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Sony made a special occasion of its 2024 TV launch, holding it at the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Los Angeles. At the event, attendees, myself included, were treated to demos of Foley effects and soundtrack mixing, plus other striking examples of behind-the-scenes movie magic that happens at the studio. Sony’s message was that the technology that goes into movie and TV creation via its studio and professional camera and display divisions trickles down into consumer products, and it was made loud and clear at the event. The Sony Bravia 9 is the flagship model of the new Bravia series TVs, taking that crown from the Sony A95L OLED TV, which will continue in the lineup for 2024. Interestingly, the Bravia 9 is a mini-LED TV. That marks a change in direction for Sony, a brand that in the past had regularly positioned OLED as the most premium technology in its TV lineup. Sony’s re-positioning of mini-LED at the top of the TV food chain results from two tech developments at the company. The first is the creation of the BVM-HX3110, a professional mastering monitor capable of 4,000 nits peak brightness. The BVM-HX3110 was introduced in late 2023, and replaces the BVM-HX310, a standard model for movie post-production that tops out at 1,000 nits peak brightness. The backlight LED driver panel used in Sony's Bravia 9 TVs. Those tiny black stripes are the mini-LED modules. (Image credit: Future) The second development is XR Backlight Master Drive with High Peak Luminance, a new TV backlight technology used exclusively in the Sony Bravia 9 mini-LED TV. According to Sony, its next-gen backlight tech is responsible for a 50% brightness boost in the Bravia 9 over the company’s previous flagship mini-LED model, the Sony X95L, along with a 325% increase in local dimming zones – something it accomplishes through a new, highly miniaturized 22-bit LED driver. Along with increasing the number of LED modules that can be positioned in a backlight, the new driver’s higher resolution (other TV makers use 10- or 12-bit drivers, according to Sony) in combination with advanced dimming control algorithms lets it display images with a greater level of refinement than previously available in the best TVs. And that’s where Sony’s demo of the new Bravia 9 TV I attended comes in. Brightness refined There were two components to Sony’s demonstration of the Bravia 9’s XR Backlight Master Drive with High Peak Luminance tech. The first was a comparison of the new Sony BVM-HX3110 monitor with the older BVM-HX310 using movie scenes mastered at 4,000 nits peak brightness. While most movies are mastered at 1,000 nits peak brightness, according to Sony that has mainly been a technology limitation – one now removed by the BVM-HX3110. When viewing the 4,000 nits footage on both monitors side by side, a clear increase in highlight detail on the new BVM-HX3110 made images look notably more dynamic. Sony's Bravia 9 mini-LED TV in a bright room setting. (Image credit: Future) The second component was a stacked pair of Sony Bravia 9 TVs set alongside a stacked pair of Samsung QN90C TVs, that company’s flagship 2023 mini-LED model in the US. The TVs arrayed at the top had their LCD panels removed so we could see the “raw” mini-LED backlight (see pic at top). Viewing a series of video clips, the Sony’s backlight had notably higher “resolution” owing to the XR Backlight Master Drive’s more granular local dimming performance. It also had a punchier level of brightness that could be seen in images displayed on the normal, non-butchered versions of both TVs located below. That brightness made highlights pop more dramatically and colors look brighter and richer. Equally impressive in the demo was the virtual absence of backlight blooming effects in the transitions between bright and dark parts of images on the Bravia 9. Backlight blooming is a common visual artifact with LED-based TVs, even ones that use mini-LED tech, and it’s a key reason why OLED TVs, which have panels with self-emissive pixels that generate their own light, have retained a picture quality advantage over LED TVs. Mini-LED mastered Another picture quality comparison conducted by Sony at the event put the Bravia 9 alongside the Sony X95L and Samsung S95C, that company’s 2023 flagship QD-OLED model. The comparison also used Sony’s BVM-HX3110 displaying the same images as a reference point, and of the three TVs, the Bravia 9 most closely tracked the picture on the professional mastering monitor. While Sony hasn’t revealed peak brightness specs for