HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality fell short, overall. Reproduction of fine HD image detail was Excellent. Image detail was very exaggerated and made images appear less natural, despite our attempts to minimize this with the sharpness control. Color accuracy was Excellent, so colors, especially flesh tones, look very natural and lifelike. Contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—was Good, so images had some depth, but it was not the best. Black levels were overly bright, unfortunately, worse than many TVs. This was among the brightest models we've tested (with the Brightness backlight control turned up), so the picture was well suited for a very sunny room—a lower setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. There was slight display non-uniformity in our test sample—it appeared as brighter cloudy areas which were most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie)—the severity can vary from model to model. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images fell short with some visible "jaggies" (jagged edges); deinterlacing of 1080i video was Excellent; and film mode detection from 1080i content was Excellent.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY. Overall 4K UHD picture quality was decent, overall. In our UHD testing, we played native-4K movies and test videos (non HDR) thru the TV's HDMI input, and found their image detail was all there. For color, contrast and black level, the TV performed similarly to its HD picture quality.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance had limited effectiveness. In our tests, the display showed Good peak brightness capability (by HDR standards) and did a fine job displaying the benefits of our HDR 4K content. It could not reveal much contrast between the moderately bright and very bright highlights, while the brightness levels in the mid-to-lower tones, like those in an indoor scene, were preserved. In HDR mode this TV only allowed us to optimize the Brightness and Gamma. picture settings. All other settings were as they were for the standard-dynamic range (SDR) HD picture. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail, from black to white, with no obvious banding within the gradually shaded areas. There was no visible loss of detail within the highlights of the brightest areas. Brightly colored objects remained nicely saturated.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Sony model has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide fairly consistent picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions—say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. Our examination at various viewing angles indicated reasonably good consistency. In our tests, the picture did show moderate dimming from the sides. With dark scenes this model doesn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on our vertical position. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly.
MOTION BLUR. In our motion tests, this Sony TV had Good motion performance, with some blurring. Although this TV also includes a "Clearness" setting that we found was slightly effective at reducing motion blur, it limited the brightness of the image and so we left the feature off.
SOUND QUALITY. We got Good sound quality, about average among the models we've tested. When watching a blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it can deliver decent performance but just not like the better performers. In our listening evaluations, we found the bass (low frequencies) to be adequate but lacking a sense of fullness. Treble (high frequencies) was satisfactory. The overall sound was closed in. This TV should be OK in rooms large or small, noisy or quiet—we found the speakers could play at a fairly loud volume level and without obvious distortion. Overall, though imperfect, most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. Consider the TV's stand is 39 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on. On first power up, an on-screen guide appeared—which you could choose to follow when setting up the TV. The remote controls the TV via an RF signal and doesn't need to be pointed at the TV. It has a full number keypad for entering channel numbers. It includes all the buttons we typically expect: power, channel up/down, volume control, mute, source input, menu, and exit. The remote has a microphone for accessing a built-in voice assistant feature. It also has dedicated buttons for streaming Google Play Movies and TV and Netflix.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides internet functionality via its "Android TV" portal, with access to a library of applications from the Google Play Store. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney, Apple TV and HBO Max. More so, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Disney, Apple TV and HBO Max can be streamed in 4K UHD. Includes built-in Google Assistant, a virtual assistant, which allows you to use natural speech to ask questions, launch applications, and search programming by talking to the remote. Claimed support for external voice assistants (not built in to the TV) include and Siri Homekit.
CONNECTIONS. This model has four HDMI inputs (one supports ARC, audio return channel). It also has two USB ports, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking; DLNA, to access files within your home network; and AirPlay, for sharing videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to the TV.
WHAT'S INCLUDED. You get with this TV: a printed user manual, a quick start guide, an electronic user guide via the TV's menu, a remote control with batteries, and a detachable power cord.
ABOUT UHD TESTING: Ultra-high definition "UHD" can refer to both the TV and program content. While the UHD industry standard includes 4K and 8K, most UHD TVs and UHD content at this time are 4K. A 4K UHD image is presented as 3840 x 2160 pixels—four times the pixel-count of HD. We test UHD TV picture quality using 4K UHD movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We examine the TV's ability to reproduce 4K UHD image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR)—for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a UHD movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, and from files stored on USB flash drive. We also check 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.
