PROS:
Outstanding for HDR
Reference image quality
Great image processing
Best motion system for OLED so far
Good and innovative sound system
CONS:
Android doesn't live up to full potential
Poor remote
Vertical bands on darker grey tones
Mediocre input lag
High power consumption in standby
Conclusion
A1 is actually the second OLED TV from Sony but it is the first one that counts. It took 8 years but apparently this is the time required to mature a technology such as OLED. A1 separates itself from the competition in terms of appearance and seems more of a contender to LG W7 design-wise. The collapsible backside that doubles as stand is different in a cool way.
A1 employs an innovative speaker system that utilizes the panel itself as tweeter to deliver sound. The built-in subwoofer cannot go as deep as some soundbars with more units built-in, but as a whole the speaker system in A1 does a decent job.
The implementation of Android is identical to other Sony TVs that we have tested over the past six months (even the SoC). It is possible to bring the system to its knees with simple measures such as feeding it with too many media files on a USB stick. We can’t help but feel that Android has failed to live up to its full potential. Chromecast built-in is a nice band-aid, but it is not a cure for a lacking smart platform.
In the picture department OLED rises above anything else and A1 is no exception. Gray scales are reproduced with conviction and A1 manages to separate even the darkest tones. We measured a slight offset on colors and the lack of a CMS made it impossible for us to correct it. The OLED panel delivers peak brightness only slightly higher than last year’s models and placed side-by-side we suspect that few people would be able to spot the difference on a 100% white background. Where the A1 does move past LG’s E6 is in motion handling and image processing. Upscaling/motion is more convincing on A1 that builds on the same great motion engine that Sony also employed in Z9D and X93E.
Sony A1 underperforms compared to LG E6 in some areas (OS and speed), performs almost identical in others (homogeneity and color reproduction), and outperforms in yet another (image processing and motion). Overall Sony’s A1 is a step up from the highly acclaimed LG E6 mostly because it offers improved motion clarity and processing that some have been asking for. As the first 2017 OLED on our bench, Sony A1 is worthy of our Reference Award. Time will tell if LG and Panasonic’s 2017 OLED TVs can match or even surpass A1.
Sony A1 OLED review - FlatpanelsHD
LG Display announced that it developed an OLED display with a higher image quality and high color uniformity. LG Display says it is aiming to use these new OLEDs in broadcast monitors.
LGD says that the new displays feature a "Real Black" image. LG Display used various OLED and TFT compensation technologies to achieve this high uniformity and better image quality. LG Display will provide more information at SID DisplayWeek 2017 next month.
In 2015 it was indeed reported that LG intends to develop OLED displays for high end professional monitors. The reports suggested that that Samsung Display is also considering entering this market, which is currently being controlled by Sony.
However when it comes to film-based content we would always recommend using the True Cinema mode which increases the frame rate without introducing interpolation, thus improving the motion whilst retaining a nice film-like quality.
As is often the case the Sony didn't perform as well with Pan and was unable to properly render the sun setting behind the mountain in the 'Arriving in Neverland', which meant some content was being clipped, but otherwise the A1 produced a superb HDR performance.
All of the OLEDs were very good in this category. They passed my go-to 1080p/24 film cadence test from "I Am Legend" in both the "Off" and the "Custom" (zero for De-Judder and 10 for De-Blur) TruMotion position. I'd probably choose the latter since it also delivered the TV's maximum motion resolution (600 lines) and correct film cadence.
The rest of the settings (with the exception of Off) introduced some form of smoothing, or soap opera effect, and none bested that motion resolution score. Sticklers for blurring will note that the Samsung beat the LG with a score of 1,200 lines.
The EF9500 is solid in this category, but it still falls short of the better high-end LCD TVs. It is capable of delivering correct 1080p/24 film cadence, but like other LG OLED TVs, introduced too much judder in some scenes using the default "Off" TruMotion setting.
Slow-speed pans didn't show the issue, but once the camera movement became more rapid, the extra judder and jumpiness became somewhat jarring. My nominal test for film cadence, the medium-speed pan over the Intrepid from "I Am Legend," looked generally fine, although looking closely it was very slightly jerkier than the other displays.
As I saw previously, "Skyfall," with its more frenetic camera movement, revealed the issue more clearly. As the camera sweeps across the abandoned lot in Chapter 17, for example (1:17:17), the facade of the building judders strongly, and the derelict bicycle and pole in the foreground appear similarly too jumpy. The pan across the stone gate at the entry to Skyfall manor (1:47:30) also appeared a bit jumpier than the other sets, albeit to a lesser extent.
The E6 was very good in this category, and LG has alleviated some of the jumpiness I saw last year with some pans and camera movement with film-based material. Looking at some of my go-to 1080p/24 film cadence favorites from "Skyfall" and "I Am Legend," the Off TruMotion settings of the B6 and E6 both showed less judder (in a good way) than did the EF9500 last year, and were more in line with the other TVs.
People sensitive to blurring will likely want a setting with better motion resolution, but unlike the B6, the E6 requires a compromise. At a User setting of zero for De-Judder and 10 for De-Blur, the B6 delivered maximum motion resolution (600 lines) and correct film cadence. But in the same settings the E6 showed an overly juddery effect reminiscent of 2/3 pull-down. The rest of the settings (with the exception of Off) introduced some form of smoothing, or soap opera effect, and none bested that resolution. If you're watching a film-based source on the E6, you should choose Off or De-Judder: 1 (which introduces minimal smoothing).
Hum, aquí hay cosas que no llego a entender el porqué toman ese tipo de decisiones. El tipo dice que pone "De-Judder" a 0 y De-Blur a 10. Yo hice esa misma prueba sobre una típica secuencia de créditos, y el resultado era horroroso!!!. Una especie de Pulldown 3:2 raro, que desaparecía tras volver a poner a cero el De-Blur.
Pensando en que quizás era problema mío, se me olvidó desactivar el Truñomotion y al ver una peli varios días más tarde, noté como en los movimientos había cosas raras. Pensé que igual no estaba activado el modo Cine Real (que es el que sincroniza a 24P sobre 120Hz en estas teles), pero al mirar en el Truñomotion, resulta que ahí estaba el problema. Tenía el De-Blur a 10.
Así que o esta gente ve las cosas de forma diferente, o no entiendo nada.
Engaging [Perfect Clear Motion] was far more useful, boosting motion resolution (as determined via Chapter 31 of the FPD Benchmark Software test disc) from the sample-and-hold baseline of 300 lines to 650 lines. Running our torture tests, we couldn’t detect any interpolation artefacts or SOE, and there’s no visible flicker and drop in light output that are normally associated with black frame insertion (BFI) either.