The 48A9 is also equipped with Sony’s X1 Ultimate processor, which generally provides excellent HD upscaling and motion processing, advanced Triluminos color management and Pixel Contrast Booster technology for efficient power management for wider dynamic range and more shadow detail in HDR. Pictures. The general trend in television these days is towards larger screens. In recent months, however, an interesting exception to this rule has appeared in the form of sleek 48-inch OLED TVs.
LG led the way last year with its OLED48CX, but Sony is also entering the small OLED display market with the KD-48A9. Sony’s first 48-inch OLED TV is a very nice little device. The exceptionally thin bezels and the way the screen sits on a silver stand means you can hardly see anything but the image when the device is on. The chassis is only a few millimeters deep at the outer edges, and although the middle part of the rear sticks out more than on most other TVs, Sony has managed to design even that with an industrial look.
At first glance, the connectivity options are top notch: four HDMI ports, three USB ports and an optical digital audio output. Unfortunately, none of the HDMI ports support the latest 4K gaming features with 120Hz refresh rate. This immediately puts Sony’s 48-inch TV at a disadvantage against the LG OLED48CX, where all HDMI ports come with bells and all the whistles.
Design
Apparently Sony wants to take advantage of the compactness of the new, smaller OLED panel and has made the 48A9 as small as possible, at least in terms of height and width. The flat black bezel on the top and sides is less than 1cm thick, while the sleek glossy bottom bezel with the Sony logo, which is so thin it’s not visible in normal light, doesn’t is only slightly thicker.
The stand, which gives the TV a narrow footprint of just under 47cm, is so flat that there’s barely 5mm of space between the bottom edge of the TV and the surface it’s resting on. The downside to this separate stand is that a soundbar placed in front of the TV will cover a lot of the screen. Sony hopes you won’t need to buy a soundbar thanks to the screen vibration technology built into the TV.
Even though OLED panels are extremely thin, all OLED TVs require enclosures for speakers, processing hardware, and connectors. The enclosure on the rear of the KD-48A9 is larger than most, both in terms of the circumference of the panel and the overall depth it constitutes. While LG’s 48-inch OLED display (OLED48CX) measures 4.7 inches at its thickest point, Sony’s measures 6 inches. He looks a little less impressive in profile, though.
Features
The unit’s ports, many of which can be hidden by the included plastic covers, include antenna and satellite, Ethernet, three USB ports, optical and headphone outputs, and four HDMI ports. HDMI 3 supports both ARC and the more advanced eARC, but it’s the only advanced HDMI feature in the suite. There’s no support for 4K at 120Hz (HFR), VRR (variable refresh rate) or even ALLM, and that will disappoint gamers, especially those planning to buy a PS5 or Xbox Series X. The set has at least a competitive input lag of less than 19MS when game mode (manual) is selected.
Sony’s X1 Ultimate processor, which debuted in 2019 but remains the company’s best TV chip, is at the heart of the KD-48A9 chassis. This means it has advanced features like Object-Based Super Resolution, which is designed to intelligently analyze and improve the definition of individual objects in an image, and an enhanced version of Object-Based HDR Remaster, which adopts a similar approach to contrast. The kit also includes Sony’s Pixel Contrast Booster, designed to improve color and contrast in bright areas of an image.
Although the A9 bears the “Master Series” designation that Sony uses for its flagship models, some of its features are the same as the A8, which is not a Master Series model, or the AG9, which is. It has X-Motion Clarity instead of Motion Flow XR and Acoustic Surface Audio instead of Acoustic Surface Audio+. These small compromises do not prevent the A9 from achieving perfection, but they do highlight some inconsistencies in Sony’s marketing.
Image quality
The 48-inch A9 may not be the only 48-inch OLED TV on the market, but its picture quality makes it a unique offering. The best way to give an idea of the beauty of the A9 is to say that it comes closest to the famous image quality of the legendary BVM-X300 professional OLED monitors, which Sony has yet to match. The A9’s handling of dark scenes and blacks is not only excellent, as you’d expect from any OLED TV, it’s near perfect.
It’s perfectly balanced, for example, with no trace of the sudden black tone shifts seen on some OLED competitors. There’s also no sign of noise, either in the form of hissing or blocking in areas of near-black detail. At the same time, the amount of subtle shadow detail that the A9 brings out even in the darkest areas of an image is exceptional. In other words, the screen doesn’t make it easy to clean up dark areas by subtly removing subtle detail from dark areas.
The colors are also treated exclusively. No tones look out of place or unnatural, none of the hues get too much attention, potential color banding is easily removed by Super Bitmapping, and the wide gamut of hues the display can produce matches even the most aggressive HDR. . /Sources with a wide color gamut.
Sound quality
Sure, there’s something new about Sony’s speakers, but it’s a solid offering that in many ways surpasses the more traditional layout of most alternative TVs. As with the Netflix F1 Festival, the KE-48A9 manages to produce open, spacious and well-focused sound. The details are sufficiently high and the dialogues are direct and well reproduced. The small subwoofer makes the most of its 5W output, delivering decent power and great control. The fact that most of the sound comes from the screen also unifies the audio and video information.
However, it is clear that Sony is not a fan of large volumes. You don’t have to turn the knob too far north for the presentation to get a bit harsh and flat – the bumps become knocks and the gap disappears a bit. Ultimately, it’s advisable to look at an affordable soundbar, even if only God knows where you’ll put it. Of course, it won’t fit between the bottom of the screen and the surface it’s on.
Ports
The port list of the Sony KD-48A9 Master Series OLED display is the same as that of the A8. There are four HDMI ports, unfortunately all of them are 2.0 versions, which is bad news for those with a PS5 or Xbox Series X Vision. HDMI 2.1 features such as ALLM and VRR are also missing. One port offers eARC. All ports are Ultra HD HDR capable.
There are also three USB ports, a composite video input (via a splitter) and a mini stereo headphone jack, as well as an optical digital output. Headphones can also be connected via Bluetooth. All ports are side or bottom facing, so wall mounting is not an issue. There is Wi-Fi and an Ethernet cable.
Setup options
At the time of testing, the suggested retail price of the KD-48A9 was £1799 / $1799 / €1899 / CAD 2499. As for Sony’s upcoming line of TVs, they’re priced the same as LG’s 48-inch CX and Philips’ £1,499 48OLED+ 935. In the United States and Canada, the A9 is known as the A9S.
Last words
We hope you will understand and enjoy this Sony KD-48A9 review blog. Finally, there is a real high-end choice for those who find a 55-inch TV too big. The Sony KE-48A9 is a great TV in almost every way, and if it had proper support for next-gen consoles, that would be even better. However, as it is, it will last a long time. We hope you will share this blog with your family and friends.