Guest blog by Gavin
“The new standard of Brilliance”… It’s certainly a bold claim by Sony but it’s one that actually delivers! The new XD85 2016 range of Sony 4K HDR televisions are their most impressive 4K TV sets to date. While we have had 4K televisions around for a couple of years now, the standard of picture quality has jumped massively this year and it’s all because of HDR.
“What is HDR” you may ask? Well it stands for High Dynamic Range and to you and I what that actually means is that these premium TV sets reproduce a much more realistic picture quality, reflecting the real world in your living room better than ever before!
The way this is done is via a manner of different cutting edge technologies which Sony pride themselves on and wow, what a difference they make!
First and foremost is their X1 Processor. This is the engine for the TV and it performs thousands of adjustments every single second to ensure the resolution, colour and brightness levels are at their optimal performance.
This works in conjunction with 4k X-Reality Pro. This technology is unique to Sony and it is responsible for up-scaling every single pixel (all 4 thousand of them). This in turn improves the clarity and means that even ‘Eastenders’ will look sharper than ever!
The most striking feature of this TV is its real life colour representation, something that most TVs actually struggle with. Sony achieve this using their own TRILUMINOUS display which can replicate a wider range of colours, producing much more realistic reds, greens and blues and much more natural shades and hues.
Working alongside that is the Dynamic Contrast Enhancer which improves the contrast ratio so that all shades between the brightest white and the darkest blacks are maintained. This produces a picture quality that has more depth and a much greater level of detail, particularly in low light conditions.
This is all finished off with their Motion Flow XR, which at 1000 Hz ensures that the latest fast-paced action movie or sporting event will look smooth and crisp, without any blur.
Features – For those people who aren’t as technically au fait with modern technology fear not! This TV is extremely simple to setup straight out of the box and with the Android operating system it has been designed to be the easiest and simplest system Sony have ever made. Working alongside Android, Sony have produced a TV that even the most technophobic of us can use with ease and at the click of a button you can be watching the latest movie or TV show on Netflix or catch up on missed TV programmes with BBC iplayer, Channel 4 OD etc.
Being an Android operating system it opens the door to a multitude of content, ranging from the latest Apps to movies and games, direct to your big screen TV.
This is made all the simpler by including a Voice Remote Control that you can speak into to search for content if you wish. You can still use traditional methods if you prefer but Voice Search eliminates the need for endless and time consuming text entry and uses the power of Google search so, for example, you can verbally request “BBC iplayer” and it will automatically load it onto the screen. It also includes a ‘recommendation’ feature so you can ask for “romantic comedies” and the system will bring up a list of suitable suggestions available.
The TV also comes with twin tuners, meaning that Freeview and Freesat are built in so whether you are connecting to a traditional aerial or a satellite dish you will get the full array of TV channels available. For even more content there is YOUVIEW integrated into it which allows users to scroll back through 7 days’ worth of TV listings and select the program you wish to watch, meaning you never need to miss another program ever again!
A nice feature now being included for the gamer in us is the Playstation Now App which allows users to play selected Playstation 3 games directly through the TV without the need for any additional games consoles. It is a chargeable subscription service but you do get a free trial which is well worth having a look at. Just pair a DUALSHOCK 4 controller to the TV and you’re ready to go!
Design Philosophy – This range of Sony TVs is beautifully designed and ultra slim with sharp lines giving it a very modern look. They come with the option of a black or silver surround and stand to elegantly blend into any living space. The stand also features a handy cable tidy management system which can hide all those unsightly cables in one neat and tidy location.
What’s In The Box? As you would expect the TV comes with a power cable and an AC adapter and as mentioned earlier a Voice Remote Control (batteries are included). You will also find in the box an IR Blaster (Infra-red blaster) which when connected to other devices around the home, such as a Blu-ray player or set top box, allow you to control them from the one Sony remote control, eliminating the frantic searching behind the sofa cushions to find lost remote controls, a pain felt by all of us at one time or another!
Contact your local store and ask about a demo or buy, rent or select finance options here.
