SONY Bravia 9 II XR95M2 vs TCL RM7L

The real showcase of the new backlight architecture and Sony’s processor is the reproduction of HDR content. At the official launch engineers at Sony said (not officially 😉) that the Bravia 9 II’s brightness would be almost identical to the capabilities of their professional director’s monitor BVM-HX3110, which is priced at astronomical sums. Our lab tests confirmed these were not empty promises. During synthetic measurements on the L20 test pattern the TV easily exceeded the 4000 nits peak brightness barrier. More importantly, these remarkable results translate directly to real movie scenes. In most of the demanding shots we tested the screen easily maintained brightness around 2500–3000 nits. Regardless of the scene, whether the light was small and pinpoint or flooded nearly the entire screen, the HDR effect was incredibly intense.

Colors

Color is another key pillar of RGB Mini LED technology (True RGB as implemented by Sony). Specifically for testing these kinds of screens we added a permanent new testing section to see how TVs handle colors in real-world conditions. Traditional synthetic test patterns are no longer enough to confirm real color-gamut coverage. From now on we also measure color saturation directly in selected movie scenes by overlaying measurement points. So how do the colors perform?

In synthetic tests the Bravia 9 II posts excellent results. For the popular DCI-P3 color space for HDR the color-gamut coverage was almost 98%, while for the very wide, demanding BT.2020 space the instrument indicated nearly 90%. However, in real, varied scenes these values drop by a few percent. This is directly due to the nature of zone-based RGB backlighting. When differently colored elements or bright white highlights appear side by side, light from the zones starts to mix slightly, creating a white backlight. This of course affects color saturation, slightly reducing it. This shows that despite Sony’s brilliant RGB LED control algorithm, the number of zones is still too small to eliminate this effect entirely.

Is this a reason to complain? Of course not. The Bravia 9 II’s color coverage ultimately matches that of a very good QLED TV, and it’s important to remember: the vast majority of HDR movies and series are distributed in the DCI-P3 gamut. In that standard Sony easily maintains very high color saturation, regardless of the scene.

The TCL RM7L is a bright TV. In our measurements its peak brightness hovered around 1600 nits. That's clearly less than the C7L, which can approach 2600 nits, but in real movie scenes the difference between the two models isn't that big. In less demanding shots with many bright elements on screen, the RM7L can hold around 1000 nits, and sometimes a bit more, approaching 1500 nits. It performs worse in dark scenes with small highlights; then their brightness can fall to around 500 nits. However, this behavior is not accidental. The TV intentionally dims small elements to better control the backlight and maintain higher contrast. This comes at the cost of their intensity, but it's typical behavior for local-dimming TVs in a similar price bracket.

Color gamut coverage

In HDR it's not only brightness that matters, but also color. And here the RM7L has a lot to show. Colors are strongly saturated, and a wide color gamut is one of its bigger strengths. In measurements it reached about 96% of DCI-P3 and around 83% of BT.2020. It's worth remembering, though, that on a TV with this kind of backlight the result can vary depending on the scene. On test patterns colors look best, while in movies their saturation can be a bit lower than on SQD Mini LED or QD-OLED TVs. The backlight construction itself is also interesting. The RM7L doesn't use the classic red, green and blue diode set. TCL used two green diodes and one blue, and obtains the red color using a PFS phosphor. You can see this in spectrometer measurements, but it doesn't have a major impact on the picture. Colors are still produced correctly.

Contrary to appearances and high expectations, the Bravia 9 II we tested showed some issues with its factory tuning straight out of the box. Looking at the white balance charts, you can see it is not perfect. In SDR content the red component was primarily lacking, causing the picture to shift toward cooler, bluish tones. In HDR the white balance in this respect looked much better. So where do the visible errors in image reproduction come from? They result from unexpected tuning of the gamma and the EOTF curve. In both cases the Bravia 9 II straight from the factory showed a clear deviation from reference standards.

In SDR content the gamma was definitely too high; at its most extreme it hovered very close to 2.8 instead of the reference 2.4. In practice this meant the image was artificially darkened and appeared washed-out, with details in dark areas (shadows) completely disappearing. The opposite occurred with HDR material, where brightness reproduction is handled by the EOTF curve. That curve was pushed too far above the correct value, resulting in the image being artificially brightened across most luminance ranges. As with every TV we test, we subjected this unit to professional calibration. You can see the results and how we managed to correct these factory errors below.

We checked the factory colors in Filmmaker Mode, the best picture setting available to the user. TCL has been using it in its TVs for two years, and its purpose is to present the image as faithfully as possible in line with the creators' intent. On the RM7L this was indeed the best-calibrated mode, although it wasn't without flaws. The biggest issue was the white balance. An excess of red and blue caused the picture to take on slightly pinkish tones. This was visible in both SDR and HDR. Additionally, the luminance response was slightly boosted, which made the image appear a bit brighter but also less contrasty than it should have been.

Fortunately, with professional calibration, most of the Bravia 9 II's factory missteps can be effectively eliminated. We were able to precisely correct, above all, the white balance and the gamma curve and EOTF. After these adjustments, in everyday use and during movie sessions the TV looks much better. The image gained proper depth, the cool tint in the whites disappeared, and shadow details that had previously been lost due to too-high gamma finally became clearly visible. Although we ultimately rate color accuracy as very good, as specialists we must point out one fairly serious design flaw in this model. The Bravia 9 II could look even better if not for the complete lack of an advanced color management system in the TV's menu.

While basic white balance correction can be performed here without issue, the settings lack options for adjusting specific colors. We tried to tackle this in every possible way: both the traditional method using the remote and via dedicated calibration software for Bravia TVs. Unfortunately, that function has been completely locked. We suspect this may stem from the specifics of the new RGB architecture, which imposes its own limitations. It's a real shame, because without it you can't refine color reproduction to perfection. The inaccurate red still stands out, for example. One can only hope Sony will fix this shortcoming over time with an update.

Thanks to a fairly extensive calibration menu, we were able to correct the vast majority of the errors described earlier. The biggest change was to the white balance. After calibration it looks very good, so the image lost its pinkish cast and became much more neutral. The luminance response itself also improved. Both the SDR gamma and the HDR EOTF curve are now much closer to the reference values. The image is no longer unnecessarily brightened, and darker areas look more natural and have more depth. Better luminance accuracy also affected the colors, which after calibration are noticeably more accurate. Not everything could be set perfectly, though. In HDR material the RM7L still interprets part of the signal its own way and does not always follow the reference curve exactly. This is most apparent in some darker scenes, where the TV can either slightly lift the shadows or darken them completely. That was the source of the earlier impression of a slightly brightened, less contrasty image. Even so, the calibration delivers a very good result here. It removes the most visible errors and, above all, makes the image much closer to how it should look.

Digital processing and upscaling have long been Sony’s signature strength, and after testing the Bravia 9 II we can confidently say nothing has changed on the market in that respect. Sony is still at the forefront. Their proprietary XR image processor, which in this model works with the main MediaTek Pentonic 1000 chip, deserves the highest praise. That combination delivers excellent results. The upscaling of lower-resolution content is extremely effective and precise.

However, what most deserves praise in the XR processor’s performance is the tonal transition smoothing feature. The system can reduce posterization in heavily compressed material to virtually zero. Crucially, the algorithm does this in a very intelligent way. It removes only the annoying digital "steps" in gradients without blurring fine texture details or creating an artificial, "plastic" look that lacks film grain. The image remains sharp, natural, and cinematic.

Upscaling and digital image processing are not the RM7L's strong suit. TCL used a MediaTek Pentonic 700 SoC here, designated MT5896, which isn't among the best processors at handling lower-quality content. The biggest problems show up with heavily compressed material from YouTube or regular broadcast TV. The processor can't effectively hide posterization and the characteristic color banding. The feature meant to smooth them does little here, and it often interferes too much with the picture, smoothing faces or fine textures, for example. For that reason, it's best to simply leave it off.

Straightforward upscaling to 4K looks better. Lower-quality sources remain reasonably sharp and retain enough detail. It's not on par with the best processors on the market, but for everyday viewing the result is entirely acceptable.

The Sony Bravia 9 II's specifications don't list staggering refresh rates above 120 Hz, which some more demanding PC gamers may view as a drawback. However, in everyday use, during movie sessions, playing console games, or watching sports, it's really hard to find any complaints about motion smoothness. The VA-type panel used here does show some slight, inherent smearing typical for this panel type, but excellent Motionflow motion smoothing algorithms come to the rescue. In the system menu you'll find sliders for blur reduction and smoothing that let you precisely tailor the motion characteristics to your preferences.

The RM7L uses a 144 Hz VA panel, so right out of the box it's a TV well suited for sports, gaming, and other fast-moving content. The high refresh rate also gives the motion interpolation engine more room to work, allowing it to generate extra frames. On the RM7L it works well, and with the right settings it can noticeably improve motion smoothness without causing an excessive soap opera effect.

Apart from a fairly serious design oversight, limiting the platform to just two full HDMI 2.1 ports, the Bravia 9 II offers almost all key gaming features available on the market. Sony has already accustomed us to such a rich package in its previous models. The list of supported technologies is very long. It includes automatic low-latency mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), as well as a proper implementation of the HGIG standard and the Dolby Vision format specifically designed for gamers.

You can say almost nothing but good things about the RM7L when it comes to gamer features. The TV supports ALLM, VRR, Dolby Vision Gaming and works correctly with HGiG, so it’s hard to point out any major omissions in that area. In practice this means automatic switching to low-latency mode, a smoother picture with variable frame rates, and accurate brightness reproduction in HDR games. There’s also a handy Game Bar. From it you can quickly check the frame rate, VRR status, signal format, and aspect ratio, and change key settings without leaving the game. TCL also added a few extra options, like a crosshair and brightening of dark parts of the image, which can be useful in some titles. The biggest downside comes from the use of the Pentonic 700 processor. Only two of the four HDMI ports support the full HDMI 2.1 standard. With a single console this won’t matter much, but when connecting two consoles and a PC you may run out of space. Especially since one of those ports may also be needed for eARC and a soundbar.