Watching "Hugo," the ghostly double image of crosstalk was more evident than any of the other sets, including the ZT60, in difficult areas like the statue looming over Hugo in the graveyard (14:56), the pillars below the clock (1:52) and its numbers as the ghostly outlines converge, and the sleeve of Mlis right before Hugo approaches to swipe the mouse. If you can stand its speakers, Sony's XBR-X900B will reward you with the best combination of audio and video quality you've ever seen (or heard). 15 Requires separately sold CalMAN calibration software to be installed on your PC, a pattern generator, a meter (colorimeter, spectrophotometer etc. Sony's specifications don't mention this number, instead going with "Motionflow XR 960," the kind of impressive-sounding albeit fake number common to many TV makers these days. Hitting the Home button brings up the Movies tab by default, where movie thumbnails from -- you guessed it -- Sony Video Unlimited take up the entire middle of the screen. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Sony also touts the Triluminos color on this and its other 4K TVs. I turned to "Samsara" for even better colors and wasn't disappointed. And for some reason, hitting forward and reverse skip (available on my Fios DVR and very frequently used) only caused a "feature not available" message. TV and wall mount system sold separately. Sony's speakers increase the width of the TV substantially, don't detach, and don't even have detachable covers. Diving deeper allows you to choose from six dejudder (smoothing) modes including an Impulse mode that engages black frame insertion, play with a two-point grayscale system, and pick from a few gamma settings. HDMI 2 and 4 support MHL, while HDMI 1 is the only one with ARC. The second section involves a wider comparison group, with which I performed the same suite of high-definition tests I put every TV through. This figure is based on our conventional TV without local dimming. All rights reserved. You can mirror a phone or tablet on the big screen via Miracast, or use a new Photo Share function to show photos from such a device on the Sony. Those honkin' three-way speakers to either side are augmented by the additional cabinet room of Sony's bottom-heavy wedge shape, improving bass response according to the company. Previous sets, like Sony's own W900A and R520A from last year, pass. At least, that's what they tell us Smart TV: Sony has redesigned its interface for 2014 so it's less cluttered and sleeker than before. Network services, content, and the operating system and software of this product may be subject to separate or third party terms and conditions and changed, interrupted or discontinued at any time and may require fees, registration and credit card information. Cable and satellite box control: [Editors' note: I originally tested cable box control for the X850B review. If you're a big spender who can do that, the X900B is an awesome choice. Only the ZT60 maintained superior, more natural-looking shadows than the X900B. Bright and dark scenes feel more natural, and colors are even more true to life with the TRILUMINOS display. When we moved the couch back to about an 8.5 distance he said he didn't notice the difference as much, but at that point we agreed confirmation bias was too much of an issue to fully trust what he saw. I did not test this feature. any audio built into the TV. The highest-quality nonproprietary source I had on-hand in both 1080p and 4K was some demo material of a piece of duck and lobster being served to an eager female diner. Picture settings: Sony hasn't changed much from previous years, continuing to offer plenty of picture presets under its Scene Select menu. Except where noted below, I did not re-test them for this review]. My Oppo Blu-ray player's pause icon in the upper right, for example, caused blooming in the nearby letterbox bar, but on the X900B it was relatively dim. Sony XBR-65X900B CNET review calibration report. I tried the X900B with and without the company's optional wireless subwoofer, and found that for an $299 the extra money is definitely worth it, especially since you've already spent so much on the TV itself. Hopefully I'll get the chance to revisit Sony's 4K catalog when the second-generation FMP-X10 arrives later this summer. For that reason, the 79-inch version won't be included in this review. Unfortunately, the box wasn't very reliable (see below). The main "Apps" screen has a few "featured" apps, but beyond that you'll have to dive into "All apps," a firehose of 280 separate icons (give or take), from "Vimeo" to "Internet Browser," to "EarthCamTV," to "Captain Philips." For comparison purposes, I arranged all four 4K sets so they were as close to the same seating distance as I could make them: between 77 and 87 inches (roughly 6.5 to 7.5 feet, which is quite close for 65-inch TVs). Like the W850B, the X900B failed our 1080i de-interlacing test, despite setting CineMotion to Auto. Android, Android TV, Google Play, Google, YouTube and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission. The speakers of Sony's XBR-X900B have come to kick butt and offer no apologies. For comparison purposes I swapped out the Samsung