We need to talk about HDR

[Flatpanels]

Our review of Sony A8F / AF8 OLED is online. It a 2018 OLED with 4K resolution, Android TV, and the Acoustic Surface speaker system. Dolby Vision will be added later.
https://www.flatpanelshd.com/review.php ... 1523863026

If you have questions please use this thread.

Enjoy.

[Kuschelmonschter]

Concerning standby power consumption, check out bug #8 in my Sony Android TV tracker. It actually violates European standby standards. It has been there forever and Sony does not give a sh**.

[seasonednotold]

Hello nice review, can you say what specifically has improved with motion compared to last years. Model ?

Tia

[Torben Rasmussen]

When looking at motion we evaluate how high a resolution that can be distinguished in objects moving at a given speed. This number can be increased greatly by using the motion-systems (MotionFlow for Sony) and on this years model we see an increase in perceived clarity of moving objects compared to last year.

When adding the motion-algorithms a certain amount of smoothing is also introduced and for low frame-rate content this has the advantage that the perceptible stutter of e.g. 24 fps content is reduced. This is particularly a problem on last years LG models as you cannot activate TruMotion without also introducing quite significant artifacts in the image. The problem of low framerate content is a side-effect of the low response time of OLED, which makes the image look as if it is blinking - sort of like looking at things in a strobe light (to put things on the edge).

[seasonednotold]

thank you sir i have had my AF8 for a few weeks now and find the motion to be excellent.

[Torben Rasmussen]

Congrats! My next set might also turn out to be the AF8, but it’s still early in the season and I’m not quite ready to commit yet.

How does banding look on your model (and is it 55 or 65)? We haven’t seen any other sets than the AF8 based on the 2018 panels yet, so we haven’t been able to assess if our AF8 was just a lucky specimen.

[unknownuser]

Congrats! My next set might also turn out to be the AF8, but it’s still early in the season and I’m not quite ready to commit yet.

How does banding look on your model (and is it 55 or 65)? We haven’t seen any other sets than the AF8 based on the 2018 panels yet, so we haven’t been able to assess if our AF8 was just a lucky specimen.

How so? In every Sony review you seem to hate so many things from Android TV to the remote to the stand-by power consumption etc.
Why do you still want the Sony then? I'm confused.

Sure it's great TV if Android is stable enough to not crash often and input lag with 4k signal is also barely noticeable slower than LG. But their promises with future updates and by this I don't just mean the Dolby Vision update sounds risky choice. Unless you really vomit if you see pure 24Hz content so you really need motion interpolation.

[GregFish]

Thanks for the informative review. So, if you had to choose between the A1E or AF8, would you go with the AF8? Did the AF8 seem as premium as the A1E? Thanks!

[Torben Rasmussen]

I care about picture quality above all. The remote I can change to something else if I don’t like it. The smart platform is a matter of taste, but everyone of them seems to be left behind at some point, so in the end you should pick a TV that fulfills your needs in terms of picture. Sony are at least updating Android for several years it seems. If unhappy with the Smart-platform you could always opt for something like the Apple TV instead.

The A1 is a bit more premium if you aren’t going to wall mount it. Our specimen had a bit more banding than the AF8, but that could be coincidence.

[unknownuser]

I care about picture quality above all. The remote I can change to something else if I don’t like it. The smart platform is a matter of taste, but everyone of them seems to be left behind at some point, so in the end you should pick a TV that fulfills your needs in terms of picture. Sony are at least updating Android for several years it seems. If unhappy with the Smart-platform you could always opt for something like the Apple TV instead.

The A1 is a bit more premium if you aren’t going to wall mount it. Our specimen had a bit more banding than the AF8, but that could be coincidence.

I don't care about the smart platform other than using an app or two just don't crash on me while I'm playing games or watching 4k Blu-Ray. I know the remote from last year, about the same this year too and I don't know why many people moaning about it, yes it's a basic cheap remote and clunky but it's clicky so doing basic things like changing picture mode is fine.

[Torben Rasmussen]

Nothing has crashed during the review. The software seems stable, but it just isn't speedy. If you don't care about smart-platform you simply skip that part of the review.

I know the remote gets the job done - so does the one shipped with Panasonic TV's - but it just doesn't feel very premium. And as a reviewer we have to set the bar a little higher than just "OK". You can get the Samsung premium remote with an MU-series TV here in Denmark and that is about half the price. Have you tried using that remote? I am not going to compare with the Bang & Olufsen RemoteOne as this is a 350$ thing, but in terms of feel that one really feels premium.

[unknownuser]

Nothing has crashed during the review. The software seems stable, but it just isn't speedy. If you don't care about smart-platform you simply skip that part of the review.

I know the remote gets the job done - so does the one shipped with Panasonic TV's - but it just doesn't feel very premium. And as a reviewer we have to set the bar a little higher than just "OK". You can get the Samsung premium remote with an MU-series TV here in Denmark and that is about half the price. Have you tried using that remote? I am not going to compare with the Bang & Olufsen RemoteOne as this is a 350$ thing, but in terms of feel that one really feels premium.

I know, I'm just saying that it's not dealbreaker.

[Torben Rasmussen]

Noone is calling it a dealbreaker . I have a Sony TV myself in fact (not the AF8 sadly) and I have simply replaced the remote with one from Bang & Olufsen. That is sort of my point: As long as the core feature - picture quality - is great, you can pretty much get around most of the downsides somehow.

I changed the remote and added an Apple TV 4K to my own setup. That pretty much made for a (to me) perfect solution (which actually also works for the AF8 since the remote is the same). But I know that this isn't for everyone. Many people would like to have Smart-TV, TV-interface, remote control etc. in one perfectly bundled solution without having to buy anything else for the foreseeable future, and this we have to account for in the review. We are looking at the complete package. The "reference award", however, is not. It is only concerned with picture quality.

[unknownuser]

Noone is calling it a dealbreaker . I have a Sony TV myself in fact (not the AF8 sadly) and I have simply replaced the remote with one from Bang & Olufsen. That is sort of my point: As long as the core feature - picture quality - is great, you can pretty much get around most of the downsides somehow.

I changed the remote and added an Apple TV 4K to my own setup. That pretty much made for a (to me) perfect solution (which actually also works for the AF8 since the remote is the same). But I know that this isn't for everyone. Many people would like to have Smart-TV, TV-interface, remote control etc. in one perfectly bundled solution without having to buy anything else for the foreseeable future, and this we have to account for in the review. We are looking at the complete package. The "reference award", however, is not. It is only concerned with picture quality.

Totally understandable and I didn't say that you need to praise the TV, what is bad it has to be said

I agree on the build quality part too, those plastic panels are so unnecessary, but I guess you don't need to put those there, I mean it's not part of the sound system.

Sony this year nailed the price,I would skip this TV otherwise. With this price it's definitely on my list.

[Torben Rasmussen]

I agree with the price point. It sits well below the LG C8, which would be the natural competition (the B8 isn't eqipped with the Alpha 9, so it is to be considered a step-down version).