KD-65AF9: Sony's Oled TV is close to perfection

Presentation

Long awaited, the Sony Bravia KD-65AF9 television succeeds the A1, which was the first large Oled television from the Japanese manufacturer. It uses a latest generation Oled panel. Always 10 bits and 100 Hz, this panel displays an Ultra HD definition (3,840 x 2,160 px) and covers 99% of the DCI-P3 space. The AF9 is distinguished by the use of the new Sony X1 Ultimate processor which provides more precision in image processing and above all by a major improvement of the Acoustic Surface audio system. If the audio system of the Sony A1 had amazed us, that of the AF9 looks even better, since Sony goes from two couples of tweeters and a woofer to three couples of tweeters and two woofers. In addition, Sony has obviously listened to the wishes of users of the A1, since the AF9 can be connected to an amplifier and replace a central channel. On the operating system side, Sony still trusts Android TV in its version 8.0 (Oreo) to animate its TV, with its lot of applications (Netflix 4K, YouTube, VLC, etc.), as well as the very functionality practical Google Cast and the integration of the Google Assistant which, and this is a first on a television, can be used without the remote control.

The Sony Bravia KD-65AF9 is sold at a price of around € 4,000. It is also available in a 55-inch version for around € 3,000.

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HDR

This television is compatible with HDR10, HLG, and it is also one of the few to be compatible with HDR in Dolby sauce, called Dolby Vision.

With a maximum HDR signal of 10,000 cd / m², the Display Tone Mapping used by Sony follows the EOTF curve perfectly. From 70% of the maximum brightness, the television slightly smoothes the signal to avoid the phenomenon of clipping. The weak point of Oled technology remains the maximum brightness, which we measured at only 660 cd / m² on this Bravia AF9, a value very close to that recorded on the LG 55B8, but lower than that measured on the LG 55C8 (799 cd / m²) or the Sony AF8 (723 cd / m²). In any case, this luminous peak remains much lower than that of the best high-end LCD televisions which can exceed 1,300 cd / m² (Sony 65ZD9) and even approach 1,600 cd / m² (Samsung 65Q9F). Also remember that Sony announced the ZF9 TV, which uses the same base as this AF9, but uses an LCD panel with Full Led backlighting, which should result in a higher brightness peak.

We also measure the color accuracy in HDR mode. With an average delta E measured at only 1.9, colors are simply perfect in Expert HDR mode. No color exceeds the famous threshold of 3; only two gray levels are beyond.

Since all Oled TVs use panels from LG Display, the coverage of the color space is identical on all Oled TVs on the market. The Bravia AF9 thus offers 70% coverage of Rec.2020 and 93% of DCI-P3 space. This television is still far from being able to reproduce all the colors promised by the Rec. 2020 standard of Ultra HD Blu-ray. However, the cinema is content for the moment with the DCI-P3 color space which is largely covered by this television.

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Video games

With AF9, Sony is finally improving the delay in display on its Oled TVs. It is now limited to 27.4 ms, less than 2 images of delay compared to the source, while the Sony AF8 was satisfied with a delay of 47.7 ms (almost 3 images of delay). As with all Oled TVs, the afterglow is zero, which results in very few blurring effects behind moving objects. If Sony has largely reduced the input lag, it is still lagging behind its direct competitors LG and Panasonic which go down to 21 ms. Samsung is still the master in the matter with a delay in display which drops to 15 ms on its best TVs.

We assess the color fidelity in Game mode, because we think that the atmosphere created by the creators of the game must be respected by the television, just like that of a film. The Sony TV simply does a flawless by offering true colors. Indeed, we measured the average delta E at 1.8, well below the threshold of 3. The temperature is also in the nails just like the gamma.

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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 6% on the 65 inches of the TV. This excellent result is again explained by the use of Oled technology.

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Ergonomics

Unsurprisingly, the Sony AF9 largely incorporates the design of its predecessor the A1. From the front, it is also very difficult to differentiate between the two models. This television is placed directly on the TV cabinet and it is a crutch at the back which helps to keep it in balance.

The edges of the screen are very thin, especially for a 65-inch model. The Sony logo, positioned at the bottom left of the TV, is very discreet.

