Sony Bravia 8 MK2 vs Philips OLED910

Thanks to the new QD-OLED panel, the Sony Bravia 8 II can achieve astronomically high brightness levels of around 2000 nits, translating into nearly reference-quality for films and series recorded in HDR format. In test materials such as Life of Pi and Sicario 2, the effect is truly captivating – details in bright areas of the image remain perfectly visible, and night scenes enchant with depth and contrast. However, it is not perfect. Compared to its fiercest competitors, the Bravia 8 II shows a noticeable drop in brightness during full-screen, very bright scenes. When comparing maximum peak luminance with 100% white brightness in HDR mode, the Bravia 8 II appears even two or three times dimmer than LG G5 or Samsung S95F models. This was especially evident in a scene from the film The Meg – the screen became noticeably darker than in competing televisions. Despite this shortcoming, the results of the Bravia 8 II still place it among the top of the market. It deserves praise for its absolutely top-tier colour gamut coverage – nearly 100% DCI-P3 and close to 90% BT.2020. These parameters allow for fully extracting the potential of HDR content and providing experiences akin to those in a cinema within the comfort of home.

The OLED910 is simply an absurdly bright television for an OLED. All thanks to the new panel from LG Display, the Tandem RGB OLED, which Philips has dubbed its "META OLED." It is this panel that allows for over 2000 nits of brightness in films, which not long ago was completely unattainable in OLEDs. The television also deserves high praise for how it handles full-screen scenes drenched in bright light. Generally, in OLEDs, brightness drops significantly during such scenes, but here it remains at an excellent level – around 1400 nits. These are almost reference values, and combined with the excellent colour reproduction at 99% DCI P3 and 82% BT.2020, it gives us an HDR effect that can confidently be called one of the best in the world.

Straight out of the box, the Bravia 8 II performs quite well. In the best IMAX® Enhanced mode, the television is able to render colours in a pleasant and natural way, although “good” doesn’t mean “best in class” here. The white balance definitely needs adjustment – skin tones tend to lean towards slightly pink/cool hues, both in SDR and HDR materials. We also noticed that the characteristic of the EOTF curve reveals a certain tendency to brighten the darkest parts of the image. This is probably due to the manufacturer’s desire to highlight as many details as possible even in deep shadows. Is this a good approach? It’s hard to say definitively, but we know one thing – it is not an ideal solution.

Unfortunately, when it comes to colour reproduction straight out of the box, the Filmmaker mode on the OLED910 performs really poorly. The television overemphasises the blue colour, and at times it looks almost like a shop display mode. This gives the impression that the manufacturer hasn’t quite tuned the device properly. The effect is that the colours look unnatural, and the whole thing resembles a somewhat exaggerated display from a market exhibition. HDR content is presented much better, where, apart from a slight loss of detail in the blacks, there’s not much to complain about. The problem is that in everyday viewing, it’s the SDR materials that matter the most – and on the OLED910, they simply look poor and fall well short of what we would expect from a television of this class.

After calibration, the excessive cooling of the image caused by an overly strong boost of the blue colour was mainly eliminated. The reds have become deeper, and skin tones have taken on a natural, healthy appearance. The actors, who previously seemed "cold," now look much livelier and more convincing on screen. However, one thing has not changed – the analysis of the EOTF curve still shows that the Bravia 8 II has a tendency to brighten the darkest areas of the image. It is difficult to determine whether this is a deliberate method used by the manufacturer or a result of the panel and software design. In practice, this means that scenes which the creators intended to leave in deep darkness can reveal more details than anticipated. Despite this, the image quality after calibration is clearly improved – warm, natural colours and realistic skin tones make viewing on the Bravia 8 II simply more pleasant to the eye.

Fortunately, it quickly turned out that it was not the panel causing the problems, but rather the way Philips factory-calibrated the OLED910. After calibration, the television displayed its full potential, and only then could we see what the new panels produced by LG Display were truly capable of. We primarily adjusted the white balance and brightness characteristics, successfully taming the excessive blue and giving the image a natural appearance. The final effect can be described as excellent. Errors on the Color Checker palette rarely exceeded a value of 3, which in practice means an image close to perfection and colours presented in accordance with the creators' intent. In SDR content, the effect was outstanding, and in HDR, the improvement was even more noticeable – gradients became cleaner, and colours fuller and more accurate. After calibration, the OLED910 transformed from a disappointing television into equipment that can confidently be referred to as a reference in terms of colour quality.

