Sony A95K QD-OLED TV Owners & Discussion thread

But doesn‘t the tilt make it easier for the sun to pick up the blue smudge(s)?

😀
I wouldn't know, mine doesn't have any 🤷‍♂️
There were a couple left after installing it. but they were easy enough to remove.
What I do have, though... scratches from when the kitten decided to pounce at some content. And those can't be fixed with a wipe 😭
 
I wouldn't know, mine doesn't have any 🤷‍♂️
There were a couple left after installing it. but they were easy enough to remove.
What I do have, though... scratches from when the kitten decided to pounce at some content. And those can't be fixed with a wipe 😭
Yes, I remember the cat story.😁 Shame about that.
 
I'll be curious to see comparisons between the A95K and A95L, though...
According to the review on RTINGS, the S95C has substantially better colour volume performance when compared to either the S95B or the A95K. So I expect the A95L will follow suit. It's too early to say for sure of course but, I'm willing to admit I may have jumped onto QD-OLED too soon. Not that I'll be buying the A95L but, if the A95M follows suit, I may well jump on that.

It would be good to find a truly objective comparison, once the A95L is released, just to understand if the improvement in overall picture performance is that noticeable.

Paul
 
According to the review on RTINGS, the S95C has substantially better colour volume performance when compared to either the S95B or the A95K. So I expect the A95L will follow suit. It's too early to say for sure of course but, I'm willing to admit I may have jumped onto QD-OLED too soon. Not that I'll be buying the A95L but, if the A95M follows suit, I may well jump on that.

It would be good to find a truly objective comparison, once the A95L is released, just to understand if the improvement in overall picture performance is that noticeable.

Paul
This is pretty nuts because colour volume is one of the major things I noticed coming to A95K from A90J. If it’s even higher A95L owners are in for a real treat!
 
According to the review on RTINGS, the S95C has substantially better colour volume performance when compared to either the S95B or the A95K. So I expect the A95L will follow suit. It's too early to say for sure of course but, I'm willing to admit I may have jumped onto QD-OLED too soon. Not that I'll be buying the A95L but, if the A95M follows suit, I may well jump on that.

It would be good to find a truly objective comparison, once the A95L is released, just to understand if the improvement in overall picture performance is that noticeable.

Paul
But it is still a Samsung and once they release the firmware updates they will screw it up.
 
Thanks all for your feedback. I just can't get by the stand...it is interesting they went back to a more traditional standard /orientation with the A95L, so I will wait until the end of summer when I get back from Alaska to get an A95L.
 
According to the review on RTINGS, the S95C has substantially better colour volume performance when compared to either the S95B or the A95K. So I expect the A95L will follow suit. It's too early to say for sure of course but, I'm willing to admit I may have jumped onto QD-OLED too soon. Not that I'll be buying the A95L but, if the A95M follows suit, I may well jump on that.

It would be good to find a truly objective comparison, once the A95L is released, just to understand if the improvement in overall picture performance is that noticeable.

Paul
Well...
Realistically, it's another 3-4 months of waiting until the L will be shipping, isn't it?
And it's not like you (or me, or anyone else) got a junk TV with the A95K - it was more or less the best option out of the 2022 crop.
Of course, for those who were on the fence about the K and haven't got one yet... if prospective buyers can afford to wait a bit longer it does make sense to go with the L even if it only brings minimal improvements.

The extended warranty on my GZ will expire in spring of 2024. I may move house by then and if I could fit a 77" I'll probably replace it with an A95M or, who knows, with a Panasonic QD-OLED if they do adopt the tech next year. One can only hope :)
 
Well...
Realistically, it's another 3-4 months of waiting until the L will be shipping, isn't it?
And it's not like you (or me, or anyone else) got a junk TV with the A95K - it was more or less the best option out of the 2022 crop.
Of course, for those who were on the fence about the K and haven't got one yet... if prospective buyers can afford to wait a bit longer it does make sense to go with the L even if it only brings minimal improvements.