Without an backlighting system, Oled technology makes it possible to obtain an extremely thin panel. On this Sony model, all of the electronics are on board in the rear stand. The latter is quite impressive and the depth of the television thus reaches 32 cm. This TV is therefore just at ease on our 160 x 40 cm piece of furniture. Finally, last point, the slab is tilted a few degrees.

In addition to all the electronics, the kickstand incorporates the two woofers present on each side as well as the connectors on the lower part. Sony also offers a cable management system at the base of the kickstand. The two covers supplied can be easily clipped on.

The Bravia KD-65AF9 TV offers four HDMI 2.0b inputs, one of which is conveniently placed on the side, three USB ports, one of which is also on the side, an Ethernet port, an optical digital audio output, a headphone output, a PCMCIA port (Interface common CI +), a rake antenna connector and a satellite connector. It has a dual DVB-T / T2 (TNT), DVB-S / S2 (satellite) and DVB-C (cable) tuner. It also has 802.11a / b / g / n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 for connection with a wireless audio device (headphones or speaker). Finally, special feature, it has two speaker terminals to use the TV as a central speaker directly connected to a home cinema amplifier.

The Sony TV has the latest version of Android TV, the interface of which has been completely revised. Applications launch quickly and remain in memory for rapid recovery. On the first line, we still find the applications, but the second now groups the selection. These are mostly programs currently playing, but you can also add content to see later from the home page. The following lines directly display the content of the most used applications: Netflix, YouTube, Molotov, myCanal, SFR Sport, etc. The associated content therefore appears on each line. Google calls thematic channels. The Android TV system is one of the most complete on the market and especially the one with the most applications, but not all of them are optimized for use on a television. Another interesting feature, the integrated Chromecast allows you to send a video stream from your smartphone, tablet or computer to the TV.

The big news is the integration of two microphones at the base of the TV that allow you to use the Google Assistant without using the remote control. Just say "OK Google" to wake up the assistant and ask him questions like "What are the weather forecasts?", "Play dev.rankuzz.com video on YouTube", etc. This system works very well, but Google still limits interactivity. After a search, you often have to use the remote control to choose a video on YouTube, for example. It is also impossible to turn on the TV using a voice command, but maybe it will come later.

As with all Android TVs, the first boot takes longer. It takes about 35 seconds here, which is however the best time recorded on an Android TV. On other models in the lab, powering up takes approximately 45 seconds. In any case, it is much longer than Tizen systems from Samsung or WebOS from LG, which start up in less than 5 seconds. Fortunately, the TV wakes up in less than 5 seconds while consuming less than one watt in standby. As often, the standby is instantaneous.

The Sony 65AF9 television comes with an infrared and Bluetooth remote control equipped with a built-in microphone, which allows you to deactivate the microphones built into the TV while retaining voice search. The rubber-like touch is relatively pleasant and protects the keys from small daily accidents, especially liquid splashes. However, the dry noise of the keys will not necessarily please everyone. The remote control gives access to all the TV functions and even benefits from multimedia keys. Sony still ignores the backlighting of the keys, however.

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Audio

The Acoustic Surface system is evolving since it now consists of three pairs of tweeters of 26 W and two woofers of 10 W. If there is a slight dip in the frequency response, this television displays a distortion much lower than that from the A1. The sound is therefore very good, especially for a television. If it can't match a home cinema system, it can easily replace an entry / mid-range sound bar. To top it off, Sony offers to use the TV as a central voice by connecting it to a home cinema amplifier as you would with a simple speaker.

The new high-end Oled TV from Sony, the AF9, comes with a new version of the Acoustic Surface system. This technology uses ...

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Consumption

With a white calibrated at 150 cd / m², the Sony KD-65AF9 television consumes 107 W on our test pattern, representing a relative consumption of 92 W / m². It is a little less than the Bravia A1 which consumed 113 W, that is to say 97 W / m², but the Oled televisions always consume more than the LCD models Led Edge like like Sony KD-65XE8505, recordman of the category with its 56 W / m², the Samsung QE65Q9FNAT and its 61 W / m² or even the Samsung UE75NU8005 which peaks at 72.2 W / m².

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Conclusion

This is without fail for Sony, which simply offers an excellent television. The Sony Bravia 65AF9 delivers a perfect image and quality audio rendering. Sony innovates with a few features such as the central speaker mode allowing the TV to be integrated into a home cinema system or the microphones built into the TV for hands-free control. Only the design could cool the buyers who will then turn to the more conventional Sony AF8.

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