Sony Bravia 8 (XR80) vs SONY BRAVIA 3

The Sony Bravia 8 performs commendably in terms of HDR brightness, reaching a peak of 880 nits. This level is sufficient to render lighting effects effectively in most scenes. In tested clips from Life of Pi and Sicario 2, the television demonstrated vibrant, detailed imagery that captured the atmosphere of these films beautifully.

However, challenges arise in scenes with consistently high brightness, such as in The Meg, where the display's limitations become apparent. In these situations, OLED technology can struggle, with brightness levels dropping to around 450 nits, which can be less satisfying when intense illumination is needed throughout a scene. Despite this, the Sony Bravia 8 remains a strong contender, offering excellent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage and 74% BT.2020 coverage. These attributes result in rich, accurate colours and fine details, enhancing HDR content and providing an enjoyable viewing experience.

Bravia 3 does not hide the fact that it belongs to the group of televisions that are rather modest in terms of brightness. Our measurements showed around 370 nits, which is a value balancing on the borderline where one can still speak of any HDR effect. For some, this is an acceptable level; for others, it is rather typical for SDR materials, where spectacular highlights or vivid contrasts are not expected. The impression is that this is not a television for those focused on the highest image quality in demanding film content. However, this does not mean that we won't find any advantages here. Compared to its predecessor, the X75WL, Bravia 3 has gained an additional PFS filter, functioning similarly to solutions known from QLED technology. Thanks to this, the DCI-P3 color gamut has been significantly expanded and reaches over 91 percent, which in practice provides more saturated colors and a more pleasant image texture. As a result, even everyday content looks a bit livelier, and movies and series can surprise with their colorful presentations, despite the limitations in brightness itself.

The best factory mode on the Sony Bravia 8 television is IMAX Enhanced, offering the most cinematic experience, though it isn't perfectly calibrated. The TV attempts to replicate cinematic settings as accurately as possible, but some issues are evident. Starting with white balance, both for SDR and 4K content, there is a noticeable blue dominance, making the image appear too cold and lacking in natural warmth. Colour Checker tests reveal a shift towards cooler tones, affecting colour accuracy and making the image feel less lifelike.

Regarding brightness and contrast, the gamma shows a significant drop towards the end of the spectrum, meaning dark details may become too shadowed, and bright areas too intense, causing a loss of subtlety and detail. This is particularly noticeable in the sky, as seen in the comparison image. Additionally, the EOTF curve is considerably above the reference value, making bright elements overly intense. As a result, users may experience an unnatural image, with bright parts losing detail and negatively impacting the overall viewing quality.

We primarily tested the Sony Bravia 3 in movie mode, which immediately proved to be the best choice among the factory settings. The picture is not perfect, but compared to the eco mode that the TV suggests right out of the box, the difference is significant and for the better. In movie mode, one can notice a certain problem—the image seems too warm, which results from a lack of blue in the white balance. Despite this, in SDR content, the final effect can still be considered quite decent and satisfying for everyday viewing. Much more serious errors occur in HDR materials. The Color Checker analysis showed significant deviations, and poor brightness management combined with limited color gamut coverage further exposes the shortcomings of the image in this mode. All of this makes HDR on the Bravia 3 look unconvincing and can spoil the impression left by the quite decent SDR content settings. Fortunately, this is not a situation without a solution. Various errors can be somewhat mitigated, and some can even be completely corrected through professional calibration. Therefore, we decided to check how the TV would perform after such adjustments.

The calibration process of the Sony Bravia 8 television resulted in significant improvements in image quality. The white balance was notably enhanced for both SDR and 4K HDR content, with minimal errors in the middle section of the graph. Gamma calibration was one of the biggest improvements, eliminating previous dips that had impacted brightness stability and the reproduction of detail in dark areas. The EOTF curve was also corrected, making bright elements appear more natural and improving the overall tonal balance.

However, the most attention should be given to colour reproduction, where some issues persist despite calibration. Sony has omitted the CMS system in this model, which would allow for more precise colour control. As a result, the Colour Checker test for 4K content still reveals significant colour inaccuracies. Despite these limitations, calibration is still recommended, as the improvements in brightness and contrast are noticeable and greatly enhance the overall image quality.

