![\"Sony](\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ultrahd.su-Sony-KD-55AG9-obzor.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDesign<\/h3>\n
With different diagonals of 140, 165 and 196 cm, the first thing that catches your eye is the very thin panel in the AG9 models.\u00a0Even with the screen installed on the stand, the TV is close to a vertical surface (wall).\u00a0The stand does not have any chrome legs.<\/p>\n
There is nothing superfluous, no distracting eyes from the screen.\u00a0This design is an advantage for the new AG9 OLED models, as Sony claims the TV will sit very close to the rear when wall-mounted.\u00a0So close that it looks like a photo frame on the wall.\u00a0Very neat design.<\/p>\n
Decorative thin bezels surround the TV panel.\u00a0The discrete arrangement of the sound-emitting system is located throughout the panel and does not make its own adjustments to the design.\u00a0Unfortunately, it was not possible to feel the sound of the system in full.\u00a0But the interesting design of the\u00a0Panasonic GZR2000 has\u00a0been taken into account by Sony and redesigned.\u00a0Therefore, the screen in the AG9 series with the home theater setting turned on emits sound like the center speaker.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Android TV and Google Assistant<\/h3>\n
As for the Smart TV platform, both Sony AG9 and AG8 series are equipped with Android TV version 8.0 (Oreo).\u00a0The standard Google Assistant is built-in and is available when playing TV programs and movies.\u00a0Microphones for voice control are built into the remote control and the TV.<\/p>\n
Android TV 8.0 Oreo<\/h3>\n
Sony’s AG9 series adds a new smart remote control.\u00a0In particular, according to the manufacturer, control of peripheral devices such as cable or satellite receivers, Blu-ray players and game consoles has become much easier.<\/p>\n
The console is equipped with the function of transmitting signals over a radio frequency bridge.\u00a0The TV can now be controlled without clearly pointing the remote at it.\u00a0The user interface of Android Oreo 8.0 has been adapted in the new series.\u00a0This affected the function of quick access to favorite applications and TV settings.<\/p>\n
New Android TV 8.0 Features in Sony AG9<\/h3>\n
As for the new Android 8.0 Oreo Smart TV features, including VOD services, Catch Up M6 TV Replay, YouTube and more, these TVs will receive the Android 9.0 Pie Firmware update this year, presumably by early summer.\u00a0High-tech processor “X1 Ultimate” almost instantly starts when playing “heavy” content.<\/p>\n
Because of this, the performance of the Smart TV platform as a whole has been increased.\u00a0Some of the numbers that the manufacturer claims are: OS Android TV is about 60% faster;\u00a0the same numbers when opening applications;\u00a050% improvement in YouTube performance and 60% improvement in Netflix streaming;\u00a0access to pages in the Andoid browser is 30% better.<\/p>\n
The AG9 remote control has a voice search function, so it is very easy to use the Google Assistant.\u00a0Android TV interface is standard, but slightly updated.\u00a0High level of compatibility with Apple devices.\u00a0Alexa and AirPlay 2 support will be available in select markets. The Sony AG9 Android TV series will thus be compatible with Apple\u00a0AirPlay 2\u00a0and HomeKit.<\/p>\n New features include support for IMAX Enhanced.\u00a0This is special content that is compatible with this feature.\u00a0That is, as the developers of this standard declare, “the content on the screen should be reproduced as the filmmaker intended.”<\/p>\n IMAX is slated to launch in mid-2019.\u00a0Such content will be distributed via Rakuten TV streaming.\u00a0First, the option is planned to be used in European countries Spain, Germany, France and Italy.\u00a0More countries will then join the list, according to Sony.<\/p>\n Image calibration mode from Netflix is \u200b\u200bincluded in the specification.\u00a0This is the second feature that was designed to provide the kind of image quality that the content creator has in mind.\u00a0By enabling this option in the menu, “Netflix Calibrated Mode” will automatically play premium picture quality.<\/p>\n Of the highlights in the AG9 series, the following specifications can be noted: image processing using the “Picture Processor X1 Ultimate” with an object-oriented algorithm;\u00a0installed OLED panel with excellent black levels;\u00a0Dolby Vision HDR compatible and “Netflix Calibrated” mode.<\/p>\n As we recall, the Sony AF9 TVs have a “Pixel Contrast Booster” function.\u00a0The new OLED Sony AG9 has this same feature.\u00a0What’s the point of the Pixel Contrast Booster?\u00a0Since last summer, LG Display, which provides OLED panels to all other brands of TVs, has left “free access” at the hardware level for full control of screen pixels.<\/p>\n Therefore, all brand manufacturers using LG Display OLED matrices began to develop their own pixel controllers for these matrices.\u00a0The result of Sony engineers became obvious – a higher average brightness level of the entire panel “ABL” (Average Brighness Level) and better color rendition with high brightness for more textures.\u00a0All this improves the accuracy of the image.\u00a0However, at the time of publication, the peak brightness value of the Sony AG9 is unknown.