2021 Sony Master Series A90J (55", 65" and 83") [Owners' & Discussion Thread]

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Badas

How are you getting on with the A90J?

I think its solidified itself as the best tv although comparing it to my B/CX is way different than comparing it to the 77'' c2 which I also just got (the Black Friday prices are nuts) and hooked up in one of the bedrooms and spent some time with albeit not much.

I'd still give the crown to the a90j but thats from the perspective of us all being nerds I think if you stuck almost all people in the room while they can clearly see OLEDs the best I don't think the 90j is as big a leap over the c2 as it was when I went right from my CX to the 90j or coming from the b7 to the cx where you're like damn that is better.

And given the price difference over 1k and more if you're comparing a 77 to an 83' a90j... I'd probably say most people should lean c2.

Again all that being said the theres just something about the a90j that feels a little better (maybe I'm price justifying or maybe out of the box vs. out of the box with zero calibration Cinema mode on the a90j feels better, but for now the a90j s still king, but I wouldn't be mad with the progress each successive LG model has made)

[Stormyyy]

For those who have the 83" A90J in particular, are you happy with your panel uniformity? I have seen A90J 83" owners exchange several panels in hopes of getting one without issues such as banding, vignetting, and tinting. I have been an OLED user pretty much since they have come out and poor panel quality control has been my biggest gripe. It appears 77" panels are a bit better as far as panel issues go, but at that size, I would be limited to something like the LG G2. I really want an 83" A90J now that prices have come down, but this panel lottery is worrisome. I would just get a A95K but 65" isn't going to cut it in our home theater (We currently have a 77" CX OLED in there). Thanks for any insight!

[Robert Zohn]

@Stormyyy, we Q/C and calibrate of lot of Sony 83" A90J TVs and very few fail our Q/C.

We check and test for all sorts of screen uniformity issues e.g. banding, and the grid pattern. We also check for off axis tinting, and stuck pixels as well as any defect in the TV.

A90J is one of Sony's Master Series OLED TVs and they take the Master Series badge very seriously. Every Sony Master Series TV is individually Q/C'd, and they set the "White Point" and calibrate each A90J. We get a nice moderate picture quality enhancement when we have our professional calibrator, D-Nice, but it's not as big a jump in image performance as we get when we do other TV brands or even a non Master Series" Sony TV.

[Stormyyy]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

@Stormyyy, we Q/C and calibrate of lot of Sony 83" A90J TVs and very few fail our Q/C.

We check and test for all sorts of screen uniformity issues e.g. banding, and the grid pattern. We also check for off axis tinting, and stuck pixels as well as any defect in the TV.

A90J is one of Sony's Master Series OLED TVs and they take the Master Series badge very seriously. Every Sony Master Series TV is individually Q/C'd, and they set the "White Point" and calibrate each A90J. We get a nice moderate picture quality enhancement when we have our professional calibrator, D-Nice, but it's not as big a jump in image performance as we get when we do other TV brands or even a non Master Series" Sony TV.

Hey Robert! That's great to hear that you have a lot of experience with the 83" A90J and it sounds like Sony does a pretty good job of QCing them and calibrating them before they ship them to stores. It sounds like it should be a good upgrade over our 77" CX and this will hold us over until QD-OLEDs start getting bigger and cheaper. Thanks again for your reply! I am definitely leaning towards buying an 83" A90J!!

[Robert Zohn]

We have Sony's 83A90J in our home.

Love the current Black Friday sale price of $4,797 all in and delivered Nationwide.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Stormyyy

For those who have the 83" A90J in particular, are you happy with your panel uniformity? I have seen A90J 83" owners exchange several panels in hopes of getting one without issues such as banding, vignetting, and tinting. I have been an OLED user pretty much since they have come out and poor panel quality control has been my biggest gripe. It appears 77" panels are a bit better as far as panel issues go, but at that size, I would be limited to something like the LG G2. I really want an 83" A90J now that prices have come down, but this panel lottery is worrisome. I would just get a A95K but 65" isn't going to cut it in our home theater (We currently have a 77" CX OLED in there). Thanks for any insight!

I haven't had any issues on the a90j that appeared so obvious that I'd have asked for an exchange. That said I haven't spent much time at the home its hooked up in, same with the C2 other than I can confirm both out preform my CX to the point its noticeable.

Everyones picky about different things too I think if I'd paid 6000 for it I might have had a different op if I noticed something but the price I got it for and the relatively small amount of time I'll be using it I don't think warrants me in a battle with Sony for the perfect panel. But everyones different.

[Stormyyy]

Originally Posted by supersix4

I haven't had any issues on the a90j that appeared so obvious that I'd have asked for an exchange. That said I haven't spent much time at the home its hooked up in, same with the C2 other than I can confirm both out preform my CX to the point its noticeable.

Everyones picky about different things too I think if I'd paid 6000 for it I might have had a different op if I noticed something but the price I got it for and the relatively small amount of time I'll be using it I don't think warrants me in a battle with Sony for the perfect panel. But everyones different.

Thanks for chiming in on this interesting topic! How many hours have you spent with it? For you to really see if you have any panel issues, you really need to watch various types of content for over 200 hours. The first 200 hours are pretty critical with OLED break in. The panels do compensation cycles that help make the panel clearer than out of the box.

