Sony A80/84J OLED Owners and Discussion Thread

[YDrx]

2 epic fails for me:

1. No lossless audio passthrough via eARC / USB.
2. No Atmos audio passthrough via eARC (ATV 4K box -> HDMI IN -> eARC -> soundbar).

For (2), I can connect my ATV 4K box directly to the soundbar and get Atmos (traditional way). This means I must have my soundbar always ON.

For the first one, only solution is using my external media player (Zidoo).

Sorry guys, this is really poor show from Sony unless you can prove me wrong.

Exactly, I purchased this TV two weeks ago because it supports DTS and Samsung and LG do not. Then I changed my receiver to an EARC one, to discover the built-in apps don't passthrough lossless (or bitstream or whatever it's called)
Is it software-wise possible or is this a hardware limitation of the TV? It's the same android as the Shield? I want to avoid the Shield at all costs. Let's hope the Kodi developers figure something out for us
In the meantime kodi is sending it via DD+ to the receiver.. which is fine, but no, we need HD audio

Grz

 

[lgans316]

Exactly, I purchased this TV two weeks ago because it supports DTS and Samsung and LG do not. Then I changed my receiver to an EARC one, to discover the built-in apps don't passthrough lossless (or bitstream or whatever it's called)
Is it software-wise possible or is this a hardware limitation of the TV? It's the same android as the Shield? I want to avoid the Shield at all costs. Let's hope the Kodi developers figure something out for us
In the meantime kodi is sending it via DD+ to the receiver.. which is fine, but no, we need HD audio

Grz

Definitely this has got to do with EDID being passed to the sound device from the TV. Either the TV is sending incorrect EDID or the soundbar / AVR is decoding it incorrectly.

I am sorry but this whole eARC / HDMI 2.1 is in a messy state. So many owners reported various type of issues.

The A80J and the Q950A will not pass Dolby MAT via eARC just the LG C1/CX TVs have as well. To see Atmos supported with the ATV4K, you need to plug it directly into the bar.

 

[lgans316]

I’m using D-Nice’s settings including the Service Menu changes. I found them to be much better than Classy.

Please can you share your settings mate via PM when you are free.

 

[lgans316]

Just did a factory reset and tried Google Play Movies. Same issue persist. Starts with HDR/DV, pauses and then switches to SDR.

Other apps are working fine. When I cast the same movie from my phone, it plays in HDR10 which is fine but via the app it simply won't play.

So TV is most likely going back as something is clearly wrong as it was working perfectly fine with the previous A80J and is working fine with my ZD9.

 

[parkgt]

I’m using D-Nice’s settings including the Service Menu changes. I found them to be much better than Classy.

Do you have a link to those setting?

 

[Fido87456]

After umming and aahing for months I finally purchased the 55" directly from Sony at the back end of last week, just as the price went up (had it in my basket from the day before for 1299 and the price went to 1599, so I thought 'why not?' and pulled the trigger. )

Anyhow, it seems I've won the panel lottery (yay!) as I can't see any issues on any slides (build date 12/21) and coming from my aging samsung 48" h6400, and after a bit of fettling the picture quality has simply blown me away.

My issue (there's always something right?) is with the built in TV guide. I've upgraded the firmware to get the UK catchup apps, so don't know if the previous firmware was the same.

When selecting a channel from the tv guide, instead of just changing to the channel, it pops up an intermediary screen with a description of the programme and you have to click 'View' to actually change to the channel... I've searched but can't find a setting that just makes viewing the default action to save the extra step. Yesterday, this extra step ground to a halt, it took a minute from the description screen popping up and me clicking view to it actually changing the channel. (so annoying I even took a video, in case I decided to return the tv!) Unplugging seemed to fix it, but it's still slower than I'd like and the extra click is an irritation.

So, part two (sorry), the Youview app, doesn't have this irritation, so I want to use that instead of the built in TV Guide. Has anyone found a way to make the 'TV' button open the Youview live TV and Catchup App instead of the built in TV Guide? It's not on the list in the TV Button Shortcut setting... if not, maybe they'll add it via firmware as google tells me that some Sony TVs can assign the TV button to the App...

Oh I found a bug in the channel re-ordering process too, after I'd reordered them, changing to BBC News actually displayed BBC Four instead (whilst still saying it was on BBC News), retuning and reordering again did the same, finally got round it by exporting the channel list via USB and reordering with the Sony Channel editor and re-importing, just mentioning in case anyone else has the same problem.

