As a rule of thumb, it's pretty hard to go wrong when buying a Sony TV, especially if you don't need it for competitive gaming. Their more entry-level offerings aren't great, but any high-end LED and OLED models are a safe bet. Their Google TV smart platform offers many apps to download with an easy-to-use interface. You might pay a slight premium over competing models, but you'll usually have a good TV.
Lineup
2024Lineup
Although Sony had a presence and even a press conference at CES 2024, they didn't announce any new models. They held a private invitation-only event instead, where they showed off their new Mini LED backlight tech that they'll be using in their 2024 flagship Mini LED model. This new tech uses much smaller dimming zones than previous models, and a new LED driver uses a combination of PWM dimming and DC direct dimming to achieve much finer control over the backlight levels. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any photos, but their demo TV had the LEDs exposed, so we could see exactly what the backlight was doing, and it looked incredible. The backlight control was so precise that we could tell what the screen was showing just by the brightness of individual LEDs. Unlike some other Mini LED backlights, Sony seems to be aiming for the most precise dimming possible with this technology, and they aren't averaging the backlight out across multiple zones. Sony wouldn't say anything about the final TV powered by this new backlight, but hopefully, we'll learn more soon.
Since CES, some details ofSony's 2024 lineup have leakedthrough government registration information. The information available suggests a major lineup revamp this year, with Sony eliminating the separation between their 'X'-Series LED TVs and their 'A'-Series OLED models. However, this information should be taken with a massive grain of salt, as registration information can be outdated or incomplete. We don't know when Sony plans on announcing their full 2024 lineup, but we'll update this article when they do.
Model names
Their product naming is easy to understand, and the 2023 lineup follows the same naming convention as in past years. If the model starts with A, it's an OLED; if it's X, it's an LED, and their Z Series is 8k. Next comes the model number; the higher the number, the better. Lastly, the suffix letter indicates the year. So, for example, the Sony X800H is an entry-level LED model from 2020, while the A90J is a high-end OLED model from 2021.
- *L = 2023
- *K = 2022
- *J = 2021
Since 2021, all their TVs share the same model number worldwide, making it easy to identify models if you're shopping from a different region. That's not to say they're completely identical, though, as there are some slight regional differences, and not all models are available worldwide.
