HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was excellent. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. Very good contrast--the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites--gave images convincing depth and dimension. The brightness level was good, making it a suitable choice for most rooms. Excellent deep black levels are among the best we've seen, giving dark scenes great depth. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. Film mode operation for HD film-based content was excellent, with no visible jaggies along the edges of objects during motion scenes. Deinterlacing was very good, with minimal jaggies visible when converting 1080i video content, such as from cable, to the display's native resolution.
VIEWING ANGLE. The overall viewing angle on this display is unlimited, better than most TVs we've tested. Contrast, and depth of black level did not vary regardless of viewing position. When we viewed the TV from the sides the picture showed a slight shift in color tone, but overall color remained consistent with no degradation in overall image quality. When viewing the image from above or below eye level to the screen, the vertical viewing angle was excellent. The picture showed no change in color, contrast, and black level.
ULTRA HD PERFORMANCE. Overall UHD performance is excellent but HD-to-UHD upconversion falls short. All native 4K content (non HDR) we played on this model, including movies and test videos, was presented in full 4K detail with excellent fidelity when played back via the TV's HDMI input. This TV can stream 4K programs from Netflix and YouTube. Images were clean and finely detailed. High-resolution photos were displayed in full 4K detail.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance is generally effective, just short of the best we've seen. The display had decent brightness capability (by HDR standards) showing some improvement over basic 4K performance on our HDR test videos, while revealing excellent contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights within a scene. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail from black to white, with no obvious banding on areas of the image that have subtle shade variations. Very bright, colored objects remained nicely saturated, and an extended range of color capability was apparent from our test patterns. There was no visible loss of near-white shadow detail in the brightest areas, but only after we lowered the contrast setting a bit. This was a problem because this TV doesn't allow the user to dial in unique optimized settings for both HD, and HDR-type content. If you optimize one, you'll mess up the other. You should be able to optimize both types, independently for one time, then forget it. We hope this flaw is corrected in a future firmware upgrade.
MOTION BLUR. This Sony TV has very good motion performance, with minimal blurring on our motion tests, thanks to Sony's "Motionflow". This feature is designed to reduce motion blur, a shortcoming of most displays. Although this TV includes a "Clearness" setting that was effective at further reducing motion blur, it limited the brightness of the image, and also added some flicker to the picture, so we left the feature off.
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. Though not as mirror-like as on some models, this screen surface is glossy and therefore susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has very good sound quality, better than most models we've tested. Whether you're watching a movie blockbuster, a concert, or TV show, it is able to deliver a satisfying listening experience. Bass was deep, providing satisfying fullness to the sound, and treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was a bit closed in. The speakers produced a good volume range so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments and without obvious distortion. Also, at higher volume, dynamic compression kept the sound from distorting but also limited the clarity of peaks in loudness, which can be a bit distracting on some audio content. Unlike most of our tested models, this model's sound should satisfy the more discerning listeners, so an external sound bar is optional.
EASE OF USE. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. Sony's advanced remote offers a traditional button keypad that remains fairly readable in a dimly lit environment, though buttons are not backlit. It provides direct button access to Netflix and Google Play streaming services, and the built-in microphone allows the user to search the internet via voice commands.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides basic Internet functionality with a limited selection of applications via its "Android TV" portal with access to a library of applications. Movie streaming services include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Go and HBO Now.
CONNECTIONS. This model has four HDMI inputs-- one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), one composite input, and no component input. It also has three USB ports, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking; DLNA, to access files within your home network; Casting, which allows you to send streaming content from your mobile device to the TV via your home network; Screen mirroring, where the image on your smartphone or other compatible device can also appear on the TV. The cable connections on the rear panel are recessed with side or bottom-facing ports, so wires don't protrude beyond the display's depth.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A quick start guide. An electronic manual in the TV's menu. A remote control with batteries. One IR Extender. No printed manual is included.
ABOUT ULTRA HD TESTING: We test UHD picture quality using 4K movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We check the TV's ability to reproduce 4K image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a 4K movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, as well as from files stored on flash drive plugged into the TV's USB port. We also check the quality of 4K streaming from Netflix or YouTube (if the service is supported by the TV), and how well the TV can upscale HD movies to the display's higher UHD resolution while keeping artifacts such as "jaggies" along the edges of image content to a minimum. The best UHD TVs, and HDTVs, present high fidelity images that reveal the full quality of the best source content without degradation.
