Why 24fps is not enough for HDR movies

[Rasmus Larsen]

We have published our full review of Sony X900H (XH90), which features 4K, FALD, Android TV, and HDMI 2.1 ports/features (following firmware update): https://www.flatpanelshd.com/review.php ... 1599554928

If you have questions please use this thread.

Enjoy.

[CanGöçmen]

Hi Rasmus,

Thank you for the great and detailed review!

It's shame to see the mediocre HDR performance on this TV. I currently own Sony ZD9 and I use my TV mainly for streaming and gaming. For me, HDR/Dolby Vision performance is really important. I was considering if I should upgrade my TV for PS5 and XSX but it looks like there is still no "good enough" TV out there to replace ZD9 (if we look at the peak brightness and # of dimming zones). What do you think? Is there any TV that is worth buying or should I wait for another year or so?

[MrCanada1968]

You mentioned a couple of times in your review that Android 11 for TV has already been released but don’t mention a date.
I was under the impression that today (Sept. 8th) was the Final release of Android TV 11.
I also had heard that Sony needed to wait for Android TV 11 in order to upgrade their firmware with all of the HDMI 2.1 enhancements. Apparently HDMI ports 3 and 4 will be HDMI 2.1 as those ports have different hardware and are just awaiting this firmware/software upgrade.

[Rasmus Larsen]

Hi Rasmus,

Thank you for the great and detailed review!

It's shame to see the mediocre HDR performance on this TV. I currently own Sony ZD9 and I use my TV mainly for streaming and gaming. For me, HDR/Dolby Vision performance is really important. I was considering if I should upgrade my TV for PS5 and XSX but it looks like there is still no "good enough" TV out there to replace ZD9 (if we look at the peak brightness and # of dimming zones). What do you think? Is there any TV that is worth buying or should I wait for another year or so?

Thanks! Sony ZD9 is still one of the best LCD TVs ever produced so if I was in your position I would keep it for now. We can't say for certain what's coming in 2021 or 2022, but it would seem that many manufacturers are more busy with scaling down their top LCD TVs to save costs and stay competitive rather than improve the hardware.

Other than XH90, Samsung has also degraded its FALD system in its top 4K LCD TVs. Panasonic has abandoned FALD. Philips too, it seems. LG's FALD IPS LCDs are not worth it. Perhaps TCL will have something with its miniLED - however, their FALD algorithm is not great at this time. Of course, there are more advanced FALD system in some of the 8K TVs but I still think it's too early for 8K TVs. Wait until more pieces have fallen into place.

[Rasmus Larsen]

You mentioned a couple of times in your review that Android 11 for TV has already been released but don’t mention a date.
I was under the impression that today (Sept. 8th) was the Final release of Android TV 11.
I also had heard that Sony needed to wait for Android TV 11 in order to upgrade their firmware with all of the HDMI 2.1 enhancements. Apparently HDMI ports 3 and 4 will be HDMI 2.1 as those ports have different hardware and are just awaiting this firmware/software upgrade.

Hi there! Android 11 for TVs was released in public preview for developers in June 2020. However, TV makers and SoC makers like Sony, MediaTek etc. have had access to the beta releases for far longer than that. The development circle to implement a new major Android TV version seems to be several years at this point. I'm not sure what is taking them so long, but surely having so many different models on various chipsets is no help.

I don't think HDMI 2.1 roll-out will have much to do with Android 11. The HDMI chipset is completely separate from the Android SoC (MediaTek in Sony's case). I think the source of that speculation comes from Google saying that Android 11 will support ALLM (ALLM - Auto Low Latency Mode) natively, meaning the ability to switch into Game mode automatically when a game is detected (and out of Game afterwards).

But as you may know several Android TVs (running Android 9) already support ALLM over HDMI, including Philips TVs. Google refers to ALLM for internal use, meaning apps/games.

[andrew.upton]

Hi there, Thank you for the great reviews

I'm in the Uk and currently have an Xbox Series X but an LG HD tv in a dark room, with movie watching too.
I feel like I'm bottlenecking the console too much with not even 4k.

I'm considering this x900h or a Q80T as I am just not comfortable with the screen burn risk of OLEDs for the money. I understand the firmware for the X900h has not yet sorted the 4k 120fps.
But I feel most games will really be 4k 60fps.

Dolby Vision has the appeal on the x900h despite only OK HDR, and there seem to be some motion issues on the Q80T.

Is there a good solution I'm missing? Or would you recommend just waiting at the moment?

Thanks again.

[olivier.parfait-callery]

Hi Rasmus,
Loving these Sony sets and your reviews. I own a 48” A9 of which I am very except for pretty average audio quality over Bluetooth. I looked it up online and it seems like Sony, on all their Android TVs, are only supporting the inferior SBC codec, and not AAC or LDAC which their (my) high-end headphones support and that Android supports in software since Android v8. https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/supp ... s/00159290
Do we have any idea whether Sony will one day implement LDAC audio on at least their higher end models via a software update? Feels like that limitation is only there to help sell Z9F soundbars... Sorry if this is the wrong forum. It feels like this limitation might be useful to know for some of your readers, though, and could be included in some of the reviews.