At CES, Sony's 2018 A8F OLED TVs still promise peak picture
The companion to Sony's superb 2017 OLED-based TV is very similar, and that's a good thing.
- Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
Sony and LG aren't breaking any new ground with their 2018 OLED TVs , but that doesn't mean they won't end the year as our favorites once again.
Organic Light Emitting Diode display technology delivers the best image quality we've ever tested, and 2017's A1E matched its competitors from LG in our testing. The new version's biggest change is a design that's not quite as daring.
While the 2017 A1E was essentially stand-free, supported by a big kickstand with a built-in, the new A8F series has the standard foot stand support and sits straight up. Sony didn't announce pricing but I'm guessing that the more standard design leads to a lower price point than the A1E, which will remain on sale in 2018.
The A8F keeps the Acoustic Surface speaker design, where the screen itself actually produces sound. It also supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range formats, although the former will appear as a software update after launch. Sony also talks up its X-Reality pro processing, said to improve image quality regardless of source, although it's the same as the A1E.
And like its predecessor, the A8F builds in the Android TV operating system, complete with Google Assistant voice control available by talking into the remote. It's also compatible with Alexa.
As mentioned before and as usual at CES, pricing and availability were not announced.
What to expect from the big screens of 2018: From OLED to QLED to Micro LED, CES is the place where screen time is absolutely friggin' huge. Here's a peek.
CES 2018: CNET's complete coverage of tech's biggest show.