Cheers
Rich

 

[Wez68]

Exactly, I purchased this TV two weeks ago because it supports DTS and Samsung and LG do not. Then I changed my receiver to an EARC one, to discover the built-in apps don't passthrough lossless (or bitstream or whatever it's called)
Is it software-wise possible or is this a hardware limitation of the TV? It's the same android as the Shield? I want to avoid the Shield at all costs. Let's hope the Kodi developers figure something out for us
In the meantime kodi is sending it via DD+ to the receiver.. which is fine, but no, we need HD audio

Grz

No tv has any apps that will pass lossless audio, so don't blame the A80J , the A80J eARC works perfectly ie it allows passthrough of lossless audio via external devices when connected to the tv

 

[Wez68]

Just did a factory reset and tried Google Play Movies. Same issue persist. Starts with HDR/DV, pauses and then switches to SDR.

Other apps are working fine. When I cast the same movie from my phone, it plays in HDR10 which is fine but via the app it simply won't play.

So TV is most likely going back as something is clearly wrong as it was working perfectly fine with the previous A80J and is working fine with my ZD9.

Tbh mate this all points to an issue with either your network or the source stream , are you sure that your network bandwidth is sufficient to continue the HDR stream with the play movies, as for your sound bar issue ,its clear the Samsung is at fault , not the tv

 

[ruffage]

After umming and aahing for months I finally purchased the 55" directly from Sony at the back end of last week, just as the price went up (had it in my basket from the day before for 1299 and the price went to 1599, so I thought 'why not?' and pulled the trigger. )

Anyhow, it seems I've won the panel lottery (yay!) as I can't see any issues on any slides (build date 12/21) and coming from my aging samsung 48" h6400, and after a bit of fettling the picture quality has simply blown me away.

My issue (there's always something right?) is with the built in TV guide. I've upgraded the firmware to get the UK catchup apps, so don't know if the previous firmware was the same.

When selecting a channel from the tv guide, instead of just changing to the channel, it pops up an intermediary screen with a description of the programme and you have to click 'View' to actually change to the channel... I've searched but can't find a setting that just makes viewing the default action to save the extra step. Yesterday, this extra step ground to a halt, it took a minute from the description screen popping up and me clicking view to it actually changing the channel. (so annoying I even took a video, in case I decided to return the tv!) Unplugging seemed to fix it, but it's still slower than I'd like and the extra click is an irritation.

So, part two (sorry), the Youview app, doesn't have this irritation, so I want to use that instead of the built in TV Guide. Has anyone found a way to make the 'TV' button open the Youview live TV and Catchup App instead of the built in TV Guide? It's not on the list in the TV Button Shortcut setting... if not, maybe they'll add it via firmware as google tells me that some Sony TVs can assign the TV button to the App...

Oh I found a bug in the channel re-ordering process too, after I'd reordered them, changing to BBC News actually displayed BBC Four instead (whilst still saying it was on BBC News), retuning and reordering again did the same, finally got round it by exporting the channel list via USB and reordering with the Sony Channel editor and re-importing, just mentioning in case anyone else has the same problem.

Cheers
Rich

Someone said here that you could assign the Youview app to the TV button. I've not tried it myself, as I don't want to lose HDD recording.

 

[lgans316]

Tbh mate this all points to an issue with either your network or the source stream , are you sure that your network bandwidth is sufficient to continue the HDR stream with the play movies, as for your sound bar issue ,its clear the Samsung is at fault , not the tv

No mate.

Google Play 4K streams peaks at 12 Mbps.

Netlfix / D+ - average bit rate is 16 Mbps with peaks of 24-28 Mbps

iTunes movies - 14-31 Mbps

All the above works fine. No issues. Plays in correct format. No buffering except on iTunes occasionally which is understandable as at times my network speed dips under 24 Mbps which is below most of the iTunes movies average bit rate but goes back up once speed goes above 25 Mbps.

The exact same Google Play 4K HDR stream plays on my ZD9 in HDR10 or DV flawlessly. Also played fine on the previous A80J. Even with this replacement A80J it plays in HDR10 when casting via phone but simply won't when played via the TV. I will shoot a video and upload in YouTube. There is no conspiracy theory behind this.

Regarding the eARC, I am okay with connecting to the bar directly as I understand implementation is flaky and manufacturers are blaming each other.