The extended warranty on my GZ will expire in spring of 2024. I may move house by then and if I could fit a 77" I'll probably replace it with an A95M or, who knows, with a Panasonic QD-OLED if they do adopt the tech next year. One can only hope :)
If mla proves to be a big difference and Panasonic stay would you consider one ? Just out of curiosity why would you pick a Panasonic over a Sony if it had qd oled ? The lz2000 this year seems to be a step back with dark scenes when coming out of blacks ? Is the Panasonics still that much better on what they do with their picture quality ? Heard someone say the g3 looks very much like a Panasonic this year regarding picture but can’t remember where i read it.
 
Besides the A95K-vs-A95L fight, I'll also be interested in non-biased comparisons of WOLED with MLA and QD-OLED 2023. Not sure that we'd get any without some sort of bias, but who knows...
In any case, colour volume is more of a priority to me than peak brightness.

Oh and a Panny QD wouldn't be a blind buy of course, only after reviews and tests vs Sony. Samsung I'm just discounting right out, I don't like their approach to image quality (prioritizing "oomph" over accuracy).

But seeing how well Panny did with their WOLED outings (at least with the FZ and GZ that I owned), I'd expect them to get the most out of a QD if they put their minds to it.

Dunno... I've had 4 Panasonics (two plasmas and two OLEDs) and maybe I just got lucky but I've been very, very happy with each.
If for nothing else, I use my TVs in "dumb mode" (no Google account, no on-board apps) so I don't really need Android TV. I've always liked Panasonic's no-nonsense approach to the UI/menus :)

On the other hand, with them closing the factories in Europe... I am a bit concerned around quality control. I'd likely want to hear about users' experience with 2023 models at least.
 
Oh it wouldn't be a blind buy of course, only after reviews and tests vs Sony.
But seeing how well they did with their WOLED outings (at least with the FZ and GZ that I owned), I'd expect them to get the most out of a QD if they put their minds to it.

Dunno... I've had 4 Panasonics (two plasmas and two OLEDs) and maybe I just got lucky but I've been very, very happy with each.
If for nothing else, I use my TVs in "dumb mode" (no Google account, no on-board apps) so I don't really need Android TV. I've always liked Panasonic's no-nonsense approach to the UI/menus :)

On the other hand, with them closing the factories in Europe... I am a bit concerned around quality control. I'd likely want to hear about users' experience with 2023 models at least.
Yeah I always think that regarding ui and menus I like to use on board apps , yeah Panasonics we’re the Tv to have years back , with them closing factories it does make them a more nervous buy. In the uk there prices have definitely dropped more with sales etc compared to previous years.
 
This is pretty nuts because colour volume is one of the major things I noticed coming to A95K from A90J. If it’s even higher A95L owners are in for a real treat!
From memory, the smallest improvement was 50% so I'd agree, A95L owners should be in for a real treat.
But it is still a Samsung and once they release the firmware updates they will screw it up.
This is true and for LG TV's too. Which is why I'd not buy either. The Sony however, will likely closely match the S95C's performance where it counts.

Paul
 
The extended warranty on my GZ will expire in spring of 2024. I may move house by then and if I could fit a 77" I'll probably replace it with an A95M or, who knows, with a Panasonic QD-OLED if they do adopt the tech next year. One can only hope :)
I'm not convinced we'll see a Panasonic QD-OLED in the near future, if at all. Presumably they've had access to the QD-OLED panels for as long as Sony have, and there's no denying the PQ advantages QD-OLED has over WOLED, yet Panasonic have stuck with the former for 2 generations of the latter.

With the semi recent changes with how they produce their TV's, I think Panasonic are on their way out of the sector.
If mla proves to be a big difference and Panasonic stay would you consider one ?
From what I've read, the MLA equipped panels don't even match the 1st gen QD-OLED colour volume performance, which is the main reason to use MLA. So it's already dead in the water I'd argue.

And as you've mentioned with the LZ2000, Panasonic has been cutting corners and making their offerings worse year on year, regardless of how small those issues are.

