TV Oled Sony KD-65AF8: the little brother of the A1

Presentation

The Sony Bravia KD-65AF8 is the first television using a latest generation Oled panel to enter our laboratory. This 10-bit Ultra HD Oled panel (3,840 x 2,160 px) provided by LG Display still covers 99% of the DCI-P3 space and the maximum brightness still levels around 750 cd / m². Only the structure of the sub-pixels changes, but this has no impact on image quality. The Sony AF8 uses the Sony X1 4K Extreme processor - already at work on the Sony 65ZD9 and the A1 - which reduces digital noise, improves the scaling of textures and smooths out gradation. color (Super-bit Mapping 4K HDR).

In terms of audio, Sony still uses the Acoustic Surface motor system to vibrate the panel and distribute the midrange and treble, supported by two small woofers placed on the back of the TV. This system allows Sony to offer quality sound while completely removing the speakers. On the operating system side, Android TV in version 7.0 animates the TV, with a lot of applications (Netflix 4K, YouTube, VLC, etc.) as well as the very practical Google Cast functionality.

The Sony KD-65AF8 will be available during the month of April 2018 for a price of € 3,500. It is also available in a 55-inch version at a price of € 2,500.

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Image quality

The shape of the sub-pixels of the Sony Bravia AF8 is brand new, but the operation remains identical: each pixel is composed of four sub-pixels (a green, a red, a blue and a white). The white and blue sub-pixels are larger in order to improve the maximum brightness of the screen. As we will see, this new structure does not improve the light peak or the color rendering. According to LG Display, this modification makes it possible to reduce the size of the electronic circuit (invisible in photo) located under the sub-pixels, probably to increase the resolution necessary for the production of an 8K panel. Oled technology requires, the viewing angles are excellent and the loss of brightness at 45 ° is quite limited (27%), while there is no variation on black.

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The screen coating is different from that of the A1. The reflections are no longer purple, but neutral. The anti-reflective treatment manages to dilute most light reflections, but you still have to choose the placement of the TV in the living room wisely. The brightness of the screen is strong enough to mask most reflections, but in dark scenes, they can be annoying.

As with all Oled TVs, the contrast ratio can be considered infinite. Each pixel being managed independently, the black can be total, regardless of the brightness of the white of the other pixels. Blacks are therefore measured at less than 0.0049 cd / m² (our probe cannot measure below this value). This contrast is still as impressive and you can enjoy all the nuances, even in complete darkness. The manufacturer has worked particularly on the very low black levels. We measured a brightness peak at 723 cd / m² in HDR, sufficient to make the most of Ultra HD HDR10 or Dolby Vision content, because this TV is one of the few to be compatible with HDR in Dolby sauce.

The average delta E does not exceed 2.1, which is well below the value of 3 marking the threshold below which the eye no longer perceives a difference between the colors displayed on the screen and the ideal colors. However, some shades very slightly exceed this threshold (red, cyan, magenta or pastel cyan), without reaching a critical level. The color rendering in Cinema Pro mode therefore remains very good.

Surprisingly enough, the gamma curve is a little less stable than that recorded on the Sony Bravia A1. The average of 2.2 is perfect and falls on the reference value. The overall rendering is still excellent and at the top of the basket of current TVs.

Sony has finally corrected the high color temperature of its previous models. The value here measured at 6,685 K is now very close to the reference value (6,500 K). In addition, the curve is stable over the entire spectrum.

All graphs therefore translate into an ideal rendering on the screen.

The Sony X1 Extreme processor still does wonders in terms of scaling. The HD and Full HD content displayed on this Ultra HD panel using Reality Creation benefit from a fairly natural treatment which reinforces the details without creating artifacts. On the other hand, the motion compensation system seems a little behind compared to the main competitors. If Sony seems to have caught up on Panasonic (55EZ950), the Japanese is now behind Philips whose processing is very efficient. Like all Oleds of 2018, this Sony AF8 activates the black image insertion system (BFI) to deceive retinal persistence (Expert Mode> Clarity> High). The maximum brightness is then very limited and a rather annoying flicker appears on the image. The Sony engine remains in any case powerful enough to enjoy a beautiful image, but we are still looking forward to seeing the progress made by Panasonic and especially LG with its new processor Alpha 9.

In Cinema Pro mode and in most modes, we measured a display delay of 110 ms, a value too high to hope to play in good conditions. Fortunately, the Game mode allows to reduce the input lag to a more reasonable value: 47.7 ms. In Game mode, this TV is almost 3 frames per second behind the source, which does not have much impact for solo play, but competitors will turn to other more responsive models, such as the LG Series 7 Oled (55C7V, 65E7V, 65W7V) , or the Panasonic 55 / 65EZ950 whose input lag goes down to 20 ms (25 ms for the Panasonic).

