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EternlRayne
 
 
 
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    October 19, 2014
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EternlRayne's Reviews
 
Stream content wirelessly and enjoy movies in 4K UHD with this Samsung QLED smart TV. Equipped with Dolby Digital Plus and DTS Premium Sound options, this television optimizes audio for an enhanced acoustic experience. Connect this Samsung QLED smart TV to your home theater equipment in moments via its four HDMI ports and three USB inputs.
 
  • My Best Buy® Elite Plus Member
Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
Minimal improvement, maximum price.
on April 24, 2017
Posted by: EternlRayne
For those unfamiliar with QLED's, they are Samsung's flagship sets for 2017. Samsung is the only one of the big three TV manufactures that did not release an OLED for 2017, so to remain competitive, Samsung released their QLED. Once again, note that the QLED is still a LED and not an OLED so a comparison cannot be made with an OLED since they are different technologies. This review will focus on the Q7 and compare it to similar LED televisions.
The design aspect of the Q7 is both gorgeous and deceptively costly. The borders of the TV are very small, and the screen comes near the very edge. The set is also very thin and can be mounted very close to the wall. The Q line can be augmented to increase its design with Samsung's no gap wall mount, gravity and easel stands. While optional, these accessories cost extra in addition to the TV (for instance the no gap mount is $150 while the gravity stand will be much more), but are strictly optional. What is not optional, is the One Connect Box. While the MU series uses the smaller One Connect Mini we're all use too, the Q series uses a massive box that oddly enough, requires a separate power cord. This is a nuisance if you did not plan for it. You may be out of electrical outlets on your wall/surge protector, or not have any viable place to hold the large One Connect Box. This is not a deal breaker by any means, just something to be aware of.
The picture quality of the Q7 is the most important aspect of the TV. The set uses Quantum Dots to get its color. The Quantum Dot technology is nothing new, in fact it was a big selling point to KS series of last year and has been used by other manufactures. The Q series uses a more robust version of Quantum Dots and does improve its color over last year's KS sets. Unfortunate, there is very little to no improvement is most other aspect of picture quality. This is a shame considering the starting price point of the Q7. Furthermore, the Q7 is an edge lit television. This means that the black levels on the Q7 are nearly the same as that on the MU9000. The lack of full array is, in my opinion, the single biggest missed opportunity on the Q7, as that would have increased its contrast ratio and black levels. The viewing angels are also similar to the MU, with the Q7 losing some color and black levels at an off angle.
It is clear that Samsung placed an emphasis on design with the Q series. The Q7 is a great looking TV that can mounted or stood with Samsung's extra accessories. It is a shame however, that Samsung did not do more to improve the overall picture quality of the Q7. Picture wise, it is best described as a direct descendant to the KS9000, with improved color, brightness and a smoother, more connected OS. But the price of the Q7 is not appropriate for the technology packed in the set. In fact, I would say, you are paying more for the design and the QLED name, more than the picture quality.
To sum up my thoughts on the Q7, I would rate the television 4.4 out of 5 for quality, but a 3.5 out of 5 for value. The Q7 is not a bad television by any measure. Its design is wonderful and the set is an improvement in color and contrast over last year’s Samsung’s. But that improvement is minimal, which makes the asking price for the Q7 somewhat unjustified. If and when the Q7’s price is a few hundred more than the MU9000, I would recommend taking a look at the Q7 for an even better television. As is stands at the moment of writing however, the 65MU9000 is a better set for the price. And the Sony 65X930E is a better LED set overall, while being less than the Q7. This currently makes the Q7 hard to recommend, but those who do purchase it will still get an excellent Samsung television that is better than both the KS and MU series.
My Best Buy number: 3448019528
I would recommend this to a friend!
+144points
180of 216voted this as helpful.
 
Enjoy stunning 4K ultra HD picture quality with this Sony LED Smart TV. High dynamic range technology brings vivid color and contrast to the screen, and the 2160p resolution lets you upscale your current DVD collection for ultra HD quality. Boasting a 64.5-inch screen, this Sony LED Smart TV makes a smart addition to your home theater setup.
 
Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
The best LED television (period).
on September 2, 2016
Posted by: EternlRayne
Be warned, this is a very long review. I recommend you have a seat and grab a drink before reading.
Items used during this review: Sony 65Z9D, Sony 75x940D, Samsung 65KS9800, LG G6 OLED, Samsung K8500 UHD player, Star Trek Into Darkness UHD and Batman V Superman UHD.
Anyone who has been a fan of Sony TVs, or any TV for the matter, in the last couple of years is sure to remember the 950B. It was hailed as the best TV on the market by many and remained so until LG burst onto the scene with their OLED technology. Since that fateful day two years ago (two lifetimes in the technology realm), OLED has been the king of the proverbial TV mountain. Sony has now arrived with another TV set meant to reclaim its throne. The Z9D is being hailed by Sony as the best residential available TV on the market. I have had several days to spend with the set and this lengthy review will tackle different aspects of the TV. Quick note: The Z9D still runs on the same version of Android as the “D” models so I’m going to skip the software aspect entirely.
The first thing you notice when you turn on the set is that it’s bright, and I mean bright. I’m not going to measure nits or anything (review sites can do that), but just by eyeing the Z9D, it is nearly as bright as the brightest TV on the market, Samsung’s KS9800. Both of them can hurt your eyes if you stare too closely at them, just like the sun. Staying of the KS9800, Sony went with a Master Backlight system for the Z9D. It basically amounts to a full array set like the KS9800, but without set zones. Know all full-array sets have zones. A zone is a section with a number of LEDs (think 100 LEDs) behind a TV panel. That zone can dim or even turn off giving better blacks. The Z9D, however, is not reliant on zones. Zones are not perfect because you cannot completely turn off one LED while keeping one next to it lit. The Z9D, on the other hand, can turn off any LED it needs to, thanks to its unique lighting system. This leads to blacks that are better (and more importantly, more precise) than any other LED TV. They don’t quite reach OLED blacks, but there's more on that comparison later in the review.
For this review, I will be using the 940D for the primary comparison as it the closest set to the Z9D. The KS9800 isn’t even in the race and comparison to the OLED G6 will come later. For viewing materials, I first used the Sony demo. I instantly noticed that the Z9D was a great improvement in many aspects. Brightness was the most prominent, but color accuracy was the most impressive. Colors that were near impossible to see on the 940D were clearly visible on the Z9D. Also, colors flowed and changed more naturally. Shades of green and red were more accurate and matched their original color. Those who would have labeled the 940D as the most accurate LED TV, would will be pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the Z9D.
First film was Star Trek Into Darkness. This film was used to show color and black level. In the opening section of the film, Kirk and Bones run through the red forest, which is actually red on the Z9D. I always thought the 940D did the best job of showing this vibrant red, but the Z9D is superior in showing not only a brighter and richer red, but a more accurate and clean red. The Z9D not only has more color than the 940D, it has better color (which can be attributed to a better processor). The single most impressive detail in the film was the black of the native populations eyes vs the white of their skin. In the 940D, their black eyes could never truly get black because the LED zone was too large to cover such a small number of pixels. That zone had to dim to get the eyes as black as it could, while also getting as bright as possible to show their white faces. The Z9D does not have this issue. It shows their eyes a true black and their skin a perfect white. It does this with no problem, no haloing effect no and jitter because of the high contrast. This is also evident in the volcano Spock falls into. In the 940D, sections are black and others are red/orange. The TV has to constantly fight to show the mixture of colors as the lava churns, leading to sections that are black when it should be red and vice versa. The Z9D can instantly show dark cooling lava and black smoke while simultaneously showing extremely bright reds/orange hues that would put the KS9800 to shame.
The final film tested was Batman V Superman. This film was chosen because it is a very, very dark film. In fact, it is one of the most difficult films for a TV set to accurately display. A thin line must be walked to strike a balance between its light and dark moments. You either have to turn the brightness on your TV up so as to see the small details or turn it down so the nighttime sequences are actually dark and not gray. I am pleased to say that Z9D took to this film better than I could have hoped. This is where the Z9D shows a superiority to the OLED (there, I said it.) I first watched the actually fight scene between the films two namesakes on the OLED and while the black levels were phenomenal, I knew the TV was hiding so much underneath those absolute blacks. The same scene on the Z9D was nowhere near as black, but this was actually a better situation. The OLED could not show those very dark grays and dark blues like the Z9D could. Batman’s suit on the OLED looked either black or blue, depending on the light, while on the Z9D, it showed the correct shade of metallic gray. His suit actually looked like it was made from a carbon based metal like a titanium and aluminum alloy. Not to be left out, Superman’s costume looked phenomenal as well. The cyan (or teal) of the “belt” around his waist shone through the black of the film with ease. His hair was a perfect black and his heat vision was actually red unlike the orange that most TV’s display. Every scratch mark on Batman’s suit or armor, and every black section around his ribs was visible. His eyes, and only his eyes, glowed a brilliant HID blue as he was thrown across the screen (a testament to the Master Backlight system.) The fight in the abandoned building was equally impressive. Graffiti that was missed on the OLED were easily visible on the Z9D because it’s black level were impressive, but also tame and not absolute. The most impressive thing about the scene was I could simply see everything.
