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Sony X950H TV Review

Tested using Methodology v1.5 $
Updated Nov 03, 2020 at 08:37 am
By Alexander Tozzi, Ryan Lim, Olivier Gariepy

8.2 Mixed Usage $

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8.4 TV Shows $ #

8.1 Sports $ #

7.9 Video Games $ #

8.3 HDR Movies $ #

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Type LED Sub-Type $ VA Resolution 4k

The Sony X950H is a great 4k TV that delivers a

stunning HDR experience with its high peak
brightness and impressive color gamut. It has a
full-array local dimming feature to enhance its
already great contrast ratio further, making it a
very good choice for dark room viewing. Like its
predecessor, the Sony X950G, it has excellent
color accuracy out-of-the-box, so you may not
need to calibrate it to get the best viewing
experience. Its motion handling is impressive, as
it has a fast response time and an optional Black
Frame Insertion feature to improve
clarity. Gamers should appreciate its incredibly
low input lag; however, the lack of variable
refresh rate (VRR) support is disappointing.
Although it has Sony's 'X-Wide Angle' layer, its
viewing angles remain mediocre and aren't
ideal for wide seating arrangements. On the
upside, re!ection handling has improved
signi"cantly and so has gray uniformity, which is
good news for sports fans.

Our Verdict
8.2 Mixed Usage $ !

The Sony X950H is great for most uses. It's

well-suited for any type of lighting
conditions, as it has a great contrast ratio
that allows it to produce deep blacks, and
its excellent peak brightness can easily
overcome glare. It delivers a great HDR
experience and upscales lower resolution
content from cable TV well. It has a fast
response time and low input lag, but there
are no advanced gaming features like VRR.
It can display chroma 4:4:4 and is immune
to permanent burn-in, making it a very
good choice for use as a PC monitor.

PROS
% Excellent SDR and HDR peak
brightness.

% Outstanding re!ection handling.

CONS
& Mediocre viewing angles.

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See our Mixed Usage Recommendations

8.4 Movies $ "

8.4 TV Shows $ "

8.1 Sports $ "

7.9 Video Games $ "

8.3 HDR Movies $ "

7.8 HDR Gaming $ "

8.0 PC Monitor $ "

Update 11/3/2020: Updated review for accuracy and clarity.

Update 7/15/2020: We've retested the TV's smart features and
motion interpolation.
Update 7/6/2020: We "xed the settings needed to activate the
BFI feature.
Update 6/25/2020: We retested the input lag, and found that
it's not a#ected by the game mode bug we found on the X800H.
Update 6/11/2020: There was a mistake in the way we checked
for !icker in other picture modes. We've updated our notes
below.

Check Price
49" SEE PRICE Amazon.com
XBR49X950H

55" SEE PRICE Amazon.com

XBR55X950H

65" SEE PRICE Amazon.com

XBR65X950H

75" SEE PRICE Amazon.com

XBR75X950H

85" