{"id":123505,"date":"2021-02-20T10:54:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T10:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techweekmag.com\/?p=123505"},"modified":"2021-04-08T07:54:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T06:54:35","slug":"sony-kd-48a9-review-the-best-48-inch-4k-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/tv\/sony-kd-48a9-review-the-best-48-inch-4k-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony KD-48A9 : The best 48-inch 4K TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

A small to medium sized living area shouldn’t stop you from having a truly great TV.\u00a0From this point of view, it’s a bit of a shame that real flagship models have grown to at least 55 inches in the past few years.\u00a0For many, this is too great.\u00a0But in 2020, everything changed.<\/p>\n

As you’d expect, the first 48-inch OLED TV was launched by LG – the company behind the OLED TV panels currently used by all manufacturers.\u00a0On the heels of LG is the Sony KD-48A9 TV.\u00a0It is arguably the best TV under 50 inches ever made.<\/p>\n

This is by far the best you can buy right now, although the extraordinary quality comes at a price.\u00a0In this review of the Sony Bravia KD-48A9 OLED TV 4K HDR, we take a closer look at the functionality of the new model in order to identify its pros and cons.<\/p>\n

Sony 48A9 review<\/h2>\n

Design<\/h3>\n

The Sony KD-48A9 TV (in the Western Hemisphere XBR-A9S) inherits much of the design from the\u00a02019\u00a0Sony\u00a0AG9\u00a0.\u00a0The thin OLED panel has very narrow, dark bezels (less than 1cm).\u00a0The bottom one is slightly wider, with the Sony logo on it.\u00a0In profile, the TV looks a little thicker and is due to the fact that the rear module looks more on a smaller screen.\u00a0In fact, it is slightly thicker than the competition (6 cm versus 4.7 cm for the\u00a0LG OLED48CX\u00a0).<\/p>\n

The metal base plate is rounded at the front and provides a solid base for the device.\u00a0There are clamps on the back for routing cables.\u00a0After connecting the cables, the connection box can be hidden under the cover.\u00a0The pedestal stand is just under 47 cm wide and has such a low profile that there is only a 5 mm gap between the bottom edge of the TV and the surface on which it is installed.<\/p>\n

\"Sony<\/a><\/p>\n

The downside of this compactness is that any soundbar placed in front of the device will cover a significant portion of the screen.\u00a0Sony hopes you won’t find it necessary to purchase a soundbar thanks to the vibrating screen technology used in the 48A9.<\/p>\n

Image processing<\/h3>\n

The core of the KD-48A9 OLED TV is the Sony X1 Ultimate processor found on the 2019\u00a0AG9\u00a0,\u00a0XH95\u00a0, A8.\u00a0It debuted in 2019, but remains the company’s best TV chip.\u00a0Thus, the performance of these devices is almost identical.\u00a0X1 Ultimate quickly detects all video and movie frame rates and provides excellent deinterlacing.<\/p>\n

Therefore, you rarely see jagged edges or moir\u00e9 effects (and this is still important for many digital TV boxes that output a 1080i signal).\u00a0News feed lines (tickers) can sometimes shake slightly, which is a slight drawback.\u00a0Superior noise reduction eliminates both background noise and digital compression noise (visible \u201csquares\u201d).<\/p>\n

Low is the preferred setting for both settings, especially if you also want to use Reality Creation for extra sharpness in TV shows.\u00a0For Ultra HD sources, Reality Creation is not recommended, it can cause errors in very small details.\u00a0“Smooth gradation” is still one of Sony’s best solutions over other manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\"Sony<\/a><\/p>\n

How is the Sony 48A9 TV different from the 2019 AG9?\u00a0Like the X-Motion Clarity option of\u00a0the A8 series\u00a0, this small OLED TV features new Black Frame Insertion (BFI) technology with adjustable duration.\u00a0If the old BFI 50 Hz option caused visible flickering, this does not happen in the new version.<\/p>\n

Set Motionflow to Individual and Brightness to 1, and details in fast-moving images will be better with no apparent loss of brightness and no visible flicker.\u00a0You can set the Smoothness yourself depending on your preference.\u00a0A value of \u201c2\u201d is preferred as a good compromise between smooth image and too many artifacts.<\/p>\n

Image quality<\/h3>\n

Sony KD 48A9 uses the same panel as LG 48CX.\u00a0The uniformity is excellent on bright images.\u00a0But the darkest test screens show very light vertical stripes (1 to 3% gray).\u00a0They are only visible in the immediate vicinity of the device.\u00a0In other words, a good result, typical for OLED screens.<\/p>\n

Select the “Individual” picture mode, which gives the best results.\u00a0Leave the brightness in the middle position, then the image will be bright enough for most conditions.\u00a0If the ambient light is strong, the screen brightness can be increased.\u00a0It is advisable to leave the light sensor on.<\/p>\n

What is immediately striking is that the 48A9’s OLED display shows very well black details without the annoying flickering pixels that sometimes interfered with viewing in the 2019 AG9 \/\u00a0AG8\u00a0.\u00a0The A9 is even slightly better here than the A8 and thus reaches the level of Panasonic models.<\/p>\n

\"Sony<\/a><\/p>\n

Picture Mode “Individual” is well calibrated.\u00a0Sony always chooses a slightly colder gamut (a very light blue tint).\u00a0A gamma value of 2.4 gives a very cinematic image.\u00a0An alternative is the Cinema image preset, which is slightly more intense.\u00a0Color rendition is excellent, errors are below the visible limit.<\/p>\n

