Sony Bravia 7 (XR70) vs Sony X85L

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.

The Sony X85L TV offers solid HDR performance with a brightness level of 750 nits, which is sufficient to enjoy vivid effects. In scenes of moderate difficulty, such as the first, third, or fifth test scenes, a brightness of around 600 nits allows one to fully experience the HDR effect. Unfortunately, in more demanding segments, such as the scene from the movie Sicario 2, the TV shows its limitations. Drops in brightness to 250 nits make the HDR effect lose its impressive quality and resemble regular SDR instead. Nevertheless, it is worth highlighting the very good coverage of the DCI-P3 color palette at 95%, which definitely deserves praise and positively affects the overall image quality.

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.

The Sony X85L television was tested in IMAX Enhanced mode, which, although associated with world-class cinema, does not guarantee an image that aligns with the director's vision. The main issue is the white balance – there is a noticeable strong dominance of blue color and significant lack of red. As a result, the image becomes unnaturally cool and appears artificial. The color reproduction errors were confirmed by the Colour Checker test, which showed significant discrepancies – colors were "scattered" like shots from a rifle, and only a few samples hit the target values. This clearly shows that the precision of color reproduction leaves much to be desired.

The brightness of the image is one of the positive features of the TV. The gamma for HD content is at an acceptable level, although there are minor errors, but generally, it is quite good. However, the brightness characteristics for 4K materials remain an issue, controlled by the EOTF curve. It is evident that very small, bright elements of the image are too dim, which is a result of the limited number of dimming zones due to the design of the television.

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.

Thanks to the use of calibration tools offered by Sony X85L, the image quality has been significantly improved. After calibration, the white balance for HD content is much more stable, making colors look more natural and the image gains authenticity. Although it is not perfect, these changes allow viewers to enjoy a more realistic representation of colors, eliminating the earlier cool tone. The gamma, which already performed decently, has been adjusted to an even better version. As a result, tonal transitions and brightness are more consistent, positively affecting the depth and detail of the image.

As for 4K content, despite efforts, the white balance still struggles with a deficiency of red, which can result in overly warm colors in some scenes. Synthetic tests showed that the EOTF curve in HDR is quite stable, with a slight boost in mid-bright scenes. However, in real film materials, the TV can still be too bright with fine, light details, which is a result of the limitations of large local dimming technology.

Nonetheless, calibration has brought significant benefits, particularly in color accuracy, improving overall image quality and providing a more natural and cohesive directorial vision.

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.

In terms of smoothing tonal transitions, the Sony X85L television does not offer any dedicated enhancement options, which is a downside. On the other hand, image scaling performs quite well – the television adds a bit of artificial sharpness, which can make details such as tree branches more pronounced, although sometimes with noticeable jaggedness. This type of effect may appeal to some viewers who prefer a more detailed image.

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 Sony X85L, equipped with a 120 Hz panel, will meet the expectations of a wide range of users – from sports and gaming fans to movie buffs. Movie enthusiasts will surely appreciate the presence of one of the best motion smoothing systems, Motionflow. This system offers adjustment via smoothness and clarity sliders – smoothness is responsible for motion fluidity, eliminating stutter, while clarity enhances the sharpness of fast scenes, reducing blur.

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.

Sony X85L offers quite a solid set of features for gamers, making it an attractive choice for gaming enthusiasts. First and foremost, the TV has a 120 Hz panel, translating to smooth and dynamic image display, ideal for both fast-paced action games and more demanding sports titles. It is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, allowing for the full utilization of next-gen console capabilities. Additionally, the Sony X85L supports VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) technology, which helps reduce stuttering and artifacts during gameplay, providing a fluid experience. The TV also supports G-Sync, which is particularly beneficial for gamers using NVIDIA graphics cards, allowing for screen refresh rate synchronization with GPU performance, eliminating the tearing effect. It is worth mentioning the Game Bar feature, which facilitates quick access to essential gaming-related settings such as VRR, brightness levels, and display modes, making it convenient and useful during gameplay.

However, there are certain limitations. The TV does not support HGiG, which may be a downside for some gamers, as HGiG optimizes HDR effect rendering in games, providing a more authentic visual experience. Additionally, while Dolby Vision mode is available, it is not practical for gaming due to very high input lag.