I'd definitely prefer Panasonic's OS over what the A95K uses though. It just doesn't work well, for me at least and I have to restart it practically every time I want to use an external HDMI input.

Paul
 
From what I've read, the MLA equipped panels don't even match the 1st gen QD-OLED colour volume performance, which is the main reason to use MLA. So it's already dead in the water I'd argue.
I thought mla was to have the screen go a lot brighter so hdr had more impact etc.

I'd definitely prefer Panasonic's OS over what the A95K uses though. It just doesn't work well, for me at least and I have to restart it practically every time I want to use an external HDMI input.
Always heard Panasonics OS to be very out dated and not very good and Sonys to be one of the best for internal apps ? Say for instance is 4k Apple TV box better than the internal app on the Tv ?
 
I thought mla was to have the screen go a lot brighter so hdr had more impact etc.
It does, when compared to non-MLA WRGB OLED but, not when compared to QD-OLED.
Always heard Panasonics OS to be very out dated and not very good and Sonys to be one of the best for internal apps ? Say for instance is 4k Apple TV box better than the internal app on the Tv ?
You're thinking of the UI, and whilst it's not as flashy as all the others, it and the underlying OS just work. Whilst the GUI works OK on the Sony, it can be slightly sluggish at times, the Android OS doesn't, in a few respects. It's as buggy as any other Android based device.

An AppleTV is certainly better for apps than the Sony's internal apps, as the former will display them in the correct frame rates. The latter is locked to 60Hz, so there will always be slight motion issues. This can be mostly mitigated on the Sony though, with Film Mode engaged.

Paul
 
An AppleTV is certainly better for apps than the Sony's internal apps, as the former will display them in the correct frame rates. The latter is locked to 60Hz, so there will always be slight motion issues. This can be mostly mitigated on the Sony though, with Film Mode engaged.
Just to clarify:
The decision to lock framerate at 60 for onboard apps is Sony's, not a limitation of Android. While the Shield (also Android) doesn't do automatic framerate matching, it does allow apps to change it if they support this feature (Kodi, Plex, probably others as well).
 
Just to clarify:
The decision to lock framerate at 60 for onboard apps is Sony's, not a limitation of Android. While the Shield (also Android) doesn't do automatic framerate matching, it does allow apps to change it if they support this feature (Kodi, Plex, probably others as well).
This function was only added in a version of Android TV that no Sony televisions currently support. Given time and an update, they could implement it once they hit that version in say, oh I don’t know, NEVER.
 
This function was only added in a version of Android TV that no Sony televisions currently support. Given time and an update, they could implement it once they hit that version in say, oh I don’t know, NEVER.
Mmmm... it's v10, isn't it?
The Shield 2019 models shipped with v8 v9 and allowed apps to change the framerate to match the content even back then. They're now on v11.

But then the Shields run the "ugly" Android TV OS, not the "fancy" Google TV OS (still the same core Android base, though).


Anyways, while I was looking for the OS version info online, I stumbled upon a new firmware version on the Sony US website: v6.6495 released today over there.
We should be getting it soon, too...

Release notes: "Improves general performance of the TV"
Very detailed, just like Panasonic f/w updates :laugh:
But they did promise a new update before the end of the month and... they delivered.
 
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Just to clarify:
The decision to lock framerate at 60 for onboard apps is Sony's, not a limitation of Android. While the Shield (also Android) doesn't do automatic framerate matching, it does allow apps to change it if they support this feature (Kodi, Plex, probably others as well).
Yep, that's why I specified 'Sony internal apps'. Regardless, it's an omission as the Sony runs Google TV and the Chromecast, that also runs Google TV has a frame rate matching option. So the AppleTV will do the job better, in that area.

Paul
 
still no firmware and i'm stuck with the version removed from the 64xxxx site
 
Mmmm... it's v10, isn't it?
The Shield 2019 models shipped with v8 v9 and allowed apps to change the framerate to match the content even back then. They're now on v11.

