Sony has made many new moves this year. After launching a high-profile 8K TV at CES at the beginning of the year and announcing the Xperia 1 at MWC, they have recently also made a high-profile entry into the original movie market, taking advantage of the IP advantages of their gaming department to create A Sony universe like Wreck-It Ralph.
Not long ago, Ai Faner experienced the Z9G 8K TV they had exhibited at CES and AWE at Sony’s headquarters. This is one of several 8K TVs exhibited at AWE this year, and it is also Sony’s first A true 8K resolution TV.
Admittedly, after communicating with Sony TV designers and engineers, we found that TV is actually just the beginning of Sony’s 8K field.
From a micro perspective, it is a carrier of technology; but from a macro perspective, One Sony is like an oil mine that Sony has just dug. All kinds of ideas are constantly pouring out. 8K TV is actually just Sony’s first barrel of oil. .
8K is just a parameter, the key actually lies in the chip
The TV industry is actually the same as the mobile phone industry. In addition to the common overseas brands such as Sony, Samsung, and LG in the past, Chinese companies such as Hisense and Skyworth have In recent years, it has also entered the home appliance market through different competition methods.
And 8K TV, just like the current "cost-effectiveness" trend of mobile phones, has become a battleground for various manufacturers.
The Z9G shown to us by Sony this time is one of the dozens of 8K TVs in AWE, but this is the most eye-catching one among these TVs, except because its price is as high as 52.9 In addition to 10,000 yuan, its configuration is also the highest among all exhibits.
This year, Sony offers two sizes of 85 and 98 inches for the Z9G. Although it is still one knuckle’s diagonal length short of the 100-inch Z9D that Wang Sicong showed two years ago, the vertical The 98-inch TV is almost as tall as me, who is 1.8 meters tall.
So when taking pictures in the exhibition area, I reminded myself not to touch the TV. Although I noticed a pair of V-shaped brackets under the screen, I still reminded myself that its value is equivalent to that of a Mercedes-Benz. E-Class Sedan.
Sony’s designers explained to Ai Faner that the floor stand is a unique design of the 98-inch Z9G, and there are two considerations in the design of the stand.
For example, the stand is kept in a uniform carbon black color on the body, so that the stand will not affect the immersion due to different colors; and the choice of a round chassis is actually to cater to the families and studios of some film and television creators The equipment style maintains the simple mechanical beauty.
The heat dissipation design of Z9G actually comes from the audio laboratory.
It is worth mentioning that after introducing the bracket design, the designer also introduced us to the design changes of Z9G.
▲ Microsoft’s anechoic chamber
In fact, the design of the Z9G’s front stripe frame is inspired by the sharp sponge of the audio laboratory. The reason for this design is actually to facilitate the TV Heat dissipation under heavy load use. After all, the heat generated by 8K TVs is much higher than that of 4K TVs, so naturally the heat dissipation layout must be redesigned. On the back of Z9G, we can also see irregular diagonal heat dissipation holes.
▲ Sony Z9G frame cooling grille
▲ Sony Z9G back
While we were still studying how the TV dissipates heat, we also noticed the heat dissipation bar on the top There are a set of horizontal speakers on the left and right sides. An audio engineer introduced to Ai Faner that the Z9G front camera has four sets of speakers, three units per set, two sets are designed on the back of the screen, and two sets are designed in the top heat dissipation bar we see.
The engineer added to us that in order to take into account both aesthetics and audio effects, half of the two sets of tweeters on the top of the Z9G are hidden inside the grille instead of on the back of the screen, but this solution will inevitably affect the speakers. of penetration.
▲ Sony Z9G speaker set
Therefore, Sony also specially developed a sound wave guide structure to offset the impact of the grille on sound.
Sony has submitted a patent application for this technology, and it is expected to be used in other TV products in the future.
In terms of the final hardware configuration, the Z9G is equipped with Sony’s own X1 flagship image processor, which includes “8K Xunrui Image Processing Engine PRO”, “8K Elite Light Control PRO Master Edition”, “Octavia With the blessing of "dynamic", the picture quality of Z9G has been displayed more clearly than that of competitors. This is why Takagi Ichiro said in an exclusive interview that "resolution does not represent picture quality"
The panel is only 8K The foundation of resolution and the image processor are the essence of improving image quality.
In order to prove the principle of "every inch is stronger, every inch is longer", Sony even directly compared the million-dollar 8K TV products of its friends.
▲ On the left is a Sony TV
▲ On the left is a Sony TV
Under the same 8K resolution panel, although the Z9G is better than its competitors in terms of color saturation Slightly lower, but in terms of clarity and sharpness (clouds, stone textures, foggy textures, etc.), the Z9G's display effect has advantages over its competitors.
▲ Comparison of picture details. Top: Sony Z9G, bottom: Comparative products
IMAX Enhanced will turn your living room into a movie theater
In addition to screen, design and In addition to audio, Sony also showed us another big trick of TV, which is IMAX Enhanced.
IMAX Enhanced is a home theater certification standard jointly created by IMAX and DTS. This set of standards is designed to create a mini home theater in a small space. To put it simply, IMAX Enhanced is like Zeiss in cameras, 4K HDR in pictures, and Hi-res in audio. IMAX Enhanced is a sign that the content and equipment meet the standards of IMAX theaters.
