Sony confirms the excellent potential of its XF range with the KD-55XF9005. If its two feet do not necessarily unanimity, the picture quality is well and truly at the rendezvous. The TV has an excellent contrast ratio and very rich colors. We can just blame him for a lack of luminous uniformity, without it spoiling the show.
With the XE90, Sony offered high-performance TVs with a nice design. These now leave room for the XF90 range. With the same success? To find out, we submitted the KD-55XF9005 to the test of our Lab.
Ergonomics and design
The entire XF90 range adopts a minimalist design, with thin black anodized aluminum edges and the adoption of a new bracket. The single foot now gives way to two feet relatively spaced and especially oriented outwards.
A detail to consider if you intend to put the KD-55XF9005 on a piece of furniture. Also note that each foot has a cable management system (two cables per foot). A solution that has the advantage of being practical to prevent the accumulation of cables on the back of the TV, but still far less effective than the remote case proposed by Samsung with its QLED 2018 range and its unique cable.
Nothing to say about the connections of the Sony KD-55XF9005, which has four HDMI HDCP 2.2 inputs (one on the side and three on the bottom), two USB ports (one on the side and one on the bottom), a digital audio output, a Side composite video output, antenna jacks (DTT / Cable / Satellite), and a headphone / audio output (hybrid on the side with headphone and subwoofer output).
No change on the audio side with, as on the XE range, the integration of two Bass Reflex speakers of 10 W each. The KD-55XF9005 supports Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Pulse and DTS audio formats. The manufacturer also offers sound processing tools with ClearAudio to enhance dialogue and S-Force Front Surround to simulate surround effects and enhance immersion.
The Sony KD-55XF9005 is based on the Android TV operating system that offers access to many applications available for download on the Google Play platform. Netflix and YouTube are already installed and navigation is fluid. Still, the very loaded interface may baffle the novice, especially in view of its many features and options. But nothing insurmountable so far. Sony also offers the same remote control. It offers a good grip, but the many buttons do not facilitate blind manipulation. Especially at the level of the directional pad whose buttons are a little small and surrounded by other buttons that can be confused. Here again, a little practice will suffice to remedy this.
Contrasts
In standard mode, the Sony KD-55XF9005 has a high brightness of 513 cd / m2, much more than its 49-inch brother. The blacks are also deeper, with a raised value of 0.058 cd / m2. This results in an excellent contrast ratio of 8845.
© LaboFnac
The TV also does a great job when it comes to managing light leaks. The black level thus stands at 0.047 cd / m2 at the top and bottom of the slab, at 0.042 cd / m2 on the left and 0.039 cd / m2 on the right. Contrast level, the Sony KD-55XF9005 is much better than the previous generation.
Progressivity
Despite some deviations, the Sony KD-55XF9005’s gamma curve is close to the reference curve, and the TV offers a great dynamic.
© LaboFnac
However, the directivity is not the same ilk. Indeed, when we surveyed five viewing areas with an angle that varies by 45 degrees (which corresponds to the different viewing positions of the TV), we noted a significant loss of brightness. It goes from 513 cd / m2 in the center of the slab to 199 and 193 cd / m2 left and right.
The directivity
Directivity is better handled at the color level, but the rendering of the blacks and the contrast ratio are conditioned by the position of the viewer.
© LaboFnac
We found a black level of 0.058 cd / m2 in the center of the image, which rises respectively to 0.322 cd / m2 and 0.325 cd / m2 left and right of the slab. The ratio of white on black (contrast) is 8845 in the axis, but only 618 on the left and 594 on the right.
Colorimetry
The Sony KD-55XF9005 displays very rich colors, as evidenced by the representation below. The color spectrum of the TV greatly exceeds the reference EBU space without excessive drift. With the contrast ratio, color fidelity is one of the highlights of the Sony KD-55XF9005.
uniformity
Conversely, uniformity is not his forte. The luminance difference is relatively high at 39%. Fortunately, the chrominance gap is more contained, with a U’V ‘delta limited to 0.0059.
© LaboFnac
Finally, we divided the Sony KD-55XF9005 panel into 35 identical-sized square areas in which we measured the maximum and minimum brightness. The lowest level is reached at the top right of the TV with 239 cd / m2. The maximum is 394 cd / m2 in the center of the image.
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