Upscaling and digital image processing are a true showcase of the capabilities of the Bravia 8 II. Sony has long been regarded as a master in this field, and here it only reaffirms its reputation. The proprietary XR processor can extract nearly the maximum from lower-resolution materials – whether it's television or an old DVD film, the image appears clearer, with more detail and better depth. Of course, if we feed it exceptionally low-quality material (like our archival photo with the Model), it won't work wonders, but in everyday viewing, it's hard to find fault with it.

The gentle gradation feature also performs excellently. In the "Medium" setting, it effectively smooths tonal transitions, eliminating banding in coloured and grey gradients, while not destroying the film grain or fine details in the image. It is this balance between subtlety and effectiveness that keeps Sony televisions among the best on the market in this category.

The previously visible colour banding can largely be mitigated thanks to a feature called "distortion reduction." Like in the OLED820, it is best set to a medium level, as it then produces fairly decent results – smoothing out unwanted tonal transitions while not taking away too much detail from the image. Although at times the effect may be slightly too aggressive, this function can be considered useful for everyday viewing.

As for image scaling, the OLED910 performs really well. The test material featuring a model had a soft look characteristic of Philips – at times almost too soft – but this can be easily corrected with the sharpness slider, allowing you to adjust the image to your own preferences. It's also worth noting that the television has no issues with overscan, which still occurs in some competitor models. It's a small detail, but it's pleasing because it means that all content, even the oldest, is displayed as it should be.

The smoothness of motion is practically a closed topic in the case of the Bravia 8 II. The OLED with a refresh rate of 120 Hz naturally provides a very clear, sharp image in dynamic scenes, so it's hard to complain about anything here. However, one of the best motion smoothing systems on the market truly deserves special praise. They allow precise adjustment of film smoothness to one’s own preferences – from gentle smoothing to almost a “theatrical” effect – without the risk of artificial jumps, tearing of the image, or annoying artifacts. This is one of those features that will be appreciated both during movie screenings and while watching sports.

OLED910 is a television with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. It’s a bit of a shame that Philips didn’t opt for 165 Hz, as we know that the panel used is capable of that. On the other hand, such a bonus would mainly benefit PC gamers, as in everyday use, the most important refresh rate is 120 Hz, which is fully sufficient. Combined with the advantages of the OLED panel – lightning-fast pixel response time and the absence of motion blur, the image is impeccably sharp and quick, even in dynamic action scenes. The traditional motion smoother from Philips, called “Motion Style,” also deserves praise. We can easily adjust it to our preferences: the “Fluidity” slider is responsible for films and allows you to choose between a more “filmy,” cinematic character and a smooth, theatrical image. Meanwhile, the “Motion Blur Reduction” slider is intended for sports, where it’s worth setting it to the maximum value to ensure that the image is clear and distinct during very fast shots.

Sony has really learnt its lessons from previous years and in the Bravia 8 II has prepared a package of features for gamers that is hard to describe in any other way than "almost perfect". We have everything you'd expect from equipment of this class – VRR, ALLM, Dolby Vision Gaming mode, HGiG, and even a handy Game Bar that allows you to quickly preview parameters and change settings without leaving the game. It's also worth noting how smoothly and seamlessly these features work – no delays, no strange stutters. You simply start the game, and everything looks as it should. Unfortunately, there are a few "buts". The manufacturer still only provides us with two full-bandwidth HDMI ports, so if someone has a console, PC, and another device such as a soundbar connected via eARC, it becomes a hassle of switching cables. It is also surprising that there is no support for 1440p resolution at 120 Hz – particularly important for Xbox gamers. Overall, however – this is one of those televisions that can easily be placed in the centre of a gaming lounge and enjoyed without significant compromises.

The OLED910 is fantastic for gaming. It supports 144 Hz, so if someone has a powerful PC, they can comfortably utilise that potential. On consoles, the most important thing is still 120 Hz, and everything works perfectly here. There's VRR, an automatic gaming mode, and even Dolby Vision in games and HGiG mode, so we really get a full package of gaming features. Philips has also added a Game Bar, which is a quick menu that displays basic information and allows you to enable a few useful things. It may not look as modern as the competition, but it works and fulfils its purpose. The only downside is the number of HDMI 2.1 ports. There are only two, which can be quite disappointing for a TV in this class. If someone connects two consoles and something additional through eARC - like a soundbar (which doesn't make much sense in this model but I'll discuss that in the paragraph about sound) - they'll have to do some adjustments. Other than that, the OLED910 has everything we expect from a gaming television.