In the 20-square-meter fully enclosed demonstration hall at Sony's headquarters, they used X9500G and dozens of speakers to form a 360 surround sound home theater, using thunderstorm weather and rocket launch scenes to give the audience We show you what it's like to be in an IMAX theater.
The feeling of being enveloped in sound is really refreshing. It feels like being there and watching the Apollo rocket launch.
IMAX Enhanced adopts "content + hardware" certification. Content certification includes four items: image, sound, size and content.
On the screen, in addition to IMAX’s patented DMR (Digital Media Remastering) high-resolution processing, the screen size must also be suitable for the large screen, so it is necessary to Filmed with IMAX cameras. As for sound, DTS:X technology is required to achieve surround sound effects.
Content is one part, and the hardware of the other part is also important.
First of all, the image device must support HDR and IMAX mode display in order to present the best effect of DMR-optimized content.
Secondly, there is audio equipment. In addition to also needing IMAX Enhanced certification, you also need to build a speaker layout such as 2.1 (entry), 5.1.4, 7.2.4 (best), that is, front and rear. , the ceiling needs to be installed with certified speakers to achieve the surround sound effect of an IMAX theater.
Sony’s IMAX Enhanced demonstration hall uses the layout shown below. However, due to content copyright issues, we did not hold up the camera to shoot in the demonstration hall, and could only use simple hand drawings for your reference:
Currently there are not many devices that meet IMAX Enhanced certification. Sony has One of the manufacturers that has received this certification, its certified devices include the X9500G, Z9G and A9G equipped with the X1 flagship image processor, and models such as the A8F using the X1 advanced version are also in the certification queue.
8K is still far from being popular, but supporting content has begun to catch up.
On the way back to China, I kept thinking that 8K is actually very similar to cutting-edge technologies such as AI and 5G. , on the one hand, it does represent the current vision of human hardware technology. On the other hand, although it is an inevitable trend, it is still some way away from being popularized.
Why do you say that?
From 4K in the past to 8K today, content has always been the core of these high-end TVs, but at the same time, they are also obstacles to the popularity of high-resolution TVs.
Currently, most TV programs are based on 720P resolution. Although some channels also provide 1080P signal sources, there are only a few of them in reality; and movies are still based on 1080P, even if There are already many 4K quality film sources online, but Internet speed has become the last barrier.
For example, if I want to watch a 4K movie smoothly at home, I must first turn off the computer's download tool or set a speed limit, otherwise the video smoothness will be greatly reduced.
So 8K resolution is also closely related to the current 5G network. Just as in the past, smart systems made TVs multifunctional, AI made TVs humane, and IMAX Enhanced turned the living room into an IMAX theater. 5G Plays a key role in high-definition video playback.
From the perspective of the long-term development of entertainment, everyone’s living room is the box of the IMAX cinema.
Of course, entertainment is just a branch function brought by 8K, and its more critical role is medical care. During endoscopic surgery, high-resolution TVs can provide the medical team with clear images, thereby avoiding the risk of surgical incisions.
According to Nikkei data, 4K image quality is equivalent to 4.27 of human vision. 8K images can clearly display the muscles and nerves of the human body. With the support of clear images, the risk of surgical errors will be eliminated. greatly reduced.
High-definition image quality will play an important role in future 5G remote surgery.
However, since film sources with 8K quality are not yet popular, what content can you watch after buying an 8K TV?
Sony’s solution is to add 8K X-Reality PRO technology to the X1 flagship image processor and use Sony’s own customized image database to improve the picture clarity through algorithms. Directly upgrade 1080P/2K/UHD/4K images to 8K-level image quality using hardware processing.
This feature is especially useful when 8K content is currently lacking.
Of course, since these optimizations require real-time calculations, the processing performance of the hardware and the manufacturer's experience in optimizing image data are essential.
So strictly speaking, there are currently only a handful of TV manufacturers that can achieve real-time image optimization, and Sony is one of them that can create its own processor and algorithm data.
In fact, in addition to using algorithms to solve the definition problem of existing content, Sony is also trying to use the One Sony concept to create film and television resources suitable for 8K TVs.
I wonder if you still remember "from the camera to the living room" that Ichiro Takagi mentioned in many media interviews in the past?
In fact, this also refers to the joint cooperation between the imaging, film and television departments under One Sony. Driven by this concept, Sony is creating an 8K content ecological chain that runs through shooting, production and broadcasting:
Sony will take advantage of One Sony and jointly launch 8K resources with the film department. Ichiro Takagi told iFaner
In addition, the PlayStation game department also brought new news. In this information sheet, PS5 not only supports ray tracing and 3D sound effects, but also supports 8K image quality output. Although the arrival date of PS5 has not yet been announced, in terms of image quality and sound effects experience, Sony’s own TV should be the best for PS5. Nice gaming display.
▲ The online PS5 will be equipped with a new processor to support 8K image quality, SSD, 3D sound effects, etc.
So although judging from the book data, we may feel that talking about 8K now is just In the 720P era, we talk about how good 2K is, but in fact, it is only less than 400 days away from our face-to-face contact.
In 2016, the Japan Broadcasting Association NHK announced that it would broadcast live broadcasts of the Tokyo Olympics via satellite transmission on July 24, 2020. This broadcast will be broadcast across Japan in 8K ultra-high definition quality.
This will also be the first time that 8K broadcasting officially meets with us.