Sony’s first Master Series TVs, the ZF9 and AF9, have only been out five minutes, but already Sony has announced their replacements.
Called the ZG9 and AG9 (Z9G and A9G in the US), the two models once again differ in their technological basis, with the former being an LCD model with a direct LED backlight, and the latter an OLED. But the differences go further this time, because the ZG9 is also 8K, while the AG9 stays at 4K.
The ZG9, which will be available in 85in and 98in versions, uses Sony’s existing X1 Ultimate processor but adds a feature called 8K X-Reality Pro that ‘up-converts’ any content to 8K resolution.
Sony also says its upgraded its backlighting system, bith in terms of the software and LED modules themselves. The company hasn’t gone into specifics on this, but we’re happy its an area of focus, as the ZF9’s backlight was something of a weakness.
On the audio front, Sony has built four speakers into the chassis - two at the top and two at the bottom - to “make you believe the audio is coming right from the screen”.
The AG9, meanwhile, once again features Acoustic Surface technology, which uses actuators to vibrate the whole screen and generate sound. Now called Acoustic Surface Audio+, this new, apparently upgraded version is also compatible with Dolby Atmos.
Available in 55in, 65in and 77in sizes, the AG9 is approximately half the thickness of the AF9 when wall-mounted (although it sounds as though that’s at least partly on account of a new, bespoke mount).
This OLED model also uses the existing X1 Ultimate chip but gets a new Pixel Contrast Booster, which apparently “faithfully reproduces everything from the deepest blacks to the highest luminosity colours with stunning vibrancy”.
When and how much? Sony isn’t yet saying, but we’ll update this story as we get more info.
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