The calibration allowed us to extract significantly more from ChooseTV 3 than we could have expected at the beginning. First and foremost, we managed to address the shortage of blue color, which previously caused a noticeable warming of the image. After a slight adjustment in white balance, most of the errors in Color Checker measurements for SDR content practically disappeared. The shades of white gained a natural quality, and brightness management in gamma stabilized to a level that is nearly perfect, not exceeding the threshold of human eye perception. Therefore, it can be confidently said that in SDR content, after a few tweaks in settings, ChooseTV 3 performs really excellently. HDR content, however, fares much worse, although it is still definitely better than before calibration. The white balance has been corrected, but the limitations of the IPS panel are insurmountable. The lack of local dimming means that even the smallest elements can be overexposed, which immediately stands out. Color-wise, the effect has also improved, although it is far from ideal—many errors still exceed the threshold of four or even five delta E units, meaning they remain visible to the human eye. It was already clear before that ChooseTV 3 is not a television designed to amaze with HDR quality. Nonetheless, it is gratifying that in SDR content, after calibration, the image can look really great, and in this category, the television pleasantly surprised us.

The fluidity of tonal transitions in lower-quality materials on the Bravia 8 is lacking. Unfortunately, the gentle gradation function, which was available in previous models, is missing, which is a significant drawback. The digital noise reduction feature can improve tonal transitions, but it often removes fine details, such as clouds in scenes from The Martian, which may not be to everyone's taste. On the other hand, the digital processing in the Sony XR80 is quite effective. In test scenes, it performed well without noticeable flaws, and the branches in the background remained smooth without jagged edges. This indicates that the Bravia 8 is capable of handling complex low-resolution image details with relative ease.

Bravia 3 brings something more to the Sony television family than just a common name. It stands out primarily for its ability to improve the quality of weaker materials thanks to the applied processor. Of course, we won't find the advanced XR chip known from more expensive models here, but it must be acknowledged that the image at a lower resolution looked surprisingly good. Scaling worked effectively, and most parts of the screen were free from the typical excessive jagged edges found in budget constructions.

The feature that enhances the fluidity of tonal transitions is also worth noting. In the high setting, it works really well, effectively masking the imperfections of gradation without significant loss of detail. It does happen that the algorithm overly smooths elements that should remain sharp – for example, faces – however, in overall terms, the effect is beneficial. The best results were achieved precisely at the highest setting, and this option could be recommended to those watching lower-quality content.

The Sony Bravia 8 offers a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz, ensuring smooth viewing of dynamic content such as sports and games, with sharp and fluid motion. For more demanding users, the Sony XR80 features an advanced motion smoothing system, divided into three settings: Smoothness (Film), Smoothness (Camera), and Clarity. The first two settings adjust the level of blur and smoothness, while the Clarity setting will be discussed in more detail below. Each of these parameters can be customised to suit individual preferences, allowing users to fine-tune the settings for the optimal viewing experience.

The fluidity of motion has never been a strong point of TVs equipped with 60 Hz panels, and the Bravia 3 is no exception. Nevertheless, Sony has added something that might appeal to those who are more sensitive to the way images are displayed. We are talking about the proprietary Motion Flow motion smoother, which offers users a lot of adjustment options. Thanks to it, one can make the image smoother, even theatrical, or stick to a more cinematic style with the characteristic stuttering that many simply associate with the film atmosphere. These features work with content at lower frame rates, such as movies and series recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second, which are the materials we encounter on a daily basis. It is precisely in this area that the motion smoother proves to be one of the most important features in everyday use of the television, and here the Bravia 3 performs really well.

The Sony Bravia 8 has greatly improved its compatibility with consoles compared to earlier models. It supports variable refresh rate (VRR), which eliminates screen tearing and can sync with graphics cards for smooth visuals. The Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) reduces input lag, a crucial feature for fast-paced games. Additionally, Dolby Vision with low latency enhances HDR effects, offering stunning visuals during gameplay.

The Sony XR80 also includes a Game Bar, which provides quick access to settings and monitoring tools during gaming. A notable feature is the option to enable a virtual crosshair on the screen, giving players a potential advantage in shooter games.

However, there are some drawbacks. The TV lacks support for 1440p@120Hz resolution, which would benefit users with less powerful graphics cards. Furthermore, the Sony XR80 has only two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which is typically used for connecting an audio system via eARC, limiting the number of available ports for next-gen consoles.

Bravia 3 is not a device for e-sports enthusiasts or fans of late-night marathons with a controller in hand. The lack of 120 Hz refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 ports wraps up the topic before it can even develop. This is a TV for casual gamers who, after work, want to fire up FIFA or racing games, not for someone who measures every frame in a spreadsheet. Nevertheless, Sony has added a few nice extras so it’s not too barren. ALLM works as it should, automatically switching the TV to game mode (low latency). We even find a simple Game Bar here that is clear. However, the biggest curiosity is the PlayStation Portal app. With it, you can launch games from PS5 wirelessly and immediately see them on the TV screen. It sounds great, but it only takes a few minutes to feel significant delays. In our opinion, it’s more of a showcase of capabilities than something usable on a daily basis. If someone really wants to play, it’s better to connect the console with an HDMI cable right away and forget about wireless problems.