Sony introduces high-end ZD9 TV series with HDR

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by gkolb

Interesting that this applies only to the 75".
The 65Z9D had no update available when I checked 5 minutes ago.

They roll it out in batches. I just got mine an hour ago.

[tkdkid717]

Originally Posted by pbz06

They roll it out in batches. I just got mine an hour ago.

I assume it doesn't contain Dolby Vision?

[mutelight]

Originally Posted by gkolb

Interesting that this applies only to the 75".
The 65Z9D had no update available when I checked 5 minutes ago.

As mentioned below, it applies to all, they just roll it out in phases. I had to install the update on my 75" via a USB drive as it wasn't showing up.

The update did show up on my 55" 930E in the office though.

Originally Posted by dominica

Its for all the model of the Z9D. The link just pointed to the 75

Originally Posted by pbz06

They roll it out in batches. I just got mine an hour ago.

Originally Posted by tkdkid717

I assume it doesn't contain Dolby Vision?

That is correct, no Dolby Vision update.

[DJR662]

I would like to hear your opinion on the following.

I've been using the Pacific Rim UHD disc to set contrast for HDR on my Sony X9405D TV and my recently acquired Sony 285 ES (260 in Europe) projector. There are a couple of scenes in which clouds can be seen in the sky. I have used the one at the end of the movie, just before the pod emerges from underwater. When you pause the disc at that moment, you'll have a shot of the sky with clouds. Now what I have done is bringing down contrast so that all details in the clouds are visible and there is no clipping going on (which means contrast at 91 for the X9405D and 58 for the 285).

So just for fun I thought I would try the same with my Z9D. I've been using Geoff's settings for HDR and I wondered how the Pacific Rim scene would hold up. Turns out pretty accurate because Geoff uses contrast at 86 and I get all details with no clipping with contrast set at 85 using the aforementioned Pacific Rim scene.

Now I know this might not be the right way but with HDR being all over the place right now, and with no real HDR calibrations standards set, plus the fact it comes so close to Geoff's contrast setting (who is ofcourse way more experienced and tech savvy than I am), I wonder if setting contrast this way can be seen as a decent alternative to an actual calibration? I also tried using the Sony nit ramp that's on their UHD releases but personally, I find it much easier using that scene from Pacific Rim.

Any thoughts?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by DJR662

I wonder if setting contrast this way can be seen as a decent alternative to an actual calibration?

Even with calibration there's always going to be a trade off between brightness and detail when dealing with HDR.

Calibration is always going to preferable, but again you'll have the choice between detail or luminance. With SDR calibration you generally want to achieve a set amount of nits for a light and dark room environment, so everything is much simpler.

At the moment I think if you're happy then that's okay, even if you have calibration, there's always going to be some degree of personal preference when the display can't achieve the peak luminance values presented content.

But with calibration you'll be able to track how your TV fares far more accurately and where it begins to start clipping and it follows the EOTF curves accurately. The software will test your display's performance and calibration will be set against that. But again you'd still have choices to make.

[clemdog]

Got home tonight and saw a new firmware version ready to download.

Anyone know what’s new with it?

[gkolb]

Not sure, but we know it's not DV.

[mutelight]

Originally Posted by clemdog

Got home tonight and saw a new firmware version ready to download.

Anyone know what’s new with it?

All they say is stability and performance improvements.

[Geoff D]

Okay, so, I've been dabbling with my settings for the umpteenth time and I went back to the drawing board. I knew that there was a way to tame the harshly 'digital' look that the grain sometimes has, especially on Sony titles, it was just finding it. I remember HDTVtest's review mentioning adjusting the gamma control, gamma obviously being a function intended for SDR content but (as Vincent said in another review recently) it can still be used positively within the strata of HDR calibration. Those guys don't give out their settings but the AV Forums review had the same thing, they pegged gamma at -2 and contrast at 90 to best hug the HDR luminance curve, despite it clipping the tone mapping at 1500 nits or so.

I gave that a go, not bothering to do a calibration, just dialling it in and see what happens and it was a revelation regarding the grain. It's no less abundant but it's much more refined and filmic, it also did wonders for Blade Runner which I've been very vocal about seeing a shit-ton of artefacts on. The outright compression artefacts are still there in certain scenes, make no mistake, but that really odd colour blocking in the grain has been tamed, if I reallllllly look hard then it's still there but it's nowhere near as blatant as it was before. I still think Warners dropped the ball with BR in several respects but this'll do.

I then did a proper calibration run using my OPPO player as the source and tweaked it a little more, I noticed that the luminance curve was darker than it should be at lower light levels but brighter than it should be at higher light levels, this is with gamma -2 and contrast 90 in cinema pro. So I brought it back to contrast 88 and gamma -1 and the curve is more accurate, I sampled all my grain torture tests again and thankfully they looked just as good. Highlights clip at about 1500 nits with the peak brightness measured at 1751 nits, so even though it's missing some specular highlight detail I'll gladly trade that in for the proper APL in the average "SDR" style scenes (E.T. doesn't look like it takes place in a perpetual sunset any more) and also the transformation of the grain.

On that note, Ryan Masciola just released another update to his test suite which includes a set of clipping patterns with metadata specifically mastered to 1000, 2000, 4000 and 10000 nits. Each clipping pattern looked exactly the same, the range topping out somewhere between 1000 and 2000 nits, further underlining how the TV simply ignores the mastering metadata.

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Hope it's ok to post this, but I'm so excited to see this display launch and I just got the OK to take pre-order and put it on our website.

Hey Robert, heard any scuttlebutt on DV updates?

[ray0414]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

Hey Robert, heard any scuttlebutt on DV updates?

Fwiw, John Archer talked to Sony this morning and he was still being told there's no date.

[elwaylite]

Slackers!

[elwaylite]

These 2017 Sony's still amaze me. Watching War for the Planet of the Apes last night on the 940E, when the soldiers enter the cave at the waterfall, several shots that were dark looked outstanding in a pitch black room. One was just mostly a green laser in the dark, with a few gunshots, never could tell it was an LCD. Awesome to see the laser moving all around a pitch black screen and no hint of zone activity.

[gkolb]

Went to turn off my Z9D and it started a FW update. Still running.
Hope it's the big one.

Edit- False alarm. Put RED 1 in my Oppo, still played as HDR10.
Maybe some new assistant was added. Don't use them if it was.

[DJR662]

Originally Posted by gkolb

Went to turn off my Z9D and it started a FW update. Still running.
Hope it's the big one.

Edit- False alarm. Put RED 1 in my Oppo, still played as HDR10.
Maybe some new assistant was added. Don't use them if it was.

LOL.

Must be waiting for the DV update like this.

Personally I'd much rather have a patch so the TV would automatically switch to a designated picture profile when watching HDR and 3D.

[elwaylite]

Sony is rolling out the update with Google Assistant.

[tkdkid717]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

Sony is rolling out the update with Google Assistant.

Is it THE one?

[mutelight]

Originally Posted by tkdkid717

Is it THE one?

They are saying the update that just rolled out was the one that adds the Google Assistant, not the one with Dolby Vision.

[pbz06]

Geoff, please post your latest settings

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by mutelight

They are saying the update that just rolled out was the one that adds the Google Assistant, not the one with Dolby Vision.

^^^^

I used to get confused, because an update would come out, and then a week later people would post about an update on AVS. I read somewhere Sony rolls the update out staggered, so that explained that.