But then the Shields run the "ugly" Android TV OS, not the "fancy" Google TV OS (still the same core Android base, though).
Must be a Shield addition by Nvidia, Android/Google TV didn't have it natively until version 12.
 
still no firmware and i'm stuck with the version removed from the 64xxxx site
It'll take a week or two for it to make it across the Atlantic, maybe the firmware swims? :)
The package is available for download and manual flashing on the Sony US website, but I'd say just wait for it to be made available OTA in Europe.

Must be a Shield addition by Nvidia, Android/Google TV didn't have it natively until version 12.
Ah, perhaps we're thinking of slightly different things.
Automatic framerate matching is only in "beta" even on the Shield (because it's running Android 11) and from what I've heard it's not all that reliable.
I was referring to giving apps the ability to change the framerate if they can, instead of locking it down. The Shield (and, presumably, other Android TV devices) allow this, while the A95K does not.
On the Shield, Kodi and Plex (which I've used, there may be others) will switch the framerate on their own to match the content, but other apps like Neflix, Disney+ etc do not because the developers cannot be bothered to add the functionality.

One other thing:
It's been mentioned in relation to the Rtings "burn-in" findings that Sony TV only run their comp cycles after being in sleep mode for four hours:
We know from our original soft-launch period that LG and Sony TVs implement the small compensation cycle differently. They both run it after four hours of total use once the TV is in standby mode, but while LG TVs run the cycle immediately after putting the TV into standby mode, Sony TVs only do so once the TV has been in standby mode for another four hours.
But that does not fit in with what I'm seeing on the A95K. Once the set reaches 4h of screen-on time, as soon as it goes into stand-by it will run the comp cycle. Just like Panasonics do, only they have their screen-on time threshold set to 3h.
I've confirmed this initially by the behaviour of the AVR which would go to sleep together with the TV but then, if a comp cycle was being executed, when it finished the AVR would wake up briefly at the end of the run and go back to sleep a few seconds later.
Yesterday I slapped a bias light strip on the TV and hooked it up. Turned on the TV to give it power, adjust the strength of the lighting then switched off the TV a few minutes later. It hand't reached a total of 4h screen-on time, so it didn't run a comp cyle: the AVR did not turn on later, nor did the strip stay on.
In the evening I watched a film (Zulu on Blu-ray, a good disc transfer which looks mighty fine on the A95K btw) and by the time it ended the TV had accumulated those 4h of screen-on time required to trigger the comp cycle.
And sure enough, when I put it in stand-by, the lighting strip stayed turned on for the duration of the cycle, then when it ended the AVR also turned on for a bit (as usual in this case), and finally both the AVR and strip turned off at the end of the comp cycle run.
That's exactly how the Panasonics behave with the light strip, except those did not turn on the AVR at the end. Not sure why the Sony does that, but it's not much of a bother.
With the Panny you know it is running a cycle because of the colour of its LED status light, too bad Sony didn't think of including something similar.

Oh and there's one more finding (from others, not me as I haven't measured this) that confirms the running of comp cycles: the power consumption right after stand-by while the cycle is executed is higher (~50W I believe), then it goes down to almost nothing when the cycle completes. Again, this was noted immediately after putting the TV in stand-by, not 4h later...
 
Probably old news but not something I noticed until this evening. Some movies on Bravia Core are now playing in Dolby Atmos. Morbius, Ghostbusters and Elysium were 3 examples. Not all are though….maybe they are being upgraded in batches. Bullet Train one example still in DTS.
 
Probably old news but not something I noticed until this evening. Some movies on Bravia Core are now playing in Dolby Atmos. Morbius, Ghostbusters and Elysium were 3 examples. Not all are though….maybe they are being upgraded in batches. Bullet Train one example still in DTS.
Yes they are , I noticed mine doing it for a while around month or so ago , then went back to DTS/IMAX on my A80J., the DTS option is still there too
 
Yes they are , I noticed mine doing it for a while around month or so ago , then went back to DTS/IMAX on my A80J., the DTS option is still there too
So it is. Thanks!! Never even checked to see what other sound format could be chosen. Atmos sounds pretty good actually on the few I tested.
 

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