Sony introduces high-end ZD9 TV series with HDR

[antennahead]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Hmmm IFA Berlin, 31 August - 5 September 2018, CEDIA September 4-7, 2018. (Sony was at the 2017 show)

Actually the "contact" he and I were referencing was of the posting and PM type ........ although I would love to attend these shows

[ray0414]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The ZD9's gamut coverage isn't anything special and the 65" panel can be prone to black smearing in colder conditions (75" is apparently a lot better). Get both of those things sorted, add in some more zones if possible to bump the brightness and widen the tone mapping out to accommodate it and it'd be well worth the cash. If it had Dolby Vision that actually worked with a disc player then that'd be a hell of a bonus too!

If they ditch the backlight master drive and go with the new mini-led backlight that's about to hit the market, it might do alright

https://www.ledinside.com/news/2018/...d_and_mini_led

[mutelight]

Just learned from someone on Reddit that you can watch YouTube content in HDR if you cast the content from your phone to the TV.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by ray0414

If they ditch the backlight master drive and go with the new mini-led backlight that's about to hit the market, it might do alright

https://www.ledinside.com/news/2018/...d_and_mini_led

Can't see it happening, but it'd be great if they could boost their gamut coverage regardless. It does alright for colour volume by dint of its high dynamic range but changing up the backlight for a wider gamut version would be neat.

[ray0414]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Can't see it happening, but it'd be great if they could boost their gamut coverage regardless. It does alright for colour volume by dint of its high dynamic range but changing up the backlight for a wider gamut version would be neat.

Would like to see them boost their gamut. They've been in the same ballpark for like 5 years now. (especially if the Z9F is going to be on a 2 year cycle)

[Geoff D]

Yes, exactly. When I measured the native gamut of my 55X9005A with Quantim Dot backlight (using the colour bars in the service menu) it was larger than what my ZD9 is covering now.

[Vangeli]

Suppose I'm holding off getting a Vizio P65 Quantum at the end of the summer to see what comes of the Z9D replacement. That HDMI 2.1-capable processor and 3D being kept would definitely be tempting.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by Vangeli

3D being kept would definitely be tempting.

If Sony have been reading forums like this and AVS, they would know it would be the smart thing to do in order to sell a couple of more Z9Fs.

A TV without 3D capability should not be called a premium high end TV IMO.

[BLMN]

doubtful the Z9F will have 3D, isn't it LG the one that still produces the panels ?

[mutelight]

Originally Posted by BLMN

doubtful the Z9F will have 3D, isn't it LG the one that still produces the panels ?

Still?

I know LG supplies the OLED panels but I wasn't aware they did the LCD panels as well.

[alexanderg823]

lg only supplies IPS panels - so they definitely won't be supplying the Z9F.

[Robert Zohn]

If what I am told is correct, LGD mostly makes IPS, but they do make some VA LCD panels in a couple large sizes.

[JimShaw]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

If what I am told is correct, LGD mostly makes IPS, but they do make some VA LCD panels in a couple large sizes.

Home Cinema Sony VLP-VZ1000ES, Marantz AV8805, Elite SC09, Def Tech UIW RLS II, DI6.5, IW Reference, Velodyne DD18, OPPO BDP-203, 9' 240:1 screen
Living Room Sony 77" A1E OLED, Denon AVR-X8500H, Sony SSAR2 towers, center & rears, OPPO BDP-203
Dining Room LG 65" G7 OLED
Bed Room LG 55" C8 OLED, Denon AVR-X7200W, Def Tech DI6.5, Super Cube 8000 sub
Store Sony VW5000ES projector, Denon AVR-X6400H, 7.2.4 Atmos system
Store every major manufacturer's flagship TV on display


Robert

You have some good stuff to watch and listen

I don't have that many rooms in my home


.

[vincentric]

Have been messing around w/hdr10 settings on the 930e. My eyes are loving gamma at 0 and XDR disabled (previously used -2 and high, respectively). The brighter highlights 'pop' less but in turn the color saturation and contrast ratio is improved resulting in a more natural image that I find really satisfying. Disabling XDR has also cut back (not completely eliminated) some banding and blocking artifacts I've seen in certain titles such as Ex Machina and Life Of Pi during darker parts of the image.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by vincentric

Have been messing around w/hdr10 settings on the 930e. My eyes are loving gamma at 0 and XDR disabled (previously used -2 and high, respectively). The brighter highlights 'pop' less but in turn the color saturation and contrast ratio is improved resulting in a more natural image that I find really satisfying. Disabling XDR has also cut back (not completely eliminated) some banding and blocking artifacts I've seen in certain titles such as Ex Machina and Life Of Pi during darker parts of the image.

It was my understanding XDR needs to be set to high for HDR to be displayed correctly?

[vincentric]

Am honestly unsure. Just from my own eyeball experiments disabling XDR yielded a cleaner and more balanced image with decreased video artifacts and improved color and black levels. Turning it off does lower the impact of hdr10 bright highlights but in return I prefer the cleaner and more natural picture that am seeing. This is by no means a scientific feedback but more of a subjective eye of the beholder type result. Test it out and have fun at your own leisure.

EDIT: For DV, I keep XDR on high.

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by DJR662

It was my understanding XDR needs to be set to high for HDR to be displayed correctly?

It does. That's the whole purpose of XDR.

If you're having issues with blocking artifacts or banding, I would consider troubleshooting the source. Is it streaming material quality? There shouldn't be any noise on a clean source.

On the TV settings, smooth gradation on Low helps with banding.

[Geoff D]

I measured HDR output on my TV on all four XDR settings a few weeks ago, will dig up the results later. But yes, while XDR on low or even off will greatly affect light output, it does mollify the kind of extreme noise/grain and plain poor compression that can be seen on certain discs.

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I measured HDR output on my TV on all four XDR settings a few weeks ago, will dig up the results later. But yes, while XDR on low or even off will greatly affect light output, it does mollify the kind of extreme noise/grain and plain poor compression that can be seen on certain discs.

if you ever feel like measuring again, I have a request

What light output does the TV aim for when brightness is set to Default for Cinema Home (35 I believe) but with Light Sensor ON in a dark room. Not sure if it overrides the set value or not.

[Geoff D]

With XDR on high using my calibrated settings then it tracks the light output perfectly up to 75% (1000 nits) and goes on up from there to 1745 nits peak with 100% input signal.

XDR on medium sees 75% hit about 750 nits and the brightness generally drops by roughly 20-25% across the range. Absolute peak is 1156 nits.

XDR on Low sees 75% hit 625 nits, brightness drops by about a third compared to where it should be. Highest peak is 926 nits.

XDR on Off sees 75% hit 475 nits, brightness drops by about half. Peak is 679 nits. (Almost OLED-ish in terms of those numbers)

In each case the tracking of the HDR curve itself is sound, it's just dimmer than it should be. Low and Medium caused some larger errors in the greyscale/colour temp though, whereas Off and High were both spot on. (I was noodling about with XDR before when trying to figure out a way to make Black Panther's black crush a bit more acceptable to my eyes: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...r#post15133778)