“Well dude, is there anything you don’t like about the TV?” Yes. It does not support HDR through a UHD player right out of the box. You have to dig in the settings to turn it on. If not, films won’t have that desired “HDR” sign on the info bar atop the screen. It’s odd that to unleash the full potential of such an expensive set, you have to search for such an obviously needed thing. It’s forgivable on an 850D, but not on the Z9D. The Master Backlight system can also be too bright. Certain explosions or flashes of light can hurt one’s eyes. While it’s not bright enough to cause any serious or permanent damage, take care not to turn the brightness at max when watching with little children. I don’t recommend that you have it always at max anyway as it shortens the life of your TV. The Master Backlight turns LED’s up and down in brightness depending on what’s on the screen. Really bright sections can sometimes “bleed” (I use that word delicately) into the dreaded 2:40 black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. I didn’t notice this happen once at the top of the screen, but occurred on occasion at the bottom whenever the TV had to put a white object at the very edge of the black bars. It would only light a handful of LEDs at the bar. This is something only active eyes would notice, and also something soon forgotten. In all three films I saw this, but forgot about it within a few minutes as I got more engrossed by the film. Finally, there seems to be a loss of black levels at the black bars on the bottom of the TV when off to a sharp angle. Once again, this only happens when a bright image was on screen, but it’s worth noting. I never saw this when I sat in front of the screen so you shouldn’t either. You have to sit at a near unreasonable angle to see it. And that’s it. There is nothing else I can nitpick about this TV.
So fine. You’ve read all these words (or skipped most of it) to get an answer to this simple question: is it better than OLED. Well... But wait! Before you leave upset, let me explain. To answer such a question, you have to ask yourself, “what do you want from your tv?” Does the Z9D have equal blacks to the OLED? No, but it certainly comes close, closer than any other set has dared. So if you want that perfect black, you have to get an OLED, that’s just technology. But the Z9D did not lose that battle by much. In some sections of Batman V Superman, the Z9D came unbelievably close to OLED blacks, around 90% by my estimation. I have no specific numbers of nits here so sorry, I’m just using my (and others) eyes. The OLED wins the blacks category, but the Z9D wins in almost every other facet. It is a far brighter TV, which allows for impressive contrast. It shows a more natural white (like a monitor white) than the OLED. It is a more accurate TV where color and shading are concerned, with a more powerful processor, and shows every version of HDR indiscriminately. The question about Web OS or Android OS is personal so that’s that.
My last words are this; the Z9D is the best LED TV in the market, and in my opinion, a more impressive innovation than the 950B. It is an obvious contender for simply “the best TV” on the market. Those who purchase it instead of the OLED will be buying a worthy alternative, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
My Best Buy number: 3448019528
I would recommend this to a friend!
+407points
464of 521voted this as helpful.
 
JitterBug’s dual-circuitry measurably reduces unwanted noise currents and parasitic resonances. It also reduces jitter and packet errors.
 
Customer Rating
5 out of 5
5
Perfect addition to any headphone audio system.
on August 29, 2016
Posted by: EternlRayne
Quick note on my equipment:
Schiit Audio- Bifrost (Uber)
Schiit Audio- Valhalla 2
AKG- K702 Anniversary addition.
The purpose of The Jitterbug is simple: reduce noise while improving audio quality. Does it work? Absolutely. First off, it does help as a USB filter. It reduces the amount of incoming noise and hum from a computer. The amount of noise reduced is not 100%. In fact, I noticed it varied but I would have to say it reduced somewhere around 50 – 75% of the noise coming from my USB. That may not seem like a lot, but that annoying hum went from being a serious detriment to my system, to being something I have to actively listen for. I use to have to turn my music louder than I would have liked because the hum was so distracting. Now I can have music at a very low volume and the hum is nearly gone. To be clear, if you simply want to reduce the hum from your USB, buying a ground isolator is probably your best bet, as that will reduce near 100% of the noise. Also having two Jitterbugs reduces the noise even more as they both actively work to clean your USB outputs.
The second thing the Jitterbug does, is to get you better sound. How does it work? Well without getting too technical, digital signals are susceptible to serious degradation. Most will tell you that digital signals are simple ones and zeros. This is true, but it is hardly simply. DAC’s can receive incorrect ones and zero sequences from the computer as it is transferred through the USB. In fact, this error in transfer is a big reason for distorted, muddy music. The simplest way to understand it is this; if your computer sends 1.1.0.0.1.1, but your DAC receives 1.1.0.0.1.0, the sequence is incorrect. Now your DAC still gets the music and can still play it, but I will be slightly off. A symbol won’t crash exactly the same as it should and guitars will lose some its pluck. This occurs also if your DAC has to guess what belongs in a missing section (1.1.0.0.1.?). All of this increases distortion. What the Jitterbug does, is try to maintain as much of the sequence as it can. Let’s theoretically say that it takes the sequence from only 75% correct to 85% correct. This means your DAC is now getting those missing (or incorrect) portions of information and outputting it to your headphones. Result? Better (or should I say less damaged) sound. The Jitterbug increases sound stage significantly which also allows instruments to live in their own specific space in your cans. I heard more crisp strings, tighter (not louder) bass, amplified and clearer vocals. Also more astute panning/direction of music whether computer made or live. In fact, the best way to hear the different is to listen to a live recording of an orchestra with and without the Jitterbug. You will notice how the instruments spread out more and are given more space to perform with the Jitterbug.
In closing, the Jitterbug is a good tool to reduce USB hum, but it really shines in opening sound stage, elevating instruments and playing your music from a darker, wider point. It is an absolute must for any computer headphone system. When being used with the Dragonfly Red for portable devices, it works wonders as well. The Dragonfly provides better, stronger power as the Jitterbug cleans and refines the signal. A true audio match. For only $50, this tool is an amazing addition to your music system. Listen to it for a while and go back to music without it. I guarantee you will never unplug it again.
My Best Buy number: 3448019528
I would recommend this to a friend!
+3points
7of 11voted this as helpful.
 
Bring high-quality audio and video playback to your home theater setup with this AudioQuest Chocolate HDMI cable. Silver-plated copper connectors deliver enhanced picture quality, while critical stable geometry optimizes audio quality for rich, powerful sound. Compatible with most HDMI-enabled electronic components, this AudioQuest Chocolate HDMI cable connects to HDTVs, DVD players and Blu-ray players for a versatile addition to your entertainment center.
 
