New Products

Sony used a recent elaborate media event at its Sony Pictures Culver City, CA studio to introduce the next phase in its expanded BRAVIA consumer home theater product portfolio.

Holding fast to the company's "lens-to-living room" mantra, the new BRAVIA 9 TV flagship will produce some of the company's brightest images for the home, in an effort to approach the look of the company’s professional grading monitor, introduced last year with a whopping 4,000 nits of peak luminance.

The 2024 BRAVIA lineup will consist of four new 4K TV series featuring two full-array mini-LED LCD series, a 4K UHD White OLED TV series, and a direct-lit LED LCD TV series. The company will carry over its award-winning 2023 A95L QD-OLED line, which launched last fall.

The company's new flagship BRAVIA TV series, called the BRAVIA 9, is based on an expanded mini-LED backlight system with three times the mini-LED dimming zones as last year.

Sony also revealed that 2024 BRAVIA TVs will support the first-ever Amazon Prime Calibrated Mode that was collaboratively developed by Sony and Amazon content producers. This will access ambient light sensors in the sets and automatically recognize the type of content being viewed to ensure picture parameters are adjusted to meet artistic intent with minimal effort required by the viewer. The system is similar in operation to the previously introduced Netflix Calibrated Mode that Sony co-developed for that on-demand platform. Prime Calibrated Mode uses Sony developed Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) through the TV app to ensure the best available TV settings are used for the selected programming, including live sports and on-demand movies.

Through the Prime App the Calibrated Mode will ensure proper motion smoothing levels are engaged to achieve clear images that preserve the cinematic look filmmakers typically want. Prime Video producers will select the best color and brightness grading levels while the television auto adjusts the brightness according to room lighting. The Amazon Prime Calibrated Mode is expected to be a Sony exclusive for this year at least. New BRAVIA 9, 8, and 7 Series TVs will include the mode along with Netflix Calibrated Mode and IMAX Enhanced Mode, and all new series will continue to support Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range (HDR) profiles as well as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and DTS Digital surround sound.

At the same time, Sony announced that it is expanding its BRAVIA TV sub-brand to include home theater audio equipment intended to complement the new TVs. The effort will see the BRAVIA logo used as an umbrella label on select 2024 Sony soundbars and various surround-sound speakers intended to present an immersive AV entertainment experience.

The BRAVIA 9 flagship TV line will include three screen sizes: 65- ($3,300), 75- ($4,000), and 85- ($5,500) inches. All three were developed to create high peak luminance using a matrix LED backlit panel and Sony's XR Backlight Master Drive processing system. The total processing package also includes 4K X-Reality PRO, XR Clear Image, XR Triluminos PRO, XR Motion Clarity (120Hz native refresh rate), and X-Wide Angle with X-Anti-Reflection screen technology. The last two features will only be available in the BRAVIA 9 models.

BRAVIA 9 models leverage new algorithms for the advanced AI processing to replicate as closely as possible the picture quality of the Sony professional group's 30.5-inch 4K HDR production monitor (BVM-HX3110). The monitor was introduced last year and has been in high demand by Hollywood producers ever since, Sony said. The monitor uses a dual-layer anti-reflection LCD panel capable of surpassing 4,000 nits of peak brightness.

Although the dual-layer panel in not used in the BRAVIA 9 TVs, the new consumer displays present 50% brighter specular highlights in images over last year’s models while still generating inky blacks.

Some of the new models have up to 325% more local dimming zones than a year ago, the company said, while requiring 20% less power compared with last year's X95L series.

Beyond the elevated brightness, Sony said the BRAVIA 9 story involves how that brightness impacts multiple aspects of the overall picture quality by more accurately managing brightness. This processing is powered by Sony's XR Processor using a newly developed IC (LED Driver). The series will also include the company’s popular four-way stands for positioning flexibility across the top three series.

Other new BRAVIA series include the BRAVIA 8 WOLED 4K TV line, featuring 55- ($2,000), 65- ($2,800), and 77- ($3,900) inch screen sizes. The line replaces the 2023 A80L WOLED series, except for the 83-inch A80L, which will carry over. The BRAVIA 8 models are said to boast a 10% increase in peak brightness over last year’s models, and will include a new design with the four-way stand, and a thinner flush-back panel for a tighter fit with a new optional wall mount.

Meanwhile, the BRAVIA 7 4K UHD mini-LED LCD TV line will include 55- ($1,900), 65- ($2,300), 75- ($2,800) and 85- ($3,500) inch screen sizes and use the XR Processor to power Sony's XR Backlight Master Drive, 4K X-Reality PRO, XR Clear Image, XR Triluminos PRO, and XR Motion Clarity (120 Hz native refresh rate). The series also uses Sony’s four-way stand.

The BRAVIA 3 Direct-LED 4K UHD LCD series will include 43- ($600), 50- ($700), 55- ($849.99), 65- ($1,000), 75- ($1,300), and 85- ($1,800) inch screen sizes, all of which will run Sony's X1 processor, driving 4K X-Reality Pro, Triluminos Pro, and Motionflow XR 240 (60 Hz native refresh rate) processing systems.

Gaming features in the TVs this year include, Game Menu, Auto Genre Picture Mode, Auto HDR Tone Mapping, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and Game Picture Presets (STD, FPS, RTS). The latter two items will not be in the BRAVIA 3 series. The BRAVIA 9, 8, and 7 series TVs will all include four HDMI ports, two of which will support full bandwidth HDMI 2.1 capabilities. The BRAVIA 3 series has a native 60-Hz refresh rate and will not support full bandwidth HDMI 2.1

Sony continues to support ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV tuning in the BRAVIA 9, 8, and 7 TV series, but the new tuners will not be included in the lower-priced BRAVIA 3 LED-LCD series. Purchasers will be able to add that capability with an external third-party set-top box or dongle if desired.

And Now BRAVIA Theater
To complement the TVs, Sony has introduced four BRAVIA Theater sound-for-TV options. As an especially good match for the BRAVIA 9 TV series — or any 2024 TV — Sony also introduced its new BRAVIA Theater "Bar 9" soundbar ($1,400), which features clear dialogue enhancement and a more immersive surround sound experience thanks to its 13 speakers. The Bar 9 uses new high-performance drivers with support for both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 360-degree surround-sound platforms. The soundbar’s design is smaller than its predecessor and offers improved wireless connectivity. Optional wireless rear speakers and wireless subwoofer can be added to fill out the experience.

The 2024 Sony BRAVIA "Bar 9" speaker-for-TV package ($2,500) combines 16 speakers across four units with a minimalistic design. Sony's 360 Spatial Sound Mapping (360SSM) calibrates and virtually adjusts speaker placement and volume to present 16 phantom channels around the listener. Acoustic Center Sync (ACS) adjusts the TV’s built-in sound to produce the center channel directly from the screen. The Bar 9 can be further enhanced by adding an optional wireless subwoofer (SA-SW5/SA-SW3).

Sony BRAVIA home theater solutions use AI-powered sound separation processing called Voice Zoom 3 to adjust voices to make dialogue easier to hear without affecting other elements in the sound mix. This is beneficial for viewing live sports, for example, without announcer distraction.

Sony's new step-down Bar 8 ($1,000) is similar to the Bar 9 but incorporates 11 speakers, expandable with wireless rear speakers and a subwoofer. The Bar 8 offers a slimmer design for flexible placement. For more private listening, the new BRAVIA Theater: U wearable speaker has been optimized to listen at different volume levels without disturbing others listening to a TV or soundbar.

For more information, visit sony.com.