HDR and motion processing<\/h3>\n

The Sony OLED 48A9 TV, like all Sony OLED models, supports HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG.\u00a0It remains to be seen if Sony will ever consider HDR10 + important enough.\u00a0The peak brightness in the 10% gray window is approximately 679 nits, and in the 2% window it is 782 nits.\u00a0The all-white screen has a brightness of 140 nits.\u00a0Very typical OLED results for HDR.<\/p>\n

The color scheme also does not present surprises.\u00a0The KD-48A9 covers 67% of the Rec. 2020 range and 93% of DCI-P3.\u00a0For very good results, select the “Individual” picture mode.\u00a0The Sony A9 shows a lot of detail in shades of black.\u00a0Like all Sony, this TV ignores metadata.<\/p>\n

It does the dynamic tone mapping itself.\u00a0It hides all white details over 2000 nits.\u00a0The images leave a very good impression, with excellent color reproduction and tangible depth.\u00a0The loss of some white detail, of course only if the brightness exceeds 2000 nits, does not cause any problems.<\/p>\n

The viewing angle is very wide, as we are used to seeing with OLED screens.\u00a0In fact, sitting directly at the screen is not a prerequisite for viewing the best picture.\u00a0Avoid direct light, even if the screen does a good job of handling glare.\u00a0In normal picture modes, the measured latency was 102ms, which is too much for a decent game.\u00a0In game mode, the input lag drops to 18.4 ms, the result is excellent.<\/p>\n

Sound<\/h3>\n

Sony has also chosen\u00a0Acoustic Surface\u00a0technology\u00a0for this small TV.\u00a0In addition, the Sony KD-48A9 OLED uses the screen as a speaker membrane and vibrates it with two actuators to create sound waves.\u00a0At low frequencies, the A9 uses a single woofer.\u00a0As a reminder, the 55-inch A8 is equipped with two woofers.<\/p>\n

The A9 still delivers great sound that you quickly get used to with the Acoustic Surface.\u00a0But you can hear that the bass is a little underwhelming.\u00a0It seems that the TV reaches its limit a little faster than the A8, but the volume is still sufficient.\u00a0A short test procedure is required using the remote control to adjust the sound according to the acoustics of the room.<\/p>\n

Smart TV<\/h3>\n

Staying true to the Android operating system, Sony revamped its menus in 2019, making the TV much easier to use.\u00a0Connected devices are now displayed on the ribbon at the bottom of the screen.\u00a0You can hide, add them or even add applications yourself.\u00a0Thus, the “Inputs” button becomes a convenient quick launch panel.<\/p>\n

The menu button (gear) calls the “Quick settings” panel at the bottom of the screen, which you can configure in the same way as the “Inputs”.\u00a0The picture settings are still grouped into categories such as Brightness or Motion, but the settings below them are now enabled when you click on them.\u00a0A nice improvement is the addition of an image and explanatory text for each setting.<\/p>\n

\"Sony<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sony 48A9 OLED TV comes with a beautiful new version of the remote control.\u00a0It is thin, fits well in the hand, beautifully finished with brushed metal.\u00a0It is a pity that the keys are not backlit like on the XH95.\u00a0All basic functions are at hand.\u00a0There are direct buttons for Netflix and Google Play.\u00a0The remote works with IR, as well as via Bluetooth, so you don’t need to aim.<\/p>\n

The A9 is equipped with a dual TV tuner for digital TV (DVB-T2 \/ C \/ S2), but only has one CI + slot.\u00a0Thus, viewing and simultaneously recording another channel is only possible with unencrypted channels.\u00a0In addition to Chromecast, you can use Apple Airplay 2. The TV is compatible with Apple Homekit.<\/p>\n

Connections<\/h3>\n

The Sony KD-48A9 Master Series OLED connection list is identical to that of the A8.\u00a0There are four HDMI ports, unfortunately all versions are 2.0.\u00a0This is bad news for those with a PS5 or Xbox Series X vision. HDMI 2.1 features like ALLM and VRR are also missing.\u00a0One port offers eARC.\u00a0All connections are suitable for Ultra HD HDR.<\/p>\n

There are also three USB ports, a composite video input (via a splitter) and a stereo headphone minijack, and an optical digital output.\u00a0Headphones can also be connected via Bluetooth.\u00a0All connections point to the side or downward, so wall mounting is not a problem.\u00a0There is Wi-Fi and an Ethernet connector.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Sony has given its first 48-inch OLED TV its own model number: A9.\u00a0Is this the successor to AG9?\u00a0Or is he leaning more towards the A8?\u00a0The difference between them is small, but it seems to us that this is rather a smaller version of the A8.\u00a0And this is good, because the A8 is better equipped than the AG9.<\/p>\n

It’s a shame Sony didn’t provide HDMI 2.1 connectivity, especially now that the PS5 is here. HDR10 + support would also be nice, but that’s not a hindrance.\u00a0The price is relatively high.\u00a0The 55A8 costs only \u20ac 100 more and is \u20ac 300 more than the LG 48CX.\u00a0In exchange, you can enjoy the image to the fullest.\u00a0So the TV justifies its price.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A small to medium sized living area shouldn’t stop you from having a truly great TV.\u00a0From this point of view, it’s a bit of a shame that real flagship models have grown to at least 55 inches in the past few years.\u00a0For many, this is too great.\u00a0But in 2020, everything changed. As you’d expect, the […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10402,"featured_media":123520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[641],"tags":[778],"class_list":{"0":"post-123505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-reviews"},"acf":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}