Sony Bravia 7 (XR70) vs LG QNED91T6A

Since we know that the television performs well with contrast, let's check how it fares in terms of HDR effects. The luminance graph shows the very high capabilities of this model – 1500 nits is truly an impressive result. HDR effects are particularly striking in scenes where most of the screen is covered in light, as seen in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th test scenes. Minor shortcomings, typical of this technology, are still noticeable with very small light effects, such as in the scene from the movie "Sicario 2," where brightness drops to 500 nits. Although these are not stunning results, they can be considered decent. Additionally, it is worth praising the television for its high coverage of a wide color gamut – DCI-P3 at 96%, which allows for vibrant, saturated colors.

As befits a MiniLED television, QNED91T LG easily exceeds the magic barrier of 1000 nits on the luminance chart. In scenes where light played a key role, the effect was truly decent. For example, 1000 nits in the first scene of "Life of Pi" is really an impressive value, and the 600 nits achieved in scenes three and five allowed us to feel the true magic of HDR. However, problems arise with very small light elements on the screen, such as the moon, lanterns, or lamps. A value of around 100 nits - to put it bluntly - is disappointing, as these elements are so dark that they are barely visible. It is worth praising the television for covering the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 96% and BT.2020 at 75%. LG QNED91T leaves us with mixed feelings, mainly due to very aggressive dimming algorithms, which, while effectively eliminating the halo effect, do impact the brightness of smaller elements.

The IMAX Enhanced mode on the Sony BRAVIA 7 television is definitely the best mode available on this model, although it is not without its flaws, as its name might suggest. The biggest issue is white balance – both in HD and 4K HDR content, there is a noticeable dominance of red color, which makes the image take on pinkish shades. This is particularly evident on the tested snow screen, where the pinkish hue becomes very noticeable. Errors in the Colour Checker test also confirm these deviations – although they are not catastrophic, there is a tendency to lean towards warmer tones. As for brightness characteristics, gamma remains at a decent level with a slight bump but without major issues. However, the biggest challenge is 4K materials. It is clear that the EOTF curve is significantly above the reference chart, which causes the image to become too bright.

We conduct all our tests in the best picture mode on each TV. In this case, as usual, it is the Filmmaker mode. The name of the mode suggests perfect colour reproduction; however, there were noticeable deviations from the correct image. Our unit, in terms of white balance, showed a significant drop in shades of blue - both in SDR and 4K HDR material - which caused a clear yellowing of the image, noticeable in comparison scenes from the film with Tom Cruise. As we described earlier, QNED91T has some tendencies to brighten the screen. This is confirmed by the gamma, which is significantly lower than the reference value of 2.4. On the other hand, the EOTF curve, responsible for brightness in 4K content, showed some issues with the TV dimming the image in the darkest areas, which we could observe in the paragraph describing HDR effect quality. Although the Filmmaker mode is quite a decent "out of the box" mode, it still requires some adjustments.

Sony BRAVIA XR70 offers a wide range of tools that allow for customizing the picture to personal preferences, which has enabled us to make significant adjustments to the settings. The white balance has been free of the issue of red hue dominance – snow no longer ends up with pink shades, which was previously noticeable. Although one can detect minor deviations at the end of the white balance chart concerning a drop in blue color, they are acceptable and hard to notice in everyday use. The Colour Checker test confirms that color reproduction errors are no longer as pronounced and rarely exceed a value of 2, which is a very good result. As for brightness, gamma, while not requiring significant improvement, has been slightly adjusted. However, the most notable change has been observed in the EOTF curve – the television no longer has issues with overly brightening the entire image in 4K content. However, upon closer analysis and enabling EOTF characteristics in films, certain limitations of the television arise due to the previously discussed dimming algorithm. Some small elements may be slightly more illuminated, but these errors are so minor that most users will not notice them. Overall, the calibration results are very, very positive.

LG offers advanced calibration tools in its televisions such as 65QNED91T6A, which we took advantage of. When it comes to white balance, we were able to significantly correct it in SDR content. The picture mode in 4K HDR quality posed greater challenges, which, although still not perfect, looks better than before calibration. The errors on the Color Checker palette and the colour palette are much smaller than in factory settings. Regarding brightness characteristics, gamma for HD content is practically ideal, with a slight exception at the end of the graph. However, the biggest issues the television had were with brightness in 4K HDR content. Analyzing the EOTF characteristics in films, we noticed that the television manipulates brightness quite significantly, which we observed in earlier tests. Brightness is considerably boosted compared to the graph in the static test, and the television brightens certain scenes to the extent that some smaller elements lose detail. Unfortunately, this is caused by an average local dimming algorithm in this model. Nevertheless, calibration yields decent results, especially in terms of precise colour reproduction.

Since we know that the television performs very well with high-quality materials, it is worth checking how it fares with lower-quality content. Here the television shows its potential, and the applied graphics processor works really well. On the test board with the light bulb, there are no visible issues with color transitions, and the smooth gradation function works very well – we recommend setting it to "Medium".

When it comes to digital processing, or so-called upscaling, the television sharpens the image quite a bit, which leads to slight aliasing, for example on branches in the background, but it does not remove desired details. Nonetheless, the overall appearance is truly attractive and may appeal to most users. However, if we prefer a softer, more plastic image, this effect can be reduced in the settings by adjusting the sharpening level to our personal preferences.

When it comes to tonal transitions in lower quality materials, the TV offers the already-known feature from LG TVs - "Smooth Gradation." We can control it at three levels: low, medium, and high. We recommend using the medium option, as it effectively removes tonal transitions without causing noticeable issues with removing the structure of objects or other artefacts.

As for image scaling (upscaling), LG's Alpha processor handles this well. The image appears very plastic, with slight jaggedness in some elements, which does not significantly affect the quality. It looks really okay, and the overall effect is very satisfactory.

The Sony BRAVIA 7 television with a 120 Hz panel will satisfy most users in terms of motion smoothness. Additionally, Sony offers the Motion Flow feature, which allows for the selection of three different picture settings, adjusting them to personal preferences: Smoothness – Film: This setting improves motion smoothness, giving the image a more cinematic or theatrical character. Smoothness – Camera: This setting provides even greater smoothness, useful when watching dynamic scenes such as sports broadcasts. Clarity: This setting focuses on minimizing noise and motion artifacts, resulting in a more stable and clear image.

The television has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which should satisfy most users in terms of motion smoothness. Additionally, QNED91T is equipped with the TruMotion feature, which allows for smoother image display in movies. As part of this feature, we can adjust the "De-Judder" and "De-Blur" sliders. The "De-Judder" slider is responsible for reducing jitter in movies, which is particularly useful when playing content with a lower frame rate, while "De-Blur" helps reduce blurriness in fast scenes, which is essential for sports or dynamic shots.

Sony Bravia 7 has significantly improved its capabilities for cooperation with consoles compared to previous models. The TV supports variable refresh rate (VRR), which eliminates screen tearing, and it is compatible with graphics cards, ensuring smooth display. The auto low latency mode (ALLM) effectively reduces input lag, which is crucial in fast-paced games. Dolby Vision with low latency additionally provides impressive HDR effects that look great during gameplay.

Sony Bravia 7 also offers a Game Bar feature that provides quick access to settings and allows monitoring of parameters during gameplay. An interesting option is the ability to enable a virtual crosshair on the screen, which can give a slight advantage in shooting games. However, compared to the Bravia 9 model, the HGIG feature in the Bravia 7 does not perform as well, which may be noticeable for more demanding gamers – especially since the HGIG mode is becoming more popular in the gaming world as the preferred method for reproducing HDR effects.

A downside is the lack of support for 1440p@120 Hz resolution, which could make gaming easier for users with less powerful graphics cards. Additionally, the Sony Bravia 7 is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which is often used to connect an audio system via eARC, limiting the number of available ports for connecting next-generation consoles.

The LG 65QNED91T6A television is equipped with HDMI 2.1 ports with a full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, providing full support for all standards needed for gaming on modern consoles. We can count on support for variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM). This ensures smooth gameplay without delays.

With support for all popular HDR standards in games, such as HGiG and Dolby Vision, we can fully harness the potential of the PS5 and XBOX One consoles. The television also easily handles lower resolutions than 4K, so even older consoles look good on it. The Game Bar makes it easy to access gaming-related settings, allowing us to quickly and intuitively adjust picture parameters and features for gamers. Additionally, the QNED91T offers NVIDIA GeForce Now functionality, enabling us to game in the cloud without needing a console. However, it should be noted that this solution is quite expensive and somewhat falls short compared to Xbox Game Pass, which is available only on Samsung TVs.

QNED91T LG is a great choice for less experienced and more advanced gamers looking for a versatile television for gaming.