunk of a jaw-dropper.

television Wars: The liquid crystal display moves returned

whilst Sony dodges the numbers game, its boffins did permit us to take a better take a look at the master Backlight power itself – although no pictures had been allowed. The backlight panel comprises a selection sheet and a bank of controllable LED lighting fixtures. consider the bulb association on an LED torch, extrapolated loads of instances.

this is like OLED on steroids

This white LED array is driven by way of a precise lights algorithm, with each calibrated beam below man or woman control. in contrast to old college backlighting, which inevitably results in halos round shiny gadgets on a bright history, here the discrete LED control appears capable of dim and enhance each LED for my part.

bright pix appearance crisp on a black backdrop, and while we glaringly reserve judgement until samples may be well tested, the results appeared stunningly sharp and dynamic.

that is like OLED on steroids.

The X1 Processor taken to the intense

there may be extra to the ZD9 than fancy lights, even though. The Z collection additionally introduces a new image processor, the X1 excessive, stated to be forty% extra effective than the X1 processor used some other place on the Sony line.

This uprated silicon introduces item-primarily based HDR remastering, twin database processing, and a 4K HDR generation of incredible Bit Mapping.

item-primarily based HDR remastering appears specifically awesome: It takes SDR pictures and offers it an HDR style makeover, the usage of scene-by means of-scene analysis.

We have been proven an expansion of SDR photos, upscaled to near HDR. From an vintage female weaving within the solar, to buildings and sushi. All looked to enjoy the system. White linen regarded cleaner, while white plaster rendering regarded extra dynamic. The fish seemed brisker.

The X-1 excessive processor also improves noise discount, by using searching through hundreds of image patterns in an on-chip database, and deleting what it thinks is errant noise. in addition clever, the brand new 4K version of first rate Bit mapping employs 14-bit sign processing, creating sixty four instances greater colour gradation for smoother transitions.

LG OLED vs Sony's Z collection

to illustrate just how powerful all this processing is, Sony staged comparisons with a rival LG OLED and Samsung 4K television. With X-Tended Dynamic variety pro switched on, it beat out both in terms of peak brightness and pleasant detail (pinch of salt obviously taken).

some HDR demo photos of surfers sincerely gave the Z collection an possibility to polish. The solar, stuck in a frame, appeared smaller and greater managed on the ZD9 than it did at the LG and Samsung displays, demonstrating the precision of the backlight illumination.

both competitors showed the identical shot with a bigger, greater diffuse solar. Water spray within the same body looked particularly exact, extra so than on its rivals.

yet despite those highlights, the ZD9 maintained a deep convincing black degree.

all of the TVs have been proven on vivid mode. the usage of the film version of the indignant Birds film to emphasize shade overall performance, it became clear that after X-Tended Dymaic variety seasoned become grew to become off, the screen regarded a ways more similar to its rivals. The coloration gamut appeared high-quality.

The panels are not any slouch when it comes to layout either. Sony has long gone for a slate black bezel, trimmed with subtle gold. Set fashion designer Hiroaki Yokota defined that the rear panel has an uncommon grid pattern as it completely disguises the pop-off enter covers.

Early verdict

With the ZD9, Sony has delivered a display that truly seems at home with HDR content. It combines the deep black ranges and bright border precision of a self emissive display the out and out retina-blasting brightness of a excessive-overall performance LED.