Sony 65ZF9/Z9F vs 55XG9505 impression

Nonexistinghero

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I have the ZF9 myself and bought my mom an XG9505. Just wondering if it's really just me or if it's actually the case, but after spending the holidays at my mom's and sister's place I feel like the image on my own TV looks a notch better than on my mom's TV.

Can't say I notice much of a difference between black levels, even though the 55XG9505 is supposed to have a much better contrast level. The ZF9 does seem to make pretty good use of the extra brightness for HDR content, though I'm pretty sure not much of the content we watched pushed either TV to its limits. Sound is supposed to be terrible on the XG9505, but it sounds good. Maybe even a bit better than on my ZF9.

Overal though, I was under the impression from reviews and specs that they were more or less the same with a few give or takes. Though after spending time with both, I am under the impression the the ZF9 still provides a noticeably better image.

I know the ZF9 isn't made anymore, just wanted to give my 2 cents. The settings were mostly factory with a few tweaks, but I tried calibrated settings on my TV and the image looked a lot worse, IMO. I know professional calibration is made for the specifics of your own unique TV and the viewing conditions/room, but it should still come pretty close that way and I was not satisfied.

It could just be me, I guess. Perhaps the ZF9 just requires a lot less tweaking out of the box than the XG9505. Anyone else here who has or can directly compare the TV's? I tried to find some articles on it, but sadly I found nothing outside of raw spec comparisons.

EDIT: I just got home again a few hours ago and double checked, just to be sure. And yes, the picture quality is indeed quite a bit more vibrant on my own TV. It looks less flat as well. Seems a bit strange, considering that they should have the same type of LCD panel and have the same CPU/SoC. I'll try fiddling around with the XG9505's settings a bit more when I visit my mom's place again to see if it's possible to make the image quality on par with my own TV, but I would also like to hear some impressions of others or if it's even possible.
 
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I currently own the XG95 but have not been able to find a ZF9 to compare to. While these two are pretty much the same in raw panel and the chipset there’s big differences in the backlight, screen filters and the factory calibration accuracy.
ZF9 has better viewing angles (wide angle filter) and thus worse black performance. But this again is mitigated by the much bigger number of dimming zones. Added to this the quality control in the Master series is top notch. So you can expect the panel uniformity, color accuracy and color stability to be better on your ZF9. The XG95 is a great TV especially after calibration but it is bettered by ZF9 in many ways. I would call the XG95 a baby ZF9 much rhe same way the XE93 was called a baby ZD9. Would really like to own one actually.
 
Sadly my KD-75ZF9, which currently is large paper weight, it is being collected this Friday and being replaced with the 75XG9505. So it will be interesting to see if I notice any difference myself between the two. To further complicate things, I've also ordered a 55AG9 OLED coming at the same time for my lounge. Then also see the difference between these two types TV's
 
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Would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this Griffs65.

I recently compared my 65" XG95 to the 75" version with the Wide Angle Filter. I really liked what I saw. The off angle gamma and color stability is really excellent and much better than on the 65". Of course the black level was somewhat worse. Having owned many OLEDs and LEDs I've come to realise that I value clean near-black handling, color accuracy, better motion handling and punchy color volume more than absolute black on OLEDs.

Really interested in what the new 2020 XH95 is like and how it compares to the ZF9.
 
Sorry for the delay, busy working to pay for these things.

Nonexistinghero,

Unfortunately yes my ZF9 is broken, long story, but bought two Sony TV's with a year and both have problems, the first TV KD-43XG8396 the after updating from 7.0 to 8.0 Android software, when it does it automatically. The TV would not go into standby mode only start up as if it had been switched off every time. John Lewis replace mother board and still not worked.

Then with my ZF9 which worked perfectly until, Sony released the up-date back in late Nov 29th to Android 9.0 software and this to went wrong too. The remote would not work at all, turn the TV to reset it and couldn't get passed the changing the country page to start set up, as the remote still did not work.

What I've learned by going on forums like this and Sony's own one, is that looking at the software updates to the new software they have updated it for some routers. So going backwards, I reckon it has something to do with that and certain routers., Anyway I've got the repalcement for my KD-43XG8396 and first thing I've done with it and will do the 75XG9505 and the 55AG9 (they are coming tomorrow) is turn off automatic software updates. And then will do them myself using a USB stick and download the Sony updates to the stick first.

Any bad spelling or english dyslexic :rolleyes:
 
Hi Jurin,

I will update once I had a period with the new TV's coming tomorrow, the 75XG9505 and the 55AG9.

One of the best comments I've seen on here, was a chap saying that the new models say the 2020 Sony's range, do not give a larger significant increase in quality over the previous years TV's, to pay the full price for the newer models. As I made that mistake paying the full price for the 75ZF9.

A good time to buy the Sony 2019 range models is just as they the shops start receiving the newer 2020 range in stock, then they are at the best value to buy. Just my thoughts, of having gone through buying TV experience.

And again sorry for bad spelling or english dyslexic :rolleyes:
 
Nonexistinghero and Jurin, I used this information when checking if I was going to ok with the difference between the two Sony Z9F vs Sony X950G.

Sony Z9F vs Sony X950G Side-by-Side TV Comparison

It was it was better value buying the two TV's the 75XG9505 and the 55AG9, then opting for the one TV the KD77AG9 and paying a bit more. The ZF9 was a good TV, so if the 75XG9505 is like it, I'm happy and the KD55AG9 is a bonus.
 
Yeah, I know about that comparison, but it's an automatic one. Like I said, on paper they're pretty much the same, save for a few minor differences. In reality, I noticed my own TV provided a better image. Which is why I'm trying to figure out if it's just the settings or if the XG9505 just isn't capable of getting to the same level no matter how you configure out.
 
Well had some time with the 75XG9505, against my old KD-75ZF9.

The build quality I would say the KD-75ZF9 has the edge, the feet on the KD-75ZF9 are a much better design.

Out of the box, the factory calibration accuracy is the KD-75ZF9 the winner here no problem. I didn't really alter the KD-75ZF9, happy with what I saw. Whereas I've alerted the settings on my new 75XG9505, and now happy with the result.

Out of the two the KD-75ZF9 has the slight edge I would say, but what I paid for the KD-75ZF9, the 75XG9505 you can't go wrong. I ended up buying two TV's for the price of my KD-75ZF9 and still had a good amount of change left. Software wise the 75XG9505 is more advanced than it was on my KD-75ZF9.

Still haven't time to access the 55AG9 yet. Being busy setting up the Philips Hue Sync Box with 10 separate Philips Hue colour lights, behind the TV and other parts of the room, with the 75XG9505 and my Bose surround system. The end result is looking impressive. :thumbsup:

I'm happy with the 75XG9505, against my KD-75ZF9. Better remote too :clap:

Any other questions please do ask
 
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Thank you. I only paid around €1500 for my 65 inch ZF9 and about €1000 for my mom's 55 inch XG9505. I think the 65 inch version could have been gotten for around €1400 or so at the time, but that would have been too big for her and too expensive for me.

Anyway, how are the results after altering the settings? You say you're happy with the result, but don't state if it's roughly the same or if the ZF9's image/colour/anything is still a tad bit better even after that.

As for the software, the ZF9's supposed to get Android 9 as well. But they are taking their sweet time in my country. I think the UK already got it like a month ago.
 

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