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Clouding

Oled technology is not affected by the clouding phenomenon since this defect only affects LCD TVs using a light diffuser. We also didn't see any banding issues. The homogeneity of the brightness on the screen is good and the average difference is measured at only 5% on the 65 inches of the TV. This excellent result is again explained by the use of Oled technology.

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Ergonomics

The cleaving design of the Bravia A1 with its rear stand is from ancient history. For its Bravia AF8 TV, Sony opted for a much more classic design with a very thin central stand. The audio system does not need to use the acoustic reflection of the TV cabinet, Sony stuck its TV on the floor.

The slab is thus a few millimeters from the TV stand. We were also surprised when we put the TV on the TV stand. Do not leave your hands underneath!

With this design very close to the ground, it is necessary to make a cross on the sound bars, which cannot therefore be placed in front of the television without obstructing the image. But for all those who are content with the integrated audio system, this provides a minimalist design.

The TV without the stand is quite thin since it measures only 5.5 cm on its lower part and a few millimeters on the upper part. The footprint is determined by the foot which - good surprise - is content with a depth of 25.5 cm, which is very contained, especially for a 65 inch model.

The rear of the foot offers a fairly rudimentary, but very practical cable fixing system. It allows the cables to run out through the stand in order to ventilate the space behind the TV.

The back of the TV is fairly standard. The slab is no longer covered with glass, unlike the A1, but with brushed metal with a pretty pretty effect. The connections are distributed on the right while the power supply is integrated at the bottom left.

The connection consists of four HDMI 2.0a compatible HDR and HDCP 2.2 inputs, one on the side, a composite video input (via adapter), an Ethernet port, an optical digital audio output, an output headset, three USB ports including a USB 3.0 , a PCMCIA port (CI + common interface) as well as a dual TNT tuner (DVB-T / T2), satellite (DVB-S / S2) and cable (DVB-VS). This television embeds Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

No upheaval on the side of the interface. Sony still operates Android TV in version 7.0 which offers access to a very large number of applications. We find there the tenors of streaming like Netflix, Amazon Prime, OCS, Molotov or MyCanal, but also the applications of channels like LCI, NRJ12, MyTF1, Arte, SFR Sport, etc. We have not encountered any particular stability problem, except with games that take up processor resources and cause slowdowns. Regarding video apps in particular, the Sony media player (Videos) supports a large number of files including MKV Ultra HD in HEVC (H.265), and it is possible to go further with the Google Play Store apps like VLC or Kodi. The Android 8.0 update with Google Assistant should be compatible before summer 2018.

Like those of the ZD9 and the Bravia A1, the infrared and Bluetooth remote control is fitted with a microphone which is essential for carrying out research on the web. The rubber-like touch is relatively pleasant and protects the keys from small everyday accidents, especially against splashes. Unfortunately, Sony has not changed the key noise, which is still fairly sharp and dry. For the rest, the remote control manages all the settings and gives direct access to Netflix and Google Play. The multimedia keys facilitate navigation in the videos. However, the keys are still not backlit.

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Audio

The Acoustic Surface system is very efficient. On the Bravia AF8, Sony replaced the single woofer of the Bravia A1 with two slightly smaller woofers, but the result is very close to that obtained with the A1. The AF8 offers a very good frequency response between 60 and 20,000 Hz, enough to reproduce all the sounds without any problem, especially as the distortion is limited. It does not replace dedicated speakers or a home cinema system, but the Acoustic Surface is a very powerful audio system for a television - in addition to being invisible.

We also tested the different presets offered. Standard mode is the most efficient. Those who want to increase the bass can activate the Night mode which enhances the bass.

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Consumption

On our test pattern with a white calibrated at 150 cd / m², the Sony KD-65AF8 television consumes 107 W, ie a relative consumption of 92 W / m². It is a little less than that of the Bravia A1 which consumed 113 W, or 97 W / m², but still more than that of the most economical LCD TVs like the Sony KD-65XE8505 which drops to 56 W / m². In standby, the AF8 in its 65 inch version consumes 20 W for a few minutes before going into deep standby and falling below 1 W. The first startup is quite long (about 45 seconds), then the recoveries only require a few seconds (6 to 7 seconds).

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Conclusion

The Sony Bravia 65AF8 television takes on the qualities of its big brother (the Sony 65A1) while adopting a much more classic design. It retains excellent image quality, infinite contrast, open viewing angles, the capabilities of Android TV and a high-performance audio system for a TV. This model will be the stooge of the A1 in 2018 and should therefore be available at a more affordable price, which will allow it to fight against the models of LG, Philips and Panasonic.

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