The Bravia XR TV lineup is new

What Will Sony do at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas? How will Sony and Honda plan to sell their electric vehicles at CES?

Sony is one brand that is always linked to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Every year, they show off their newest and greatest 4k TVs and other home theater hardware at the Las Vegas gathering. If anything is a safe bet at CES, it’s seeing a bunch of fancy new TVs.

But Sony says its system is smart enough to detect 1080p video — even in cases where the TV is getting a 4K signal — and it will add extra refinement to the image processing while preserving elements like film grain and being respectful of creator intent. All of Sony’s 2023 TVs continue to run Google TV as their OS: the software has a content-forward interface and supports features from Apple (AirPlay 2 / HomeKit) and Amazon (Alexa) on top of the built-in Google services like Assistant voice search.

But now the question is, what will Sony do in Las Vegas? The headset is close to being delivered. Preorders are open, and we’ve already tried it. So this is perhaps Sony’s last chance to outline some compelling reasons for buying the $549.99 virtual reality headset before it hits shelves.

Sony and Honda planned to sell their electric vehicles in the US in the upcoming years. The alliance, Sony Honda Mobility, will begin delivery in Japan later that year. The CES stage (and Sony’s booth) could be another demonstration of how the companies plan to make their presence felt in the EV market. Will we see a final production vehicle? Or just a refreshed Vision-S?

In a way, the car emphasis is appropriate. While the Consumer Electronics Show is still a show for big TVs, it is also becoming an event for the future of transportation.

The New 2023 Neo QLED and A95L LCD TVs: Where are we coming from? How will you find them, where to buy them?

Are you looking to purchase a new TV in time for spring? On Feb. 22, the company finally followed up on its CES announcements with the pricing and availability of the Samsung 2023 Neo QLED line as well as a new size for its already brilliant OLED TV.

And though we were able to get a brief viewing of the TVs back in January, Samsung allowed us to travel to its special testing facility in New Jersey to better kick the tires before they were officially unveiled. Lucky us.

The improvements are usually incremental from last year’s models after messing with settings, watching streaming TV and sports, and getting some gaming time in on our Xbox Series S. The company announced a year ago that it was going to allow you to stream games from services like Xbox and Amazon Luna without installing a console, although the Smart Hub can be difficult to use. However, if you’ve been waiting to add the latest and greatest to your home theater setup, you will be rewarded with what we consider a promising 2023 lineup, which, according to Samsung, will be rolling out this week from authorized retailers.

We also got a look at Sony’s upgraded A95L QD-OLED and A95L OLED, the latter of which builds on much of the same tech we loved on the excellent A90J (OLED TVs generally have deeper blacks and better contrast than a standard LED set). The new processor on the TV allows for better contrast and brightness, something that we noticed when we looked at the old and new models side-by-side. There was significantly less blooming (when a bright image spills onto a dark background, creating an unpleasant, cloudy effect) on the new model, which led to even starker blacks that should make your favorite weekly TV shows more immersive.

The company has a bright line of Mini LED TVs that are available in both 4K and 8K. QLED is a feature ofSamsung and uses technology called quantum dots along with Mini LEDs to emit light on their own. In comparison, a standard OLED panel does not use a backlight at all but rather creates its own light using pixels. Do you know what it is? Good.

The Neo QLED TVs: High Dynamic Range Feature and AutoHDR for Streaming, Games, and Tuning a 4K TV

And though specs promise a brand-new auto remastering feature, we didn’t see a huge leap in picture from last year’s models during our short-term testing. Of course, we look forward to a more in-depth review when we get them in for testing.

Even though it sounds fancy, the technology is something of a luxury for people who have more money, space and know what they’re doing. With almost no 8K content to watch at this time, what you will be getting is four times the amount of pixels of a 4K TV (and a whopping 16 times of a 1080p HD TV) — which simply means that an 8K TV will internally upscale your current HD and 4K content to what should be a much sharper, brighter picture. We were able to stream 4K football footage on the 75-inch screen, and play games on the Xbox Series S, but it wasn’t until we uploaded some 8K content on the internet that we saw a clear upgrade.