curved TV for a Panasonic TC-P65S64 to represent 1080p and kept the seating distances the same as described above. Once download is complete, the Google Home feature may be connected to the Sony device to access the voice control function Among the active sets the Samsung was second-best, followed closely by the Panasonic AX800U -- all of which far outclasses the Sony X900B. I removed the smaller HX950 and ZT60 from the lineup and swapped in the 65-inch Panasonic TC-P65S64 to use as my 1080p reference. Network services, content, and software of this product may be subject to separate terms and conditions and changed, interrupted or discontinued at any time and may require fees, registration and credit card information. The bottom is wider than the top, angling the screen back slightly. Compatible devices require internet connection. For speakers to sound good, they need to be big, and they should face the listener. The answer is yes, but only because of differences that had nothing to do with 4K resolution. It talks up the "magnetic fluid" speaker design, said to deliver more powerful sound with a smaller footprint. 4 User must connect to a Google account to use, including voice to activate linked apps. In case you're wondering, I did test the XBR-X900B with one of Sony's 4K video players, the FMP-X1 (below). I didn't test this feature for this review; the Pilot begins June 30. But if you're looking for a statement TV, it doesn't get any louder than this. By widening the color spectrum, TRILUMINOS Display, powered by the Picture Processor X1 Ultimate, reproduces more colors than a conventional television. You can also enable a picture mode said to optimize for football and soccer. Seen from the side the X900B exemplifies the "wedge" design found on 2014 high-end Sony sets. I ended up turning it off completely. With unmatched processing power, the Picture Processor X1 Ultimate analyzes content to boost color, contrast and clarity, bringing astounding realism to your content. There's also an included "port replicator" box that lets you connect three HDMI, one USB, and the RF cable to it, then run a single umbilical to the TV itself, for a cleaner installation. The array of content was frankly very impressive, especially compared to the 4K available on other TVs (which is zilch, aside from a few Netflix titles). Yes, the Sony's deep blacks and solid color were assets in 3D, and the glasses comfortable enough, but its crosstalk was a deal-breaker.

Most people won't love 'em. There's no dedicated "DVR" button on the remote, so to access recorded programs you have to -- you guessed it -- call up a "virtual remote." For live programming, you get a grid-style guide that, again, was inferior to the one on my cable box, with inadequate navigation, pokey load times, and the annoying tendency to start at channel 001 (standard-def!) In mixed albeit still mostly dark scenes, like the Room of Requirement (57:40 and 59:36), the ZT60 took its place as the best in the room, with superior pop and contrast, not only in the letterbox bars but also the depths of the shadows. While the XBR-X900B did a superb with 4K, none of its picture quality advantages had to do with resolution. Skin tones, the green grass, and the blue sky all appeared accurate. In other words while colors looked accurate and almost perfectly saturated, they didn't seem head-and-shoulders above the best TVs I've tested. I also arranged them in the same theatrically close seating distance I used for 4K testing, described above. Like all of the local dimming sets the Sony showed some blooming -- where the backlight illuminates dark areas adjacent to light ones -- but it was very well controlled. Requires compatible devices connected to the same wireless home network. The 3D image suffers from substantial crosstalk. With its dedicated tweeters, mdrange woofer, and transmission-line-style bass, the Sony is able to capture music in a way I haven't heard from a flat-screen before. Despite sounding a little thinner without the sub, the TV's sound blew the $499 Sony HT-CT770 soundbar away for music. It analyzes and processes data in every image to make colors even more natural and precise so pictures are closer than ever to real life. On the X900B you can also make Skype calls from within Social View; the idea being to "watch TV with friends while being connected to them through Skype.". Video processing: Sony has increased the number of smoothing/Soap Opera Effect modes this year, but unlike Samsung and some other TV makers, it still has yet to offer one that combines full motion resolution with proper 1080p/24 cadence. Object-based HDR remastering happens in real time to detect hundreds of individual objects on-screen and intelligently upscale everything you see to near-4K HDR quality so everything you watch is clear, bright, and incredibly realistic.1,2. Switching to a lower-quality source, my Verizon Fios TV connection at 1080i, was the same story. I didn't bother with Sony's "Mastered in 4K" setting, mainly because it applies only to a handful of Blu-ray titles. 4K TVs with 4K content: My first goal was to see if any of the TVs' rendition of the best 4K material I had on-hand looked substantially different.