 

[Wez68]

No mate.

Google Play 4K streams peaks at 12 Mbps.

Netlfix / D+ - average bit rate is 16 Mbps with peaks of 24-28 Mbps

iTunes movies - 14-31 Mbps

All the above works fine. No issues. Plays in correct format. No buffering except on iTunes occasionally which is understandable as at times my network speed dips under 24 Mbps which is below most of the iTunes movies average bit rate but goes back up once speed goes above 25 Mbps.

The exact same Google Play 4K HDR stream plays on my ZD9 in HDR10 or DV flawlessly. Also played fine on the previous A80J. Even with this replacement A80J it plays in HDR10 when casting via phone but simply won't when played via the TV. I will shoot a video and upload in YouTube. There is no conspiracy theory behind this.

Regarding the eARC, I am okay with connecting to the bar directly as I understand implementation is flaky and manufacturers are blaming each other.

Have you tried deleting the play app and reinstalling it , tried mine again today and its fine, I honestly cannot see how it can be the tv itself as clearly every other app is fine

 

[lgans316]

Have you tried deleting the play app and reinstalling it , tried mine again today and its fine, I honestly cannot see how it can be the tv itself as clearly every other app is fine

There is no option to do that as it's a part of Google TV movies.

All we can do is force stop / disable / clear data which I have tried. Also tried factory reset and still the same issue.

 

[Wez68]

There is no option to do that as it's a part of Google TV movies.

All we can do is force stop / disable / clear data which I have tried. Also tried factory reset and still the same issue.

Have you gone into YouTube and tried watching your movies from there( you need to log in ), I,m sure ive seen something about google play movies being discontinued ,and YouTube being the new place for them , just dawned on me !!!

 

[lgans316]

Have you gone into YouTube and tried watching your movies from there( you need to log in ), I,m sure ive seen something about google play movies being discontinued ,and YouTube being the new place for them , just dawned on me !!!

I am aware of this but Google movies is not taken down yet. On YouTube, there is no support for DV and 5.1.

 

[lgans316]

Google Play HDR to SDR bug resolved.

1. Opened Google Play Store
2. Looked for Google Play Movies app.
3. Accessed the app.
4. There was an option to Update. Clicked update.
5. Played the movie and all working fine now. Phew.

Also I was able to play the movies in YouTube in HDR10 (not DV as YT doesn't support DV) and 5.1 after enabling eARC / passthrough.

Google Movies is the new name for Google Play Movies but somehow Google have kept it in their ecosystem and haven't decommissioned it fully. My son uses Google Play Movies as he is a casual viewer. I have linked my Google account with MoviesAnywhere (USA) so that when I redeem on MA, the movie ports into Google Play and iTunes.

What a big relief.

 

[lgans316]

@JohnnyMN

Some pics from iTunes movies aka Apple TV app from ATV 4K box to understand what's missing on Apple TV app outside the box (besides higher bit rates).

Doctor Sleep - You can see it has Director's Cut in Dolby Vision / Atmos. Chapter markers won't be there for alternate editions presented this way. On MoviesAnywhere and Google Play, you will see 2 versions separately (ported via redeeming the code in MoviesAnywhere) see last pic which is from Google Play. So for £4, I got both cuts in 4K HDR in 3 platforms (MoviesAnywhere, iTunes and Google Play).

 

[JohnnyMN]

@JohnnyMN

Some pics from iTunes movies aka Apple TV app from ATV 4K box to understand what's missing on Apple TV app outside the box (besides higher bit rates).

Doctor Sleep - You can see it has Director's Cut in Dolby Vision / Atmos. Chapter markers won't be there for alternate editions presented this way. On MoviesAnywhere and Google Play, you will see 2 versions separately (ported via redeeming the code in MoviesAnywhere) see last pic which is from Google Play. So for £4, I got both cuts in 4K HDR in 3 platforms (MoviesAnywhere, iTunes and Google Play).

I've had my eye on one of these for a while and you might have just sold me on it lol. Thanks for the detailed reply mate. I'm constantly buying films through Apple so I want to make the most of it.

 

[CoolDust]

I was wondering if someone in thread ran into this issue. I recently purchased a 65” A80J for my PS5 and everything was working extremely well until I purchased a Xbox Series X.

Now the issue that I’m having is when I have both systems hooked up to their dedicated 120hz ports (HDMI 3 (EARC/ARC) & HDMI 4). The Series X somehow knocks out the sound on my PS5.