Both the QN900C and the QN800C come with Dolby Atmos for more engaging sound, and a Game Motion Plus feature that pairs with 144Hz for smoother gaming. Games looked nearly identical to how they did on the 4K model, though it’s worth noting that we were using an Xbox Series S that primarily runs titles in 1080p. Unless you are using a souped up gaming PC with your TV, you probably won’t benefit from this kind of panel.

Artificial enhancements are not required for the new AutoHDR feature, which uses artificial intelligence to create high dynamic range effects on SDR content. But Samsung claims it will make the picture brighter and more immersive. We anticipate performing a full review of the new feature once we get intimate with it.

The Neo QLED TVs have a processor which can upscale content to 4k, as well as a sleek design that hides those cables, but they still have 8.3 million resolution and a processor. And, though we would expect anyone throwing down the cash for this TV to upgrade to a soundbar, the embedded speakers did just fine.

And though we didn’t have a chance to get a fully realized review of the Neo QLED 4K lineup, we are looking forward to spending time playing with the AI-powered HDR remastering feature.

As always, image processing is seen as a big draw by Sony. The company is as confident as ever that its Cognitive Processor XR is what makes Sony TVs stand out from the field in the way they handle challenging scenes. New this year is a feature called XR Clear Image, which adjusts images based on the quality of the source material. If it is genuine 4k content from a streaming service or high definition disc, the television won’t mess with the image.

We looked at the X95L MiniLED, which was playing The Devil Wears Prada with comparable models from other brands and a monitor from Sony that showed the film in its original, theater-accurate form. Despite the fact that we were watching a film from 2006, the X95L did a great job upscaling the movie to 4K a — making it look crisp and modern thanks to the upgraded Cognitive Processor XR packed inside. Sony’s MiniLED did a better job of preserving certain details compared to the other sets, and it was more color accurate than the reference monitor that it was compared to.

Just like Samsung, LG, Hisense, and others, Sony will now display a settings menu tailored to gaming instead of making you dig through the normal screens. Sony’s implementation lets you toggle VRR, motion blur reduction, black equalizer / contrast adjustments, and a persistent on-screen crosshair. There will also be an option to adjust the screen size of your game if you want a smaller window on a large-size TV for whatever reason.

Everyone would like to help the Earth. Right? We’re getting an approach from Sony. Customers can access the Eco Dashboard from the homescreen to be eco-conscious and aware of settings that draw more power. As you enable eco-friendly options, the tree grows. The tree becomes green if you turn them off. Sony wanted to place all of the settings in one place, so they were found in the usual menus.

Of course, all the new features join Sony’s usual smarts, which also happen to be part of the handy Google TV software that powers every set. You can use Google Assistant to control the TVs hands-free, as well as connect most of your smart home gadgets — even if they’re from Apple or Amazon. The Bravia Core app features versions of hit movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home, which will make the Sony TV look better. Better yet, Bravia Core will also have support for Dolby Atmos. Finally, every model we saw comes equipped with Acoustic Center Sync technology, which allows your Sony soundbar (yes, only Sony soundbars work with this feature) to work in tandem with your TV speakers to create a surround-like effect — something that proved impressive when we watched James Bond take out a bunch of bad guys in No Time to Die.

All of these TVs are capable of 4K gaming at 120Hz, though they’re still limited to two HDMI 2.1 ports; the other two remain stuck at HDMI 2.0. I will cover new gaming software features that also extend to XBOX later on in the article, but Sony continues to offer deep integration with the PS5.

But Sony is still making premium Mini LED sets as well. Despite having a lower number in the name, the new X93L Mini LED TV replaces 2022’s X95K model. Sony describes it as very similar in overall performance. It’ll come in 85-, 77-, and 65-inch sizes. And now, the company is adding a second Mini LED set above it with approximately 20 percent more local dimming zones to reduce any perceptible blooming. The X95L will only be available in an 85-inch version.

The Bravia XR TVs in the States: Is Sony still selling games at the end of next generation price brackets for $Lambda$Hamiltonian

Unfortunately, Sony’s game menu doesn’t display the current live frame rate; that’s a data point that some people like having access to so they can easily monitor performance, but with this, you just get the current resolution and max frame rate.

Pricing is yet to be shared for the new Bravia XR TVs. With competitors already shipping their lines, I would expect those details to arrive sooner than later.