Sony’s superb OLED streak just won’t let up
55in OLED TV | £1499 | whf.cm/55A80K
Sony’s A80K boasts a seriously premium specification sheet that includes one of the latest brightness-bolstered OLED panels backed up by a heat sink that unlocks even more brightness, along with the latest version of the company’s Cognitive XR processor. This is dedicated to delivering Sony’s vision of the most accurate and/or ‘realistic’ pictures possible, by subtly manipulating every element of picture quality to create a more natural image that resembles more closely the way your eyes perceive the real world.
A variant of the A80K, the A84K, is available through a limited number of retailers, most notably Currys. While largely identical, the A84K boasts a few upgrades, including a metal (rather than plastic) remote control, a built-in far-field microphone for remote-free voice control, and a Rich Colour Enhancer feature that delivers marginally more potent colour tones, but only when the set is in its Vivid picture preset. It also comes with twice as many tokens to spend on movies in Sony’s Bravia Core streaming service – perhaps the most compelling reason to seek out the A84K over the A80K, since both sets can usually be found for the same £1499 price.
Higher brightness potential
From the front, the A80K is a minimalist, nearly bezel-free rectangle sat on simple, narrow, silver ‘skate blade’ feet, adjustable for height and width for easier positioning.
The A80K’s use of an OLED panel means every pixel in its screen produces its own light, independent of its neighbours. So we can look forward to levels of local contrast and dark-scene consistency that you just can’t get with any LED solution to date.
That OLED panel is one of the latest, higher-brightness panels made by LG Display, while the addition of a heat sink element means the screen can push even brighter without any increased risk from permanent image retention issues.
Sound is delivered by Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ tech, where actuators vibrate the screen to produce the bulk of the TV’s audio. Left, right and centre actuators are backed up by two subwoofers to boost bass, and two further actuators on the screen’s sides to improve high-frequency sounds and dialogue playback. Dolby Atmos decoding is provided to give this speaker system an object-based audio format to sink its teeth into, and there’s even a connector that lets the TV be used as the centre speaker in a separates system.
Sony’s XR Contrast feature uses advanced power management to boost colour and con