For the life of me I could not figure out. I called Sony support and they tried to help me, but they couldn’t even figure it out. After doing some troubleshooting with Sony support, they suggested that should contact support for the PS5 and the Series X. I knew it was going to be a waste of my time contacting either one their support teams so I tried to figure if I can resolve this issue myself.

I tried unplugging the Series X entirely and when I switched to my PS5 the sound was still missing!!! The only way I was able to the get the sound back on my PS5 I had to reset the TV back to the factory settings and then I had manually put HDMI into a different port.

I was able to find somewhat of permanent solution (hopefully). When I switched both the PS5 and Series X into the different ports that “were not” 120hz, I was able to get the sound from both platforms. So it was clear to me at that point, that both systems cannot be in connected to 120hz ports at the same time….at least the PS5 can’t. Please keep in mind that my PS5’s audio was working totally fine up until I got my Series X. The Series X’s audio will work fine regardless what port it was connected too.

So my “so called permanent fix” so far is that, I have the Series X hooked up to HDMI 2, which I found out that I can still run my games at 120hz and just that resolution has dropped to 1080p. I hooked my PS5 back to one of the 4K 120hz ports and I haven’t lose audio since.

I was wondering did anybody else have this issue with their TV, should I return or keep it as is and hope Sony sends an update?

I also have this issue from time to time, if I'm playing my Series X and switch to PS5 most of the time I have to reset the TV (hold power button) to get sound back. It's very irritating and I only started having this issue with the latest firmware update of the TV so I'm hoping it will be fixed in the future.

 

[jasmart]

...So, part two (sorry), the Youview app, doesn't have this irritation, so I want to use that instead of the built in TV Guide. Has anyone found a way to make the 'TV' button open the Youview live TV and Catchup App instead of the built in TV Guide? It's not on the list in the TV Button Shortcut setting... if not, maybe they'll add it via firmware as google tells me that some Sony TVs can assign the TV button to the App...

Cheers
Rich

Yes, enter Settings > Channels & Inputs > TV button shortcut > Select Live TV & Catch Up

 

[Greggnz]

After having more time with my 77a80j since I got it on Friday, it's seriously impressive. The sound from the inbuilt speakers is the best I've heard with proper deep bass. Have a 5.1.2 system, but tried it out and couldn't believe it. The picture on Freeview is really clean and seems to upscale really well. Disney plus Dolby vision and Netflix is superb during my short time testing. Haven't even got to my 4k blu rays yet. Also, motion handling, to my eyes is super smooth. Very happy with my decision.

I was going to buy one until i realised sony removed the configurable sub output.
So i could not use a stand alone subwoofer to complement the acoustic built in speakers
2020 sony did
2021 panasonic does
Makes no sense to me as the bass from tv is just not adequate

 

[Fido87456]

Yes, enter Settings > Channels & Inputs > TV button shortcut > Select Live TV & Catch Up

Thanks for taking the time to reply, but I had already looked in there, all I have to choose from is Digital TV, and then a list of HDMI ports...

 

[Kondi]

When it comes to losing sound on consoles:

I have wii (I know, crazy old, the best fun ever, anyway) connected through hdmi adapter to my 65 a84j and it was also losing sounds on a regular basis. What helped was turning on wii always first. It seems that every time when I switch to hdmi output and then turned on wii, there was no sound at all. When I turn on my wii and then switch to the right output everything is fine. Maybe it's the case with PS5?

 

[jasmart]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, but I had already looked in there, all I have to choose from is Digital TV, and then a list of HDMI ports...

Hmm, it's there on mine.

A couple of things to try (i) go to the Apps tab, 'Your apps' then all the way to the end 'See all'. At the very bottom, there's BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds, itv Hub, More4, My5 then finally open Live TV & Catch Up AKA YouView. (This aggregates them all making them accessible in a single app.) (ii) Reboot the TV.
Go back in and see whether that option now appears.

 

[Fido87456]

Solved! Changed the button to one of the hdmi channels and then when I selected 'Digital' with a resigned sigh to change it back it gave me the choice of TV or Live TV and Catchup. Happy days!
Thanks Jasmart, just knowing it should be there made me persevere.

 

[Kingmob04]

Anyone else get a slight edging effect on the edges of black bars when watching movies? Hard to describe it, but it's almost as if there's a slight fade between the edge of the black and where the rest of the film's image starts.