Every Sony TV of 2018 explained

Every Sony TV of 2018 explained

Sony has kept things simple in 2018: every one of its new sets has HDR. There are a total of six new models to get your televisual tastebuds twitching in 2018, plus Sony is also keeping on two sets from previous years. Read on for all the details and kick your TV upgrade process into action.

Sony A1

The excellent A1 OLED model gets kept on the bench for 2018. We’re not surprised – it was easily one of last year’s best TVs, and its fairly stable price tag would suggest that the sales were there to back that up. There’s actually very little separating the A1 from the AF8 in terms of tech – everything is nigh on identical – but the A1 has that statement kick-stand design

Sony AF8

The AF8 is the second OLED set from Sony, and was first TV to be unveiled by the brand this year, at CES 2018. In a lot of ways, the AF8 is very much the same as last year’s excellent A1 OLED – except it fixes the design. This AF8 keeps things much more strait-laced, and features a standard plinth, and with a slightly slimmer design too, so it’ll sit snugger to a wall if wall mounted.

Sony ZD9

If it ain’t broke, why replace it? The ZD9 has been going strong since it was released in late 2016, and despite its age, remains the company’s flagship LCD model. It’s a full-array set, meaning its backlighting covers the whole display, rather than lighting it from the edges like the rest of the range. This allows it to be a lot more precise with where light is placed, improving contrast and making for a superb HDR experience.

Sony XF90

Despite sitting at the top of Sony’s 4K LCD range of 2018, the XF90 is actually considered a mid-range set in the line-up. Regardless, you still get the X1 Extreme processor that powers the ZD9, A1 and AF8, alongside improved full-array backlighting with more dimming zones than last year. There’s also a 20% brighter panel for better HDR.

Sony XF85

The XF85 makes the move to being edge lit rather than direct lit in order to keep prices down (except for the 85in option), and also drops down to the standard X1 processor, which means picture quality and upscaling won’t be quite as good as higher up the range. That said, motion processing should still be decent, thanks to the range’s 100Hz panel, and prices should be good too.

Sony XF80

If you were to take the XF85 range, swap its 100Hz panel for a 50Hz one, drop the X1 processor and take its design down a notch or two, you’d pretty much have the XF80. Despite it losing the better chipset of the XF85, you still get all of Sony’s Triluminos colour and 4K X-Reality Pro processing, but motion might not be quite as good, and there will be a few picture quality differences too.

Sony WF66

If it’s not 4K you’re after, your options are becoming more and more limited across all of the major brands. But Sony is still appealing to the full HD fans among you with two 1080p ranges, and the WF66 sits at the top them. While 4K may not be on the menu, HDR is, which means you’ll be able to enjoy HD-standard HDR content from the likes of Netflix and YouTube, plus games on the PS4, with support for HDR10 and HLG formats.

Sony RF45

Available in one screen size only, the RF45 is Sony’s true entry-level HD set, with no smart functionality, a more basic design than the WF66 and similarly limited connectivity in terms of inputs. It does, however, hold onto HDR support for HDR10 and HLG, and packs Sony’s X-Reality Pro video processing.