Customer Rating
4 out of 5
4
It does make a difference
on October 19, 2014
Posted by: EternlRayne
First off, there is no noticable increase to color or contrast from this cable, so if that's what you want, this cable may disappoint. What it does do is increase fluidity and motion of characters and objects on screen. My 120 hz is off because of the annoying screen blur it causes during fast scenes. This cable increases motion speed without causing motion blur, giving me the best of both.
Sound is even more noticeably enhanced. Small nuances I had never heard in movies, tv shows and blu rays are immediately picked up. I heard the crackling from the original recording while watching Loony Toons for goodness sake, that's how much more sound this cable allows to pass through. I Can't wait to buy the Vodka or Coffee cables and I'm never going back to standard HDMI cables again.
Mobile Submission: True
I would recommend this to a friend!
+2points
5of 8voted this as helpful.
 
EternlRayne's Review Comments
 
Enjoy stunning 4K ultra HD picture quality with this Sony LED Smart TV. High dynamic range technology brings vivid color and contrast to the screen, and the 2160p resolution lets you upscale your current DVD collection for ultra HD quality. Boasting a 64.5-inch screen, this Sony LED Smart TV makes a smart addition to your home theater setup.
 
Overall5 out of 55 out of 5
The best LED television (period).
By EternlRayne
Be warned, this is a very long review. I recommend you have a seat and grab a drink before reading.
Items used during this review: Sony 65Z9D, Sony 75x940D, Samsung 65KS9800, LG G6 OLED, Samsung K8500 UHD player, Star Trek Into Darkness UHD and Batman V Superman UHD.
Anyone who has been a fan of Sony TVs, or any TV for the matter, in the last couple of years is sure to remember the 950B. It was hailed as the best TV on the market by many and remained so until LG burst onto the scene with their OLED technology. Since that fateful day two years ago (two lifetimes in the technology realm), OLED has been the king of the proverbial TV mountain. Sony has now arrived with another TV set meant to reclaim its throne. The Z9D is being hailed by Sony as the best residential available TV on the market. I have had several days to spend with the set and this lengthy review will tackle different aspects of the TV. Quick note: The Z9D still runs on the same version of Android as the “D” models so I’m going to skip the software aspect entirely.
The first thing you notice when you turn on the set is that it’s bright, and I mean bright. I’m not going to measure nits or anything (review sites can do that), but just by eyeing the Z9D, it is nearly as bright as the brightest TV on the market, Samsung’s KS9800. Both of them can hurt your eyes if you stare too closely at them, just like the sun. Staying of the KS9800, Sony went with a Master Backlight system for the Z9D. It basically amounts to a full array set like the KS9800, but without set zones. Know all full-array sets have zones. A zone is a section with a number of LEDs (think 100 LEDs) behind a TV panel. That zone can dim or even turn off giving better blacks. The Z9D, however, is not reliant on zones. Zones are not perfect because you cannot completely turn off one LED while keeping one next to it lit. The Z9D, on the other hand, can turn off any LED it needs to, thanks to its unique lighting system. This leads to blacks that are better (and more importantly, more precise) than any other LED TV. They don’t quite reach OLED blacks, but there's more on that comparison later in the review.
For this review, I will be using the 940D for the primary comparison as it the closest set to the Z9D. The KS9800 isn’t even in the race and comparison to the OLED G6 will come later. For viewing materials, I first used the Sony demo. I instantly noticed that the Z9D was a great improvement in many aspects. Brightness was the most prominent, but color accuracy was the most impressive. Colors that were near impossible to see on the 940D were clearly visible on the Z9D. Also, colors flowed and changed more naturally. Shades of green and red were more accurate and matched their original color. Those who would have labeled the 940D as the most accurate LED TV, would will be pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the Z9D.
First film was Star Trek Into Darkness. This film was used to show color and black level. In the opening section of the film, Kirk and Bones run through the red forest, which is actually red on the Z9D. I always thought the 940D did the best job of showing this vibrant red, but the Z9D is superior in showing not only a brighter and richer red, but a more accurate and clean red. The Z9D not only has more color than the 940D, it has better color (which can be attributed to a better processor). The single most impressive detail in the film was the black of the native populations eyes vs the white of their skin. In the 940D, their black eyes could never truly get black because the LED zone was too large to cover such a small number of pixels. That zone had to dim to get the eyes as black as it could, while also getting as bright as possible to show their white faces. The Z9D does not have this issue. It shows their eyes a true black and their skin a perfect white. It does this with no problem, no haloing effect no and jitter because of the high contrast. This is also evident in the volcano Spock falls into. In the 940D, sections are black and others are red/orange. The TV has to constantly fight to show the mixture of colors as the lava churns, leading to sections that are black when it should be red and vice versa. The Z9D can instantly show dark cooling lava and black smoke while simultaneously showing extremely bright reds/orange hues that would put the KS9800 to shame.
The final film tested was Batman V Superman. This film was chosen because it is a very, very dark film. In fact, it is one of the most difficult films for a TV set to accurately display. A thin line must be walked to strike a balance between its light and dark moments. You either have to turn the brightness on your TV up so as to see the small details or turn it down so the nighttime sequences are actually dark and not gray. I am pleased to say that Z9D took to this film better than I could have hoped. This is where the Z9D shows a superiority to the OLED (there, I said it.) I first watched the actually fight scene between the films two namesakes on the OLED and while the black levels were phenomenal, I knew the TV was hiding so much underneath those absolute blacks. The same scene on the Z9D was nowhere near as black, but this was actually a better situation. The OLED could not show those very dark grays and dark blues like the Z9D could. Batman’s suit on the OLED looked either black or blue, depending on the light, while on the Z9D, it showed the correct shade of metallic gray. His suit actually looked like it was made from a carbon based metal like a titanium and aluminum alloy. Not to be left out, Superman’s costume looked phenomenal as well. The cyan (or teal) of the “belt” around his waist shone through the black of the film with ease. His hair was a perfect black and his heat vision was actually red unlike the orange that most TV’s display. Every scratch mark on Batman’s suit or armor, and every black section around his ribs was visible. His eyes, and only his eyes, glowed a brilliant HID blue as he was thrown across the screen (a testament to the Master Backlight system.) The fight in the abandoned building was equally impressive. Graffiti that was missed on the OLED were easily visible on the Z9D because it’s black level were impressive, but also tame and not absolute. The most impressive thing about the scene was I could simply see everything.
“Well dude, is there anything you don’t like about the TV?” Yes. It does not support HDR through a UHD player right out of the box. You have to dig in the settings to turn it on. If not, films won’t have that desired “HDR” sign on the info bar atop the screen. It’s odd that to unleash the full potential of such an expensive set, you have to search for such an obviously needed thing. It’s forgivable on an 850D, but not on the Z9D. The Master Backlight system can also be too bright. Certain explosions or flashes of light can hurt one’s eyes. While it’s not bright enough to cause any serious or permanent damage, take care not to turn the brightness at max when watching with little children. I don’t recommend that you have it always at max anyway as it shortens the life of your TV. The Master Backlight turns LED’s up and down in brightness depending on what’s on the screen. Really bright sections can sometimes “bleed” (I use that word delicately) into the dreaded 2:40 black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. I didn’t notice this happen once at the top of the screen, but occurred on occasion at the bottom whenever the TV had to put a white object at the very edge of the black bars. It would only light a handful of LEDs at the bar. This is something only active eyes would notice, and also something soon forgotten. In all three films I saw this, but forgot about it within a few minutes as I got more engrossed by the film. Finally, there seems to be a loss of black levels at the black bars on the bottom of the TV when off to a sharp angle. Once again, this only happens when a bright image was on screen, but it’s worth noting. I never saw this when I sat in front of the screen so you shouldn’t either. You have to sit at a near unreasonable angle to see it. And that’s it. There is nothing else I can nitpick about this TV.
So fine. You’ve read all these words (or skipped most of it) to get an answer to this simple question: is it better than OLED. Well... But wait! Before you leave upset, let me explain. To answer such a question, you have to ask yourself, “what do you want from your tv?” Does the Z9D have equal blacks to the OLED? No, but it certainly comes close, closer than any other set has dared. So if you want that perfect black, you have to get an OLED, that’s just technology. But the Z9D did not lose that battle by much. In some sections of Batman V Superman, the Z9D came unbelievably close to OLED blacks, around 90% by my estimation. I have no specific numbers of nits here so sorry, I’m just using my (and others) eyes. The OLED wins the blacks category, but the Z9D wins in almost every other facet. It is a far brighter TV, which allows for impressive contrast. It shows a more natural white (like a monitor white) than the OLED. It is a more accurate TV where color and shading are concerned, with a more powerful processor, and shows every version of HDR indiscriminately. The question about Web OS or Android OS is personal so that’s that.
My last words are this; the Z9D is the best LED TV in the market, and in my opinion, a more impressive innovation than the 950B. It is an obvious contender for simply “the best TV” on the market. Those who purchase it instead of the OLED will be buying a worthy alternative, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
Customer Avatar
EternlRayne
@Gerianne for 3D and upscaling.
September 3, 2016
I have to be honest and say I did not watch any 3D content on this TV, but primarily because 3D gives me a swelling headache after a few minutes, so I can’t watch it at all. As for upscaling, we popped in a Mad Max in 1080p for a test. The upscaler on the 940D is already excellent and for the most part, we didn’t see that much of a difference in object detail. What changed the most between sets was the Z9D had better color accuracy, was brighter, and had no haloing or water color effect that sometimes plagues the 940D. I surmise that if we were to watch Batman V Superman in 1080p on the Z9D, we would see an even greater difference because of the increased brightness and black levels, but we’ll have to test it some other time. The upsaler on the Z9D is great, but with no HDR on 1080P or 720P content, there is only so much the TV can do with it. You just have to have a different picture setting to maximize HD content, and you will be more than happy with the results. Not blown away, but happy. I did not test out cable because we don’t have any at my job. All these beautiful tv’s and no cable.
+10points
11of 12voted this comment as helpful.
 