the Bravia 9 TV, its ability to accurately reproduce highlight and shadow details in movies mastered at 4,000 nits makes it a statement piece for HDR. As Sony’s new mastering monitor makes its way into more production facilities and movie directors and cinematographers start pushing the limits of what the format is capable of, any TV that can handle that will have an advantage. Sony’s shift to mini-LED for its flagship TV signals its confidence in the tech, and with developments such as XR Backlight Master Drive, its ability to compete effectively with OLED. The 2024 crop of OLED TVs is turning out to be the brightest yet, with the new Samsung S95D measuring just under 1,800 nits peak brightness in our tests. But the new Samsung QN90D mini-LED model is even brighter, topping out at around 2,000 nits. There’s only so much more that OLED makers can do to increase brightness beyond current levels, and the display tech may have hit its peak in the latest generation of TVs. And while we’ve yet to measure the Bravia 9, mini-LED is capable of higher brightness than OLED tech, and that’s something Sony clearly had in mind when planning its new flagship. In the future, we can expect to see movies with even wider dynamic range, and mini-LED with its high peak brightness capability will be well-positioned to handle it. You might also like Why Sony’s X95L TV reveals a brand boldly determined to swim against the tideI tested Sony's pricey X95L mini-LED 4K TV and sometimes it pays to spend moreNew OLED TVs are brighter than ever – here’s what that means for LCD's future View the full article

TCL has announced a new mini-LED as part of its 2024 range, which it's calling the TCL C855 (via Notebook Check). As the successor to last year’s C845, the C855 offers a lot of features that are sure to get gamers excited. As of yet, we haven’t had an official release date or price for the C855, but we’ll be sure to update this when we get it. The TCL C855, which will be available in sizes ranging from 65- to 98-inches, continues TCL’s trend of pushing the boundaries of brightness, with a promised peak brightness of 3,500 nits – although this pales in comparison to TCL’s X11H, which claims to have 6,500 nits peak brightness, even at its larger sizes. However, it’s not just its brightness where the C855 catches the eye, it also comes stacked with a list of gaming features up there with the best gaming TVs. This includes 144Hz VRR, including AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, ALLM and even Dolby Vision gaming. It’s also listed with a Game Bar, something we’ve come to expect from a lot of gaming TVs nowadays. Rounding out its specs is an audio system by Onkyo, consisting of 2.2.2 channels, that promises 120W of total power and is compatible with Dolby Atmos and DTS: Virtual X. It also sports an ultra slim design and comes with a central stand for its 65- and 75-inch models, while the 85- and 98-inch sets come with two legs on either side. Another mini-LED competitor (Image credit: TCL) Mini-LED TVs are becoming increasingly popular and often feature amongst the best TVs on the market. TCL and Hisense are two brands that offer more budget solutions that still come with a good suite of features and great picture quality, as shown by last year’s TCL QM8 and Hisense U8K. More premium brands such as Samsung and Sony offer a more complete mini-LED package – with models such as the Samsung QN90C and Sony X95L – but at a higher price. The TCL C855 follows in the footsteps of TCL’s TV lineup that it revealed in September 2023, with the TCL X955 flagship promising 5,000 nits of brightness and a very similar list of specs to the C855, including 144Hz gaming, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro VRR and more. However, if it comes with all this but priced in the region of the C8 series, it could be a real winner. The C845 offers a lot of similar features to its successor and is currently priced at £1,049 for its 65-inch model. However, it offers 2,000 nits of brightness, whereas the C855 can reach 3,500. Higher brightness is essential for dealing with TV reflections, so if the C855 can get its price right, it could be another mini-LED contender, especially for gamers. However, it has some serious competition to face. You might also like... TCL joins LG and Samsung on the micro-LED TV bandwagon for the first time with a 163-inch 4K monsterTCL wows CES with a 115-inch mini-LED TV with 20,000 dimming zonesSony's new mini-LED 4K TV tech should have Samsung worried, but here’s why I think OLED will still reign supreme View the full article