\u00a0It is roughly at the level of AF9 models.<\/p>\n The capabilities offered by the X1 Ultimate image processor last year allowed engineers to refine the Object-Based Super Resolution technology.\u00a0A modified new algorithm detects and analyzes every object in the image.\u00a0Picture details have been individually optimized for crisp textures.<\/p>\n There is a great depth of field, close to natural reality.\u00a0Of course, the Super Bit Mapping 4K HDR image processing process makes adjustments to reduce or eliminate artifacts.\u00a0This picture adjustment item can be adjusted in a separate menu.<\/p>\n Object-oriented image processing with dual database has several million visual effects to best match the original signal and display it on the screen.\u00a0The X Reality Pro 4K engine is MotionFlow XR scaling and dynamics compensation.<\/p>\n Naturally, the new AG9 series has a 4K HDR label, which stands for HDR10, HDR HLG and HDR Dolby Vision support.\u00a0In fact, we did not see anything new.\u00a0It is difficult to assess the quality of the image on exhibition options, which usually show specially created content for such events.<\/p>\n Of course, the videos shown on the Sony 55AG9 look amazing – bright, colorful, with rich blacks.\u00a0But before talking about all the delights, the prototype should be tested.\u00a0Only then can we talk about the overall performance of the new model.<\/p>\n If we compare the AF9 and AG9, then the new product seeks to avoid the criticism that was in last year’s models – the lack of brightness compared to competitors.\u00a0In our opinion, only the tweaked Pixel Contrast feature can make some improvements to Sony’s 55AG9.<\/p>\n As for the new “Acoustic Surface Audio +” feature in Sony’s AG9 TV series, there are three dedicated acoustic transducers.\u00a0They are located on the right, left and center of the screen, just behind the matrix.\u00a0The transducers vibrate the matrix surface to transmit sound vibrations.<\/p>\n The addition of a third center “vibrator” provides higher fidelity in sound transmission.\u00a0When a character or a speaker from the screen makes a speech, the user literally feels his voice just as if being in the same space with the speaker.\u00a0Additionally, the AG9 series uses a dual subwoofer.<\/p>\n But that is not all.\u00a0After the sale of\u00a0the Sony A1 series\u00a0TVs,\u00a0Sony\u00a0engineers added the ability to connect an additional speaker system to the new models through the terminal block on the back of the TV.\u00a0Moreover, this is not the “output” from the TV, but the “input” of the central channel for an external source.<\/p>\n Now, when you turn on the special option in the “Surface Audio +” system, the AG9 screen becomes the center speaker in the home theater.\u00a0It turns out that the Sony AG9 OLED TV does not require an additional center speaker, which needs to be located somewhere above or below the screen!\u00a0Agree, a good and elegant subwoofer solution.<\/p>\n In addition to the standard interfaces that we always find in all the latest models, there is something deserving about the Sony KD-55AG9.\u00a0Namely, HDMI 2.1 interfaces with eARC support.\u00a0Although eARC was already in last year’s models.\u00a0Three USB ports (2.0 + 3.0), a pair of satellite (Main and Sub) inputs, composite input, 3.5 mm headphone output.\u00a0In addition to the built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interfaces, NFC support appeared.<\/p>\n The entire AG9 series has retained the specifications of this manufacturer’s previous flagship model.\u00a0Some kind of innovative and breakthrough innovations were \u201cavoided\u201d.\u00a0“Pixel Contrast Booster” and “Acoustic Surface Audio” technologies were reviewed in last year’s Sony TV series.<\/p>\n Object-oriented processing and image scaling repeat the work of the previous flagship versions of the manufacturer.\u00a0It is possible that the Pixel Contrast Booster will make changes and you will notice the difference.<\/p>\n The AG9 sound system has received a cosmetic update. \u00a0The final conclusions about the performance of TVs in the reviewed Sony 9 series will appear only after testing new models in the laboratory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As OLED TVs become more popular, the market is filled with more competitive models.\u00a0At CES 2019, Sony unveiled its version of the “Master Series” TVs.\u00a0At the head of this class of TVs is the Sony AG9 4K OLED Smart TV HDR series.\u00a0For some markets this series comes with the Sony A9G designation. The second such […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10402,"featured_media":127664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[641],"tags":[778],"class_list":["post-127663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127663","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=127663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\nApple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit compatible<\/h3>\n
Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos, IMAX Enhanced and Netflix<\/h3>\n
Pixel Contrast Booster Controller<\/h3>\n
X1 Ultimate processor<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAcoustic Surface Audio +<\/h3>\n
Connections<\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/h3>\n