Enjoy stunning 4K ultra HD picture quality with this Sony LED Smart TV. High dynamic range technology brings vivid color and contrast to the screen, and the 2160p resolution lets you upscale your current DVD collection for ultra HD quality. Boasting a 64.5-inch screen, this Sony LED Smart TV makes a smart addition to your home theater setup.
 
Overall5 out of 55 out of 5
The best LED television (period).
By EternlRayne
Be warned, this is a very long review. I recommend you have a seat and grab a drink before reading.
Items used during this review: Sony 65Z9D, Sony 75x940D, Samsung 65KS9800, LG G6 OLED, Samsung K8500 UHD player, Star Trek Into Darkness UHD and Batman V Superman UHD.
Anyone who has been a fan of Sony TVs, or any TV for the matter, in the last couple of years is sure to remember the 950B. It was hailed as the best TV on the market by many and remained so until LG burst onto the scene with their OLED technology. Since that fateful day two years ago (two lifetimes in the technology realm), OLED has been the king of the proverbial TV mountain. Sony has now arrived with another TV set meant to reclaim its throne. The Z9D is being hailed by Sony as the best residential available TV on the market. I have had several days to spend with the set and this lengthy review will tackle different aspects of the TV. Quick note: The Z9D still runs on the same version of Android as the “D” models so I’m going to skip the software aspect entirely.
The first thing you notice when you turn on the set is that it’s bright, and I mean bright. I’m not going to measure nits or anything (review sites can do that), but just by eyeing the Z9D, it is nearly as bright as the brightest TV on the market, Samsung’s KS9800. Both of them can hurt your eyes if you stare too closely at them, just like the sun. Staying of the KS9800, Sony went with a Master Backlight system for the Z9D. It basically amounts to a full array set like the KS9800, but without set zones. Know all full-array sets have zones. A zone is a section with a number of LEDs (think 100 LEDs) behind a TV panel. That zone can dim or even turn off giving better blacks. The Z9D, however, is not reliant on zones. Zones are not perfect because you cannot completely turn off one LED while keeping one next to it lit. The Z9D, on the other hand, can turn off any LED it needs to, thanks to its unique lighting system. This leads to blacks that are better (and more importantly, more precise) than any other LED TV. They don’t quite reach OLED blacks, but there's more on that comparison later in the review.
For this review, I will be using the 940D for the primary comparison as it the closest set to the Z9D. The KS9800 isn’t even in the race and comparison to the OLED G6 will come later. For viewing materials, I first used the Sony demo. I instantly noticed that the Z9D was a great improvement in many aspects. Brightness was the most prominent, but color accuracy was the most impressive. Colors that were near impossible to see on the 940D were clearly visible on the Z9D. Also, colors flowed and changed more naturally. Shades of green and red were more accurate and matched their original color. Those who would have labeled the 940D as the most accurate LED TV, would will be pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the Z9D.
First film was Star Trek Into Darkness. This film was used to show color and black level. In the opening section of the film, Kirk and Bones run through the red forest, which is actually red on the Z9D. I always thought the 940D did the best job of showing this vibrant red, but the Z9D is superior in showing not only a brighter and richer red, but a more accurate and clean red. The Z9D not only has more color than the 940D, it has better color (which can be attributed to a better processor). The single most impressive detail in the film was the black of the native populations eyes vs the white of their skin. In the 940D, their black eyes could never truly get black because the LED zone was too large to cover such a small number of pixels. That zone had to dim to get the eyes as black as it could, while also getting as bright as possible to show their white faces. The Z9D does not have this issue. It shows their eyes a true black and their skin a perfect white. It does this with no problem, no haloing effect no and jitter because of the high contrast. This is also evident in the volcano Spock falls into. In the 940D, sections are black and others are red/orange. The TV has to constantly fight to show the mixture of colors as the lava churns, leading to sections that are black when it should be red and vice versa. The Z9D can instantly show dark cooling lava and black smoke while simultaneously showing extremely bright reds/orange hues that would put the KS9800 to shame.
The final film tested was Batman V Superman. This film was chosen because it is a very, very dark film. In fact, it is one of the most difficult films for a TV set to accurately display. A thin line must be walked to strike a balance between its light and dark moments. You either have to turn the brightness on your TV up so as to see the small details or turn it down so the nighttime sequences are actually dark and not gray. I am pleased to say that Z9D took to this film better than I could have hoped. This is where the Z9D shows a superiority to the OLED (there, I said it.) I first watched the actually fight scene between the films two namesakes on the OLED and while the black levels were phenomenal, I knew the TV was hiding so much underneath those absolute blacks. The same scene on the Z9D was nowhere near as black, but this was actually a better situation. The OLED could not show those very dark grays and dark blues like the Z9D could. Batman’s suit on the OLED looked either black or blue, depending on the light, while on the Z9D, it showed the correct shade of metallic gray. His suit actually looked like it was made from a carbon based metal like a titanium and aluminum alloy. Not to be left out, Superman’s costume looked phenomenal as well. The cyan (or teal) of the “belt” around his waist shone through the black of the film with ease. His hair was a perfect black and his heat vision was actually red unlike the orange that most TV’s display. Every scratch mark on Batman’s suit or armor, and every black section around his ribs was visible. His eyes, and only his eyes, glowed a brilliant HID blue as he was thrown across the screen (a testament to the Master Backlight system.) The fight in the abandoned building was equally impressive. Graffiti that was missed on the OLED were easily visible on the Z9D because it’s black level were impressive, but also tame and not absolute. The most impressive thing about the scene was I could simply see everything.
“Well dude, is there anything you don’t like about the TV?” Yes. It does not support HDR through a UHD player right out of the box. You have to dig in the settings to turn it on. If not, films won’t have that desired “HDR” sign on the info bar atop the screen. It’s odd that to unleash the full potential of such an expensive set, you have to search for such an obviously needed thing. It’s forgivable on an 850D, but not on the Z9D. The Master Backlight system can also be too bright. Certain explosions or flashes of light can hurt one’s eyes. While it’s not bright enough to cause any serious or permanent damage, take care not to turn the brightness at max when watching with little children. I don’t recommend that you have it always at max anyway as it shortens the life of your TV. The Master Backlight turns LED’s up and down in brightness depending on what’s on the screen. Really bright sections can sometimes “bleed” (I use that word delicately) into the dreaded 2:40 black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. I didn’t notice this happen once at the top of the screen, but occurred on occasion at the bottom whenever the TV had to put a white object at the very edge of the black bars. It would only light a handful of LEDs at the bar. This is something only active eyes would notice, and also something soon forgotten. In all three films I saw this, but forgot about it within a few minutes as I got more engrossed by the film. Finally, there seems to be a loss of black levels at the black bars on the bottom of the TV when off to a sharp angle. Once again, this only happens when a bright image was on screen, but it’s worth noting. I never saw this when I sat in front of the screen so you shouldn’t either. You have to sit at a near unreasonable angle to see it. And that’s it. There is nothing else I can nitpick about this TV.
So fine. You’ve read all these words (or skipped most of it) to get an answer to this simple question: is it better than OLED. Well... But wait! Before you leave upset, let me explain. To answer such a question, you have to ask yourself, “what do you want from your tv?” Does the Z9D have equal blacks to the OLED? No, but it certainly comes close, closer than any other set has dared. So if you want that perfect black, you have to get an OLED, that’s just technology. But the Z9D did not lose that battle by much. In some sections of Batman V Superman, the Z9D came unbelievably close to OLED blacks, around 90% by my estimation. I have no specific numbers of nits here so sorry, I’m just using my (and others) eyes. The OLED wins the blacks category, but the Z9D wins in almost every other facet. It is a far brighter TV, which allows for impressive contrast. It shows a more natural white (like a monitor white) than the OLED. It is a more accurate TV where color and shading are concerned, with a more powerful processor, and shows every version of HDR indiscriminately. The question about Web OS or Android OS is personal so that’s that.
My last words are this; the Z9D is the best LED TV in the market, and in my opinion, a more impressive innovation than the 950B. It is an obvious contender for simply “the best TV” on the market. Those who purchase it instead of the OLED will be buying a worthy alternative, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
Customer Avatar
EternlRayne
@Fester for sound quality.
September 3, 2016
The Z9D still sounds as bad as hearing a rock concert through a cup on a string (okay, maybe not THAT bad). We did test out the speakers for a while, but realized that it was practically the same as that on the other 9 series D models. It’s not really Sony’s fault here. We want thinner and lighter TV sets so everyone gives us that by fitting smaller and lousier speakers. If the Z9D came with no speakers at all, then I would be upset. But as it stands, it sounds just like the rest of them. You can use it until you buy a sound bar, that is after your wallet slips out from its mild coma because of how much you just spent on a TV.
+2points
9of 16voted this comment as helpful.
 