I'm glad you haven't seen any glaring issues so far and since I've had so many OLEDs over the years, I know that there is NO perfect panel out there. I'm fine with minor issues, but definitely don't want to be watching a snowy movie and have the snow turned pink, instead of white!

Thanks again for your input and hope to hear more impressions in the future. I'm really leaning towards getting the 83"!

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Stormyyy

Thanks for chiming in on this interesting topic! How many hours have you spent with it? For you to really see if you have any panel issues, you really need to watch various types of content for over 200 hours. The first 200 hours are pretty critical with OLED break in. The panels do compensation cycles that help make the panel clearer than out of the box.

I'm glad you haven't seen any glaring issues so far and since I've had so many OLEDs over the years, I know that there is NO perfect panel out there. I'm fine with minor issues, but definitely don't want to be watching a snowy movie and have the snow turned pink, instead of white!

Thanks again for your input and hope to hear more impressions in the future. I'm really leaning towards getting the 83"!

probably less than 10 hours between both of them. I flew down for install did a few things and flew back out lol

I would def say though I noticed banding way more on my b7 than on the cx and noticed none on the c2 or a90 but I tried to give proper viewing distance and not really seek out imperfections. I'll spend some more time down there next month so maybe a better review then.

[i-kari]

I'm considering the A90J in 65". But does it support timeshift feature while watching basic TV (of course to an external HDD)? Can you pause live TV, then rewind/fast forward?

I find this very useful feature on my old Samsung LCD. It would be surprising if Sony did not support it. Any first-hand experience would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Badas]

Originally Posted by Stormyyy

For those who have the 83" A90J in particular, are you happy with your panel uniformity? I have seen A90J 83" owners exchange several panels in hopes of getting one without issues such as banding, vignetting, and tinting. I have been an OLED user pretty much since they have come out and poor panel quality control has been my biggest gripe. It appears 77" panels are a bit better as far as panel issues go, but at that size, I would be limited to something like the LG G2. I really want an 83" A90J now that prices have come down, but this panel lottery is worrisome. I would just get a A95K but 65" isn't going to cut it in our home theater (We currently have a 77" CX OLED in there). Thanks for any insight!

No complaints here. 83"

They don't look flash out of the box but they simmer down after 200+ hours.
You have to turn off Sony's picture pumping settings as well. No loss as they all have side effects and you really don't need them.

Over Xmas. I noticed dirty screen once on one scene. Only I would have noticed and it was extremely minor.

[JoeJr81]

How low has the price been on the 65”? I was going to wait for the new 80L series but now I’m thinking of the 90J.

[teddyballgame]

Yeah I was surprised Sony punted again with the 8 series. There's nothing compelling about that product in todays market. Same stuff we've seen since A8H. 4 years in a row! maybe if MLA is ever allowed to trickle down.

[omarchafa]

The 55" is now at $999 at best buy.

[teddyballgame]

Originally Posted by omarchafa

The 55" is now at $999 at best buy.

Wow, that's a huckeva deal. When that TV came out it was like 3k MSRP

Makes me think I need to take up the strategy of buying 2 year old models on closeout

[Mark_Cali]

The whole thing broke on me

[JoeJr81]

Originally Posted by teddyballgame

Wow, that's a huckeva deal. When that TV came out it was like 3k MSRP

Makes me think I need to take up the strategy of buying 2 year old models on closeout

That seems to be my strategy. I previously bought the Panasonic ZT60 on close out and went ahead and picked up the 55” A90J for a separate plasma replacement. Maybe I can pick up the 65” when it drops.

[ThisIsJonny]

I do not own many TV series on VUDU, but the ones that I do appear to not have the best motion, especially via my Xbox Series X. So definitely not tempted to buy more series. lol I just tried the TV's built-in app and it's better, but still not my preference. The XSX is my main source for streaming though. Any ideas how come the motion isn't as good? When using the TV's VUDU app, the HDMI Video Range option is also grayed out.

[5meohd]

Can you see the issue from the attached photo?

This has bothered me for a while. I feel crazy as if im imagining it and even my email to the folks that sold and calibrated this set didn't seem to translate.

But it's horrendous. The left side of the panel's "white" is cool and the right side is warm.

I'm worried I'm stuck with this. Has anyone seen this type of thing before?

20230824_210352.jpg

[Badas]

Originally Posted by 5meohd

Can you see the issue from the attached photo?

This has bothered me for a while. I feel crazy as if im imagining it and even my email to the folks that sold and calibrated this set didn't seem to translate.

But it's horrendous. The left side of the panel's "white" is cool and the right side is warm.

I'm worried I'm stuck with this. Has anyone seen this type of thing before?

What is the issue?
Please explain?

[5meohd]

Originally Posted by Badas

What is the issue?
Please explain?

Look at the white framing around the edges of the of the art design on that menu screen. Can you see that the left 3rd of the white isn't actually white? It's more of a blue or in this jpg kind of blue/gray.

It's very frustrating. All black & white content has that same gradient towards blue on the left side of the panel.

Thanks for taking a look btw. Truly appreciated.