Lest you’ve forgotten, back in 2008 Sony launched the world’s very first OLED TV. The XEL-1 was lovely too, delivering breathtaking picture quality from a gorgeous design. There was a problem with this OLED ground-breaker, though: its screen was just 11 inches across.
Now, a mere nine years later, Sony has finally returned to the OLED fray - and this time it’s packing something much, much bigger. Its new A1 OLED series is out now in 65-inch and 55-inch sizes - which gives them plenty of room for squeezing in 4K pixel counts.
Add to this new-found abundance a unique sound system that uses the screen as the speakers and Sony’s most powerful picture processing engine, and it’s easy to see why AV fans have been buzzing about the A1 range from the moment Sony first announced it at CES.
Before we dive too deep here, though, keep in mind that OLED is still expensive and Sony's take on the technology is no different. The 55-inch version, the one we'll cover in depth here will run you £3,500 ($4,000 or around AU$5,300).
Design
Sony has been putting extra effort into the design of its products for the past couple of years, and this effort is writ large all over the 55-inch 55A1.
Sony’s idea with the A1 (or A1E as it's known in the States) was to focus 100% on the TV’s picture, keeping the bodywork around the image to an absolute minimum. The result is a TV with nothing more than an incredibly thin black frame around all four sides of its screen. There’s no hint of any speakers, a stand or even a Sony logo to distract you from what you’re watching.
The screen is supported in picture frame fashion by a leg that angles out from its rear, while sound duties are performed by the screen itself rather than normal speakers. Yes, you read that right: the screen itself delivers the sound.
How? By using rear-mounted ‘exciters’ to vibrate the TV’s flat screen surface.We’ve seen flat speakers before, of course. However, no TV has ever applied this technology to its own screen - and nor, so far as we know, has any brand ever managed to deliver a stereo effect from a single flat surface like Sony has with the patented audio solution it’s created for the 55A1.
Smart TV (Android TV/YouView)
Like all mid to high-end Sony smart TVs these days, the 55A1’s smart features and interface are provided predominantly by Google’s Android TV platform ... which is a bit of shame, really, considering Android’s clunky interface, lack of customisation options, ineffectual recommendations system and lack of focus when it comes to the sort of apps most TV watchers want to find.
Fortunately Sony isn’t blind to Android TV’s shortcomings, working independently of Google to make sure that as well as delivering 4K and HDR versions of Netflix and Amazon Video, UK owners also get the catch up TV services of all the main four terrestrial broadcasters.
In fact, these catch up apps are delivered inside the YouView platform, meaning you can access shows you’ve missed via an electronic programme guide that goes back seven days as well as forwards.
4K/HDR Performance
The A1's combination of extreme colour finesse, outstanding light management, mesmerising detailing and class-leading motion playback ensure that the 55A1 does an exquisite job with today’s Ultra HD Blu-ray discs and 4K/HDR streaming services. The gorgeous intensity you get with high contrast HDR shots proves right away that a TV doesn’t absolutely need huge amounts of brightness to make HDR look good provided it can deliver sufficiently profound black levels and pixel-level light control - two things OLED technology does uniquely well.
Sony’s Triluminos colour technology proves a lovely partner for the wide colour spectrum images found with so much of today’s 4K content, combining remarkably intense saturations with a level of tone detail and subtlety that leaves the majority of HDR-capable TVs looking pale and muted by comparison.
No comments:
Post a Comment