Enjoy stunning 4K ultra HD picture quality with this Sony LED Smart TV. High dynamic range technology brings vivid color and contrast to the screen, and the 2160p resolution lets you upscale your current DVD collection for ultra HD quality. Boasting a 64.5-inch screen, this Sony LED Smart TV makes a smart addition to your home theater setup.
 
Overall5 out of 55 out of 5
The best LED television (period).
By EternlRayne
Be warned, this is a very long review. I recommend you have a seat and grab a drink before reading.
Items used during this review: Sony 65Z9D, Sony 75x940D, Samsung 65KS9800, LG G6 OLED, Samsung K8500 UHD player, Star Trek Into Darkness UHD and Batman V Superman UHD.
Anyone who has been a fan of Sony TVs, or any TV for the matter, in the last couple of years is sure to remember the 950B. It was hailed as the best TV on the market by many and remained so until LG burst onto the scene with their OLED technology. Since that fateful day two years ago (two lifetimes in the technology realm), OLED has been the king of the proverbial TV mountain. Sony has now arrived with another TV set meant to reclaim its throne. The Z9D is being hailed by Sony as the best residential available TV on the market. I have had several days to spend with the set and this lengthy review will tackle different aspects of the TV. Quick note: The Z9D still runs on the same version of Android as the “D” models so I’m going to skip the software aspect entirely.
The first thing you notice when you turn on the set is that it’s bright, and I mean bright. I’m not going to measure nits or anything (review sites can do that), but just by eyeing the Z9D, it is nearly as bright as the brightest TV on the market, Samsung’s KS9800. Both of them can hurt your eyes if you stare too closely at them, just like the sun. Staying of the KS9800, Sony went with a Master Backlight system for the Z9D. It basically amounts to a full array set like the KS9800, but without set zones. Know all full-array sets have zones. A zone is a section with a number of LEDs (think 100 LEDs) behind a TV panel. That zone can dim or even turn off giving better blacks. The Z9D, however, is not reliant on zones. Zones are not perfect because you cannot completely turn off one LED while keeping one next to it lit. The Z9D, on the other hand, can turn off any LED it needs to, thanks to its unique lighting system. This leads to blacks that are better (and more importantly, more precise) than any other LED TV. They don’t quite reach OLED blacks, but there's more on that comparison later in the review.
For this review, I will be using the 940D for the primary comparison as it the closest set to the Z9D. The KS9800 isn’t even in the race and comparison to the OLED G6 will come later. For viewing materials, I first used the Sony demo. I instantly noticed that the Z9D was a great improvement in many aspects. Brightness was the most prominent, but color accuracy was the most impressive. Colors that were near impossible to see on the 940D were clearly visible on the Z9D. Also, colors flowed and changed more naturally. Shades of green and red were more accurate and matched their original color. Those who would have labeled the 940D as the most accurate LED TV, would will be pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the Z9D.
First film was Star Trek Into Darkness. This film was used to show color and black level. In the opening section of the film, Kirk and Bones run through the red forest, which is actually red on the Z9D. I always thought the 940D did the best job of showing this vibrant red, but the Z9D is superior in showing not only a brighter and richer red, but a more accurate and clean red. The Z9D not only has more color than the 940D, it has better color (which can be attributed to a better processor). The single most impressive detail in the film was the black of the native populations eyes vs the white of their skin. In the 940D, their black eyes could never truly get black because the LED zone was too large to cover such a small number of pixels. That zone had to dim to get the eyes as black as it could, while also getting as bright as possible to show their white faces. The Z9D does not have this issue. It shows their eyes a true black and their skin a perfect white. It does this with no problem, no haloing effect no and jitter because of the high contrast. This is also evident in the volcano Spock falls into. In the 940D, sections are black and others are red/orange. The TV has to constantly fight to show the mixture of colors as the lava churns, leading to sections that are black when it should be red and vice versa. The Z9D can instantly show dark cooling lava and black smoke while simultaneously showing extremely bright reds/orange hues that would put the KS9800 to shame.
The final film tested was Batman V Superman. This film was chosen because it is a very, very dark film. In fact, it is one of the most difficult films for a TV set to accurately display. A thin line must be walked to strike a balance between its light and dark moments. You either have to turn the brightness on your TV up so as to see the small details or turn it down so the nighttime sequences are actually dark and not gray. I am pleased to say that Z9D took to this film better than I could have hoped. This is where the Z9D shows a superiority to the OLED (there, I said it.) I first watched the actually fight scene between the films two namesakes on the OLED and while the black levels were phenomenal, I knew the TV was hiding so much underneath those absolute blacks. The same scene on the Z9D was nowhere near as black, but this was actually a better situation. The OLED could not show those very dark grays and dark blues like the Z9D could. Batman’s suit on the OLED looked either black or blue, depending on the light, while on the Z9D, it showed the correct shade of metallic gray. His suit actually looked like it was made from a carbon based metal like a titanium and aluminum alloy. Not to be left out, Superman’s costume looked phenomenal as well. The cyan (or teal) of the “belt” around his waist shone through the black of the film with ease. His hair was a perfect black and his heat vision was actually red unlike the orange that most TV’s display. Every scratch mark on Batman’s suit or armor, and every black section around his ribs was visible. His eyes, and only his eyes, glowed a brilliant HID blue as he was thrown across the screen (a testament to the Master Backlight system.) The fight in the abandoned building was equally impressive. Graffiti that was missed on the OLED were easily visible on the Z9D because it’s black level were impressive, but also tame and not absolute. The most impressive thing about the scene was I could simply see everything.
“Well dude, is there anything you don’t like about the TV?” Yes. It does not support HDR through a UHD player right out of the box. You have to dig in the settings to turn it on. If not, films won’t have that desired “HDR” sign on the info bar atop the screen. It’s odd that to unleash the full potential of such an expensive set, you have to search for such an obviously needed thing. It’s forgivable on an 850D, but not on the Z9D. The Master Backlight system can also be too bright. Certain explosions or flashes of light can hurt one’s eyes. While it’s not bright enough to cause any serious or permanent damage, take care not to turn the brightness at max when watching with little children. I don’t recommend that you have it always at max anyway as it shortens the life of your TV. The Master Backlight turns LED’s up and down in brightness depending on what’s on the screen. Really bright sections can sometimes “bleed” (I use that word delicately) into the dreaded 2:40 black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. I didn’t notice this happen once at the top of the screen, but occurred on occasion at the bottom whenever the TV had to put a white object at the very edge of the black bars. It would only light a handful of LEDs at the bar. This is something only active eyes would notice, and also something soon forgotten. In all three films I saw this, but forgot about it within a few minutes as I got more engrossed by the film. Finally, there seems to be a loss of black levels at the black bars on the bottom of the TV when off to a sharp angle. Once again, this only happens when a bright image was on screen, but it’s worth noting. I never saw this when I sat in front of the screen so you shouldn’t either. You have to sit at a near unreasonable angle to see it. And that’s it. There is nothing else I can nitpick about this TV.
So fine. You’ve read all these words (or skipped most of it) to get an answer to this simple question: is it better than OLED. Well... But wait! Before you leave upset, let me explain. To answer such a question, you have to ask yourself, “what do you want from your tv?” Does the Z9D have equal blacks to the OLED? No, but it certainly comes close, closer than any other set has dared. So if you want that perfect black, you have to get an OLED, that’s just technology. But the Z9D did not lose that battle by much. In some sections of Batman V Superman, the Z9D came unbelievably close to OLED blacks, around 90% by my estimation. I have no specific numbers of nits here so sorry, I’m just using my (and others) eyes. The OLED wins the blacks category, but the Z9D wins in almost every other facet. It is a far brighter TV, which allows for impressive contrast. It shows a more natural white (like a monitor white) than the OLED. It is a more accurate TV where color and shading are concerned, with a more powerful processor, and shows every version of HDR indiscriminately. The question about Web OS or Android OS is personal so that’s that.
My last words are this; the Z9D is the best LED TV in the market, and in my opinion, a more impressive innovation than the 950B. It is an obvious contender for simply “the best TV” on the market. Those who purchase it instead of the OLED will be buying a worthy alternative, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
Customer Avatar
EternlRayne
@Fester
September 13, 2016
There is no reason to think that the Z9D has any real motion or jitter issues. I watched a scene from Interstellar when the ship lands on the world of water. In that scene, as they turn and descend, the camera swoops over a massive ocean. In some TV's there will be an obvious motion blur on the bottom right side of the set. I observed this in many sets, including the Samsung 8000 and 9000. I was also surprised when the OLED still had this jitter. The Z9D (and 940D) were the only two sets i tested that did not have the jitter. Be aware that this is one very specific instance and this test was done with all tv's on their original factory setting (with no outside change to motion). I am sure that if you went into the settings and tweaked the OLED or Samsungs, you would remove or minimize this. I will only say that as long as your set is a true 120hz TV (8 or 9000 model from any brand) you will be fine. You may experience some motion blur, but if you tweak your set, it should be a rare occurrence.
As for OLED or Z9D, the more time i spend with the Z9D, the more i am convinced it is a superior set. To answer your question, I would by the Z9D without regret. Now if money was truly no object, i would buy the 100 inch Z9D. Either that or a Corvette. Since they cost about the same, it would depend on how i feel that day.
+13points
13of 13voted this comment as helpful.
 
Enjoy stunning 4K ultra HD picture quality with this Sony LED Smart TV. High dynamic range technology brings vivid color and contrast to the screen, and the 2160p resolution lets you upscale your current DVD collection for ultra HD quality. Boasting a 64.5-inch screen, this Sony LED Smart TV makes a smart addition to your home theater setup.
 
