Sony made a splash at CES 2017 by unveiling its first range of OLED TVs - the Bravia 4K OLED A1 series - as well as a new line-up of LCD panels in Ultra HD 4K and Full HD.
New to the 4K OLED A1 TVs is the "speaker-less" and "stand-less" design. Inside of using conventional speakers placed at the bottom of the TV (or along the sides, or stored in its stand), the OLED A1 instead uses Acoustic Surface sound technology, where the panel itself vibrates and generates the sound.
No speakers, just a vibrating panel. You'll effectively be hearing audio coming straight from the TV panel. Sony claims this will offer a much wider sound distribution to complement OLED's wider viewing angle. How well it sounds remains to be seen.
The "stand-less" concept is a bit of a misnomer: there is a stand that props the TV up, but you certainly can't see it from the front. All you see is the stunning OLED panel, rather like a picture frame on an easel.
Sony has also implemented HDR (High Dynamic Range) into every 4K and Full HD TV set in 2017. With the Full HD models, this has been done to take into account the HDR ability of Sony's PS4 Slim and Pro games consoles. Out of the box, they'll be HDR10 compatible. There's also support for Dolby Vision on the OLED A1 and XE93 sets, too.
Sony is also planning to roll out updates to bring the HDR broadcast format, HLG, to all 2017 and 2016 Android-enabled TVs.
Android TV makes a return as Sony's smart home interface, but 3D is officially dead - none of Sony's 2017 TVs support the format.
MORE: Sony introduces its first Bravia 4K OLED TV range
Bravia 4K OLED A1
The OLED A1 uses the X1 Extreme 4K HDR processor that we've already encountered in its premium ZD9 series. It makes sense as the ZD9 series was launched in the latter half of 2016, meaning the technology is still relatively new for Sony (and for us).
Sony claims the X1 Extreme is responsible for delivering more accurate noise reduction and detail enhancement. And in the case of the OLED sets, the X1 Extreme is tasked with accurately controlling all eight million self-illuminating pixels on the panel to deliver the pitch blacks, rich colours and strong viewing angles we expect from OLED panels.
OLED A1 (55in, 65in, 77in)
KD-77A1 - £20,000
4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme
Acoustic Surface "speaker-less" technology
Object-based HDR remaster
Super Bit Mapping 4K HDR
Triluminous Display
4K X-Reality PRO
Dolby Vision HDR
Android TV
Google Chrome Cast
Content Bar
MORE: What is OLED TV? The tech, the benefits.
Bravia 4K HDR LCD
Of the LCD range, it's the XE94 (available in 75in only with a full-array backlight) and XE93 that stand out. The XE93 comes in 65in and 55in screen sizes, and offers Sony's new Slim Backlight Drive+ technology with a quad-edge LED structure.
A new entry-level range - XE70 - has also been recently announced. Consisting of XE7002, XE7003 and XE7073 models in four different screen sizes, the XE70 range rounds up Sony's 4K LCD sets for 2017. All TVs come with Netflix and Amazon, and prices will be announced when they launch in July.
XE94 (75in)
Slim Backlight Drive+
Full-array LED backlight
4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme
Object-based HDR remaster
Super Bit Mapping 4K HDR
X-tended Dynamic Range PRO
Triluminous Display
4K X-Reality PRO
Android TV
Content Bar
Voice Search
Google Chrome Cast
Google Play
HDMI, USB
XE93 (55in, 65in)
KD-65XE9305 - £3200
Slim Backlight Drive+
Quad-edge LED backlight
Dolby Vision HDR
4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme
Object-based HDR remaster
Super Bit Mapping 4K HDR
X-tended Dynamic Range PRO
Triluminous Display
4K X-Reality PRO
Android TV
Content Bar
Voice Search
Google Chrome Cast
Google Play
HDMI, USB
XE90 (75in, 65in, 55in, 49in)
KD-75XE9005 - £4500
KD-65XE9005 - £2500
KD-55XE9005 - £1700
KD-49XE9005 - £1500
4K HDR Processor X1
Object-based HDR remaster
Super Bit Mapping 4K HDR
X-tended Dynamic Range PRO
Triluminous Display
4K X-Reality PRO
Android TV
Content Bar
Voice Search
Google Chrome Cast
Google Play
HDMI, USB
XE85 (75in, 65in, 55in)
4K HDR Processor X1
Object-based HDR remaster
Super Bit Mapping 4K HDR
Triluminous Display
4K X-Reality PRO
Android TV
Content Bar
Voice Search
Google Chrome Cast
Google Play
HDMI, USB
XE80 (55in, 49in, 43in)
Triluminous Display
4K X-Reality PRO
HDR
Android TV
Content Bar
Voice Search
Google Chrome Cast
Google Play
HDMI, USB
XE70 (65in, 55in, 49in, 43in)
4K X-Reality PRO
HDR
Android TV
Content Bar
Google Play
HDMI, USB
MORE: HDR TV: What is it? Where can you get it?
Bravia Full HD HDR
WE75 (49in, 43in)
HDR
Triluminous Display
X-Reality PRO
ClearAudio+
YouTube, Netflix, built-in wi-fi
WE66 (49in, 40in)
WE61 (32in)
HDR
X-Reality PRO
ClearAudio+
YouTube, Netflix, built-in wi-fi
RE45 (40in)
HDR
X-Reality PRO
ClearAudio+
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