The result was very even with no particular part of the spectrum poking out: relatively supple, deep bass, excellently nuanced vocals and plenty of sparkle where it's required. Neither dims the image as much as Impulse -- although neither gets as bright as the others. The sides of the Sony comprise a big chunk of chrome, invisible from the front, that matches the flashy chrome legs of the stand. Methodology: Compared to last year there are a few more 4K sources publicly available, namely Netflix -- "House of Cards" Season 2 and now "Breaking Bad" -- and additional content for Sony owners who pony up for one of the aforementioned video players. App availability varies by region and device. According to my DVDo 4K Test Pattern Generator, all of the HDMI inputs accepted 4K resolution at 24Hz and 30Hz, and HDMI 1, 2, and 3 all accepted it at 60 as well (HDMI 4 did not). On the plus side, no major video apps go missing (aside from HBO Go, which remains exclusive to Samsung among TVs), and you can customize the My Apps screens with your actual (i.e., non-Sony) favorites, once you manage to find them. Notable TV series like "The Blacklist" and "Breaking Bad" are also on tap. With advanced Full Array LED technology, you'll see crystal-clear 4K HDR1 images in everything you watch. For $700 today, you can grab an FMP-X1, the company's first-gen player, but due in part to its spotty reliability I'd definitely recommend waiting a few more weeks until its successor, the FMP-X10 , comes out ($700 list, $500 pre-order).

* To make multiple selections, hold down the Command (mac) or Control (pc) button on your keyboard and click. Apple ID account required. Much more popular services like Amazon Instant, Netflix, and Hulu Plus are relegated to small icons along the bottom. Unsurprisingly, Cinema mode in its default settings was more convincing with "Mission Impossible 3" resulting in clear dialogue, wide stereo effects, and booming explosions. Sony provides a little magnetic cover for the panopticon-averse. HDMI is a trademark of HDMI Licensing LLC. Now blast something out of me.". Easily search and watch your favorite movies, get answers on screen like sports scores or weather updates, control your TV and even your home - all with your voice. I started my tests with music and was very pleasantly surprised by the performance, even without the sub connected. 9 This Sony TV is compatible with AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. Click the image at the right to see the picture settings used in the review and to read more about how this TV's picture controls worked during calibration. Instead, I simply chose the most accurate picture setting (determined during each TV's full 1080p calibration; see below) and adjusted basic settings, namely light output, contrast, and black level. In case you didn't notice, them's some biiiig speakers for a TV. Discover how real pictures can be when you bring out the fine details. Wireless connectivity requires 802.11 home network (802.11n recommended). 4K upconversion: To test how well the Sony converted 1080p material to its 4K pixel array I wanted a lineup of same-size TVs viewed from the same theatrically close seating distance I used for 4K testing. And as you might expect from a TV with speakers like this, it sounded great. The 55- and 65-inch sizes have identical specs, and according to the manufacturer should provide very similar picture quality. They face the listener like good speakers should, and are unlike pretty much all TV speakers these days -- which are typically invisible and face down or to the rear. I've broken my testing down into separate sections, first dealing with only 4K sources and using a smaller comparison lineup. Other tabs from the Home menu, with the exception of Channel (which leads to "TV selections," described below) also point toward Sony services, namely Album goes to the Play Memories photo service, and Music to the Music Unlimited and Vevo services. They just declare, "I'm here, deal with it. 11 IMAX Enhanced content enables the full IMAX Enhanced experience. The bass of that system's subwoofer sounded bloated and boomy, and the vocals sounded very constrained, lacking the wide stereo imaging of the TV. The Sony XBR-X900B series provides the best picture quality of any 4K TV we've tested so far, competing well against the better plasmas. Apps must be compatible with TV. It's available on all "W" and "X" series models for 2014. The idea is to replace your box's interface and remote control with one built into the TV. Two other modes, Clear and Clear Plus, also hit the 1,200-line threshold but weren't quite as clean as Impulse on the test pattern. Samsung and LG's TVs have had the ability to control cable and satellite boxes using infrared blasters for a couple of years, but 2014 is the first time Sony has implemented the scheme via its own included blaster (below). Compared to the other sets, it showed a slight advantage in some areas, particularly red, which on the sunlit monks' robes for example (8:39) appeared a bit more full and lush than on the Samsung and Vizio, albeit about the same as the ZT60 and HX950. User must link compatible devices in order to control operation. Deep black levels; accurate, well-saturated color; and plenty of video processing options made it the best of the 4K sets I had on hand. When engaged, Sony says it "Provides image quality suitable for Blu-ray Disc 'Mastered in 4K' releasing from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment." Download the Google Home app from the iPhone App Store or Google Play. Color accuracy: As you can probably guess from the charts and Geek Box below, the Sony had no problems whatsoever in this area. Failure isn't a huge deal, but attentive watchers may notice some artifacts, for example moving lines or moire patterns, at times with film-based material delivered to the TV in 1080i, for example via a cable TV connection. Unfortunately, despite the ability to link Social View to your Twitter account, there's no way to view your own feed. www.netflix.com/termsofuse Any kind of content can be upconverted to lifelike 4K resolution1,2 with Sonys unique 4K X-Reality PRO and Object-Based Super Resolution. The high resolution doesn't provide a major boost in image quality, especially with non-4K content. (There's a "DVR" option under the Home > TV screen, but it didn't work when I tried it.) It also pumped out best sound of any TV we've heard, bar none. The X900B ships with two remotes: the same standard multibutton clicker I lauded in the X850B review, (which now seems too cheap for this TV; I'd at least like to see some backlighting), and a smaller version with just a couple of buttons and a touchpad. Its shots of a beachside town, animals, and mountains were equal in quality to any of the manufacturer-supplied footage I saw. Colors showed all of the accuracy in program material I expected from its superb measurements, from the depths of its shadows to brighter, more colorful scenes like young Snape's reverie (Chapter 19).