Overall5 out of 55 out of 5
The best LED television (period).
By EternlRayne
Be warned, this is a very long review. I recommend you have a seat and grab a drink before reading.
Items used during this review: Sony 65Z9D, Sony 75x940D, Samsung 65KS9800, LG G6 OLED, Samsung K8500 UHD player, Star Trek Into Darkness UHD and Batman V Superman UHD.
Anyone who has been a fan of Sony TVs, or any TV for the matter, in the last couple of years is sure to remember the 950B. It was hailed as the best TV on the market by many and remained so until LG burst onto the scene with their OLED technology. Since that fateful day two years ago (two lifetimes in the technology realm), OLED has been the king of the proverbial TV mountain. Sony has now arrived with another TV set meant to reclaim its throne. The Z9D is being hailed by Sony as the best residential available TV on the market. I have had several days to spend with the set and this lengthy review will tackle different aspects of the TV. Quick note: The Z9D still runs on the same version of Android as the “D” models so I’m going to skip the software aspect entirely.
The first thing you notice when you turn on the set is that it’s bright, and I mean bright. I’m not going to measure nits or anything (review sites can do that), but just by eyeing the Z9D, it is nearly as bright as the brightest TV on the market, Samsung’s KS9800. Both of them can hurt your eyes if you stare too closely at them, just like the sun. Staying of the KS9800, Sony went with a Master Backlight system for the Z9D. It basically amounts to a full array set like the KS9800, but without set zones. Know all full-array sets have zones. A zone is a section with a number of LEDs (think 100 LEDs) behind a TV panel. That zone can dim or even turn off giving better blacks. The Z9D, however, is not reliant on zones. Zones are not perfect because you cannot completely turn off one LED while keeping one next to it lit. The Z9D, on the other hand, can turn off any LED it needs to, thanks to its unique lighting system. This leads to blacks that are better (and more importantly, more precise) than any other LED TV. They don’t quite reach OLED blacks, but there's more on that comparison later in the review.
For this review, I will be using the 940D for the primary comparison as it the closest set to the Z9D. The KS9800 isn’t even in the race and comparison to the OLED G6 will come later. For viewing materials, I first used the Sony demo. I instantly noticed that the Z9D was a great improvement in many aspects. Brightness was the most prominent, but color accuracy was the most impressive. Colors that were near impossible to see on the 940D were clearly visible on the Z9D. Also, colors flowed and changed more naturally. Shades of green and red were more accurate and matched their original color. Those who would have labeled the 940D as the most accurate LED TV, would will be pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the Z9D.
First film was Star Trek Into Darkness. This film was used to show color and black level. In the opening section of the film, Kirk and Bones run through the red forest, which is actually red on the Z9D. I always thought the 940D did the best job of showing this vibrant red, but the Z9D is superior in showing not only a brighter and richer red, but a more accurate and clean red. The Z9D not only has more color than the 940D, it has better color (which can be attributed to a better processor). The single most impressive detail in the film was the black of the native populations eyes vs the white of their skin. In the 940D, their black eyes could never truly get black because the LED zone was too large to cover such a small number of pixels. That zone had to dim to get the eyes as black as it could, while also getting as bright as possible to show their white faces. The Z9D does not have this issue. It shows their eyes a true black and their skin a perfect white. It does this with no problem, no haloing effect no and jitter because of the high contrast. This is also evident in the volcano Spock falls into. In the 940D, sections are black and others are red/orange. The TV has to constantly fight to show the mixture of colors as the lava churns, leading to sections that are black when it should be red and vice versa. The Z9D can instantly show dark cooling lava and black smoke while simultaneously showing extremely bright reds/orange hues that would put the KS9800 to shame.
The final film tested was Batman V Superman. This film was chosen because it is a very, very dark film. In fact, it is one of the most difficult films for a TV set to accurately display. A thin line must be walked to strike a balance between its light and dark moments. You either have to turn the brightness on your TV up so as to see the small details or turn it down so the nighttime sequences are actually dark and not gray. I am pleased to say that Z9D took to this film better than I could have hoped. This is where the Z9D shows a superiority to the OLED (there, I said it.) I first watched the actually fight scene between the films two namesakes on the OLED and while the black levels were phenomenal, I knew the TV was hiding so much underneath those absolute blacks. The same scene on the Z9D was nowhere near as black, but this was actually a better situation. The OLED could not show those very dark grays and dark blues like the Z9D could. Batman’s suit on the OLED looked either black or blue, depending on the light, while on the Z9D, it showed the correct shade of metallic gray. His suit actually looked like it was made from a carbon based metal like a titanium and aluminum alloy. Not to be left out, Superman’s costume looked phenomenal as well. The cyan (or teal) of the “belt” around his waist shone through the black of the film with ease. His hair was a perfect black and his heat vision was actually red unlike the orange that most TV’s display. Every scratch mark on Batman’s suit or armor, and every black section around his ribs was visible. His eyes, and only his eyes, glowed a brilliant HID blue as he was thrown across the screen (a testament to the Master Backlight system.) The fight in the abandoned building was equally impressive. Graffiti that was missed on the OLED were easily visible on the Z9D because it’s black level were impressive, but also tame and not absolute. The most impressive thing about the scene was I could simply see everything.
“Well dude, is there anything you don’t like about the TV?” Yes. It does not support HDR through a UHD player right out of the box. You have to dig in the settings to turn it on. If not, films won’t have that desired “HDR” sign on the info bar atop the screen. It’s odd that to unleash the full potential of such an expensive set, you have to search for such an obviously needed thing. It’s forgivable on an 850D, but not on the Z9D. The Master Backlight system can also be too bright. Certain explosions or flashes of light can hurt one’s eyes. While it’s not bright enough to cause any serious or permanent damage, take care not to turn the brightness at max when watching with little children. I don’t recommend that you have it always at max anyway as it shortens the life of your TV. The Master Backlight turns LED’s up and down in brightness depending on what’s on the screen. Really bright sections can sometimes “bleed” (I use that word delicately) into the dreaded 2:40 black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. I didn’t notice this happen once at the top of the screen, but occurred on occasion at the bottom whenever the TV had to put a white object at the very edge of the black bars. It would only light a handful of LEDs at the bar. This is something only active eyes would notice, and also something soon forgotten. In all three films I saw this, but forgot about it within a few minutes as I got more engrossed by the film. Finally, there seems to be a loss of black levels at the black bars on the bottom of the TV when off to a sharp angle. Once again, this only happens when a bright image was on screen, but it’s worth noting. I never saw this when I sat in front of the screen so you shouldn’t either. You have to sit at a near unreasonable angle to see it. And that’s it. There is nothing else I can nitpick about this TV.
So fine. You’ve read all these words (or skipped most of it) to get an answer to this simple question: is it better than OLED. Well... But wait! Before you leave upset, let me explain. To answer such a question, you have to ask yourself, “what do you want from your tv?” Does the Z9D have equal blacks to the OLED? No, but it certainly comes close, closer than any other set has dared. So if you want that perfect black, you have to get an OLED, that’s just technology. But the Z9D did not lose that battle by much. In some sections of Batman V Superman, the Z9D came unbelievably close to OLED blacks, around 90% by my estimation. I have no specific numbers of nits here so sorry, I’m just using my (and others) eyes. The OLED wins the blacks category, but the Z9D wins in almost every other facet. It is a far brighter TV, which allows for impressive contrast. It shows a more natural white (like a monitor white) than the OLED. It is a more accurate TV where color and shading are concerned, with a more powerful processor, and shows every version of HDR indiscriminately. The question about Web OS or Android OS is personal so that’s that.
My last words are this; the Z9D is the best LED TV in the market, and in my opinion, a more impressive innovation than the 950B. It is an obvious contender for simply “the best TV” on the market. Those who purchase it instead of the OLED will be buying a worthy alternative, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
Customer Avatar
EternlRayne
@mbrown925
September 13, 2016
The Z9D will have better skin tones, it is the most accurate color TV available. This is evident because no matter the color setting or saturation you chose (from 50-80) faces look nearly the same. The set is able to place color saturation where its needed, in object color and the like. Faces gain or lose very little color no matter your setting. This is a good thing because skin tones are perfect on the Z9D and reducing or increasing color does not change it. As for the brightness, you can change the setting from vivid to standard and such, but reducing brightness has an adverse reaction to contrast. Reduce the brightness too much and you lose detail as well as minor color differences. You can turn down the dynamic contrast which makes explosions extremely bright. Its a bit difficult to find a good balance, but it is possible with time and a good eye.
+5points
6of 7voted this comment as helpful.
 
Enjoy stunning 4K ultra HD picture quality with this Sony LED Smart TV. High dynamic range technology brings vivid color and contrast to the screen, and the 2160p resolution lets you upscale your current DVD collection for ultra HD quality. Boasting a 64.5-inch screen, this Sony LED Smart TV makes a smart addition to your home theater setup.
 
Overall5 out of 55 out of 5
The best LED television (period).
By EternlRayne
Be warned, this is a very long review. I recommend you have a seat and grab a drink before reading.
Items used during this review: Sony 65Z9D, Sony 75x940D, Samsung 65KS9800, LG G6 OLED, Samsung K8500 UHD player, Star Trek Into Darkness UHD and Batman V Superman UHD.
Anyone who has been a fan of Sony TVs, or any TV for the matter, in the last couple of years is sure to remember the 950B. It was hailed as the best TV on the market by many and remained so until LG burst onto the scene with their OLED technology. Since that fateful day two years ago (two lifetimes in the technology realm), OLED has been the king of the proverbial TV mountain. Sony has now arrived with another TV set meant to reclaim its throne. The Z9D is being hailed by Sony as the best residential available TV on the market. I have had several days to spend with the set and this lengthy review will tackle different aspects of the TV. Quick note: The Z9D still runs on the same version of Android as the “D” models so I’m going to skip the software aspect entirely.
The first thing you notice when you turn on the set is that it’s bright, and I mean bright. I’m not going to measure nits or anything (review sites can do that), but just by eyeing the Z9D, it is nearly as bright as the brightest TV on the market, Samsung’s KS9800. Both of them can hurt your eyes if you stare too closely at them, just like the sun. Staying of the KS9800, Sony went with a Master Backlight system for the Z9D. It basically amounts to a full array set like the KS9800, but without set zones. Know all full-array sets have zones. A zone is a section with a number of LEDs (think 100 LEDs) behind a TV panel. That zone can dim or even turn off giving better blacks. The Z9D, however, is not reliant on zones. Zones are not perfect because you cannot completely turn off one LED while keeping one next to it lit. The Z9D, on the other hand, can turn off any LED it needs to, thanks to its unique lighting system. This leads to blacks that are better (and more importantly, more precise) than any other LED TV. They don’t quite reach OLED blacks, but there's more on that comparison later in the review.
For this review, I will be using the 940D for the primary comparison as it the closest set to the Z9D. The KS9800 isn’t even in the race and comparison to the OLED G6 will come later. For viewing materials, I first used the Sony demo. I instantly noticed that the Z9D was a great improvement in many aspects. Brightness was the most prominent, but color accuracy was the most impressive. Colors that were near impossible to see on the 940D were clearly visible on the Z9D. Also, colors flowed and changed more naturally. Shades of green and red were more accurate and matched their original color. Those who would have labeled the 940D as the most accurate LED TV, would will be pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the Z9D.
First film was Star Trek Into Darkness. This film was used to show color and black level. In the opening section of the film, Kirk and Bones run through the red forest, which is actually red on the Z9D. I always thought the 940D did the best job of showing this vibrant red, but the Z9D is superior in showing not only a brighter and richer red, but a more accurate and clean red. The Z9D not only has more color than the 940D, it has better color (which can be attributed to a better processor). The single most impressive detail in the film was the black of the native populations eyes vs the white of their skin. In the 940D, their black eyes could never truly get black because the LED zone was too large to cover such a small number of pixels. That zone had to dim to get the eyes as black as it could, while also getting as bright as possible to show their white faces. The Z9D does not have this issue. It shows their eyes a true black and their skin a perfect white. It does this with no problem, no haloing effect no and jitter because of the high contrast. This is also evident in the volcano Spock falls into. In the 940D, sections are black and others are red/orange. The TV has to constantly fight to show the mixture of colors as the lava churns, leading to sections that are black when it should be red and vice versa. The Z9D can instantly show dark cooling lava and black smoke while simultaneously showing extremely bright reds/orange hues that would put the KS9800 to shame.
The final film tested was Batman V Superman. This film was chosen because it is a very, very dark film. In fact, it is one of the most difficult films for a TV set to accurately display. A thin line must be walked to strike a balance between its light and dark moments. You either have to turn the brightness on your TV up so as to see the small details or turn it down so the nighttime sequences are actually dark and not gray. I am pleased to say that Z9D took to this film better than I could have hoped. This is where the Z9D shows a superiority to the OLED (there, I said it.) I first watched the actually fight scene between the films two namesakes on the OLED and while the black levels were phenomenal, I knew the TV was hiding so much underneath those absolute blacks. The same scene on the Z9D was nowhere near as black, but this was actually a better situation. The OLED could not show those very dark grays and dark blues like the Z9D could. Batman’s suit on the OLED looked either black or blue, depending on the light, while on the Z9D, it showed the correct shade of metallic gray. His suit actually looked like it was made from a carbon based metal like a titanium and aluminum alloy. Not to be left out, Superman’s costume looked phenomenal as well. The cyan (or teal) of the “belt” around his waist shone through the black of the film with ease. His hair was a perfect black and his heat vision was actually red unlike the orange that most TV’s display. Every scratch mark on Batman’s suit or armor, and every black section around his ribs was visible. His eyes, and only his eyes, glowed a brilliant HID blue as he was thrown across the screen (a testament to the Master Backlight system.) The fight in the abandoned building was equally impressive. Graffiti that was missed on the OLED were easily visible on the Z9D because it’s black level were impressive, but also tame and not absolute. The most impressive thing about the scene was I could simply see everything.
“Well dude, is there anything you don’t like about the TV?” Yes. It does not support HDR through a UHD player right out of the box. You have to dig in the settings to turn it on. If not, films won’t have that desired “HDR” sign on the info bar atop the screen. It’s odd that to unleash the full potential of such an expensive set, you have to search for such an obviously needed thing. It’s forgivable on an 850D, but not on the Z9D. The Master Backlight system can also be too bright. Certain explosions or flashes of light can hurt one’s eyes. While it’s not bright enough to cause any serious or permanent damage, take care not to turn the brightness at max when watching with little children. I don’t recommend that you have it always at max anyway as it shortens the life of your TV. The Master Backlight turns LED’s up and down in brightness depending on what’s on the screen. Really bright sections can sometimes “bleed” (I use that word delicately) into the dreaded 2:40 black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. I didn’t notice this happen once at the top of the screen, but occurred on occasion at the bottom whenever the TV had to put a white object at the very edge of the black bars. It would only light a handful of LEDs at the bar. This is something only active eyes would notice, and also something soon forgotten. In all three films I saw this, but forgot about it within a few minutes as I got more engrossed by the film. Finally, there seems to be a loss of black levels at the black bars on the bottom of the TV when off to a sharp angle. Once again, this only happens when a bright image was on screen, but it’s worth noting. I never saw this when I sat in front of the screen so you shouldn’t either. You have to sit at a near unreasonable angle to see it. And that’s it. There is nothing else I can nitpick about this TV.
So fine. You’ve read all these words (or skipped most of it) to get an answer to this simple question: is it better than OLED. Well... But wait! Before you leave upset, let me explain. To answer such a question, you have to ask yourself, “what do you want from your tv?” Does the Z9D have equal blacks to the OLED? No, but it certainly comes close, closer than any other set has dared. So if you want that perfect black, you have to get an OLED, that’s just technology. But the Z9D did not lose that battle by much. In some sections of Batman V Superman, the Z9D came unbelievably close to OLED blacks, around 90% by my estimation. I have no specific numbers of nits here so sorry, I’m just using my (and others) eyes. The OLED wins the blacks category, but the Z9D wins in almost every other facet. It is a far brighter TV, which allows for impressive contrast. It shows a more natural white (like a monitor white) than the OLED. It is a more accurate TV where color and shading are concerned, with a more powerful processor, and shows every version of HDR indiscriminately. The question about Web OS or Android OS is personal so that’s that.
My last words are this; the Z9D is the best LED TV in the market, and in my opinion, a more impressive innovation than the 950B. It is an obvious contender for simply “the best TV” on the market. Those who purchase it instead of the OLED will be buying a worthy alternative, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
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EternlRayne
@TeliV
January 21, 2017
To be honest, i do not like the price point of the Z9D. When it was released, it was meant to compete with the OLED G6. That was $7,000 and the Z9D, $6,000. Since that time, many review sites and people have concluded that there is very little, to no difference in picture from the B6 to the G6, just some cosmetic changes. Because of this, many just buy the B6. I cannot say that the Z9D is a better buy than the B6 OLED, but it is a better TV. I just wish Sony would have priced the set around the $4,000 mark. I understand that full array sets are really expensive to manufacture, so the price has to be high. I just wish that it was closer to Samsung's 9800 series which sits alone around the $3,500 mark. Many review sites will agree with me that the Z9D is the best TV out right now, but priced too high. The sites that say that the B6 is a better TV than the Z9D are in my opinion false. The OLED's have so many issues that make them poor for day to day use. Their motion issue, input lag, lack of brightness, glare issue and lack of processing power seem to be ignored by many of these review sites who put it to a specific setting and use it with a specific image. I have tried their 'professional calibrated" setting on a few OLED's and hated it. The fact of the matter is that the OLED's are not perfect yet, and while i understand many's love for them, I cannot help but see their faults, especially considering their price. But to each their own.
+4points
7of 10voted this comment as helpful.
 
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