With bright material it showed no particular advantage. Connectivity: The X900B gets four HDMI inputs to go with a combination composite/component-video input, three USB ports, and a headphone jack. There's a reason no TV maker focuses on sound quality. Finally, yes, the X900B has a built-in camera and microphone which, at the moment, is used only for Skype. To get its great picture and its class-leading sound quality, you'll have to swallow those cones. The TV can also pair with compatible devices via NFC. To be fair, so were the other sets with the exception of the LG. I played with the Web browser, which seemed a step down from the offerings of Samsung and LG, with slower response times and difficult scrolling, even when I used the touchpad remote. They define this hulking TV, for better or for worse, as something beyond just another slim-bezel skinny set. Frankly, the massive front-facing speakers of the X900B don't give a damn. It also demands a serious chunk of change, and like all 4K sets we've tested doesn't offer a major jump in picture quality as a direct result of all those extra pixels.

Finding apps Sony decided not to surface can be tedious. They stemmed primarily from its superior contrast and black levels, as well as from other picture quality advantages that apply regardless of whether the source is 4K or otherwise. The LG and Panasonic AX800U were worse (lighter), the Vizio M was in the middle, and the Samsung came closest, delivering a very respectably deep black itself -- albeit not nearly as deep as the X900B. Speakers are perceived as ugly and unnecessary, better kept hidden and facing down or to the rear than shown off. In Sony's case, it incorporates a scanning backlight and optional black frame insertion. When I asked him why, he said he noticed the very subtle presence of pixel structure in some flat fields, for example blue skies, and that tipped him off. And if that's not powerful enough, you can throw in Sony's optional wireless sub ($300). In my favorite dark torture test from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" the X900B's letterbox bars remained darker than any of the others aside from the HX950's during the initial hilltop shot (46:00), providing inky contrast to the rest of the darkness. The Samsung and Vizio in particular washed out more quickly. For the first time since we started testing TV audio in 2013, Nick Cave was actually enjoyable to listen to on a television.

They provide the sweetest sound we've heard from any TV, and combine with stellar picture quality to deliver the complete package. Personally, I'm not a fan of the speaker-dominated look, but I liked the X900B's other luxury touches. A 79-inch version, model XBR-79X900B , will ship in July. Details were sumptuous across the board, and the camera work and subject matter was designed to show off the extra resolution. Contrast is further enhanced by X-tended Dynamic Range PRO 6x, which gives the screen 6 times the contrast range of a conventional edge-lit LED TV , creating higher peak brightness in highlights and detailed blacks in shadow. If there was any, I didn't see it. Color was the biggest difference between the TVs, but since I didn't calibrate for 4K, I don't know which TVs were more "correct" or accurate. 1 8K: 7,680 x 4,320 pixels. The same went for the demo files I tried, including a particularly nice piece of demo material: "The Ultra Definition showcase" from Florian Friedrich, available at UHDcontent.eu. Those speakers: you'll either love 'em or hate 'em. As long as you like the look of speakers, that is. Pricing for movies is typically $7.99 to rent for 24 hours or $29.99 to buy.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Its responsiveness was marginally speedier than on the X850B I tested earlier, but the interface still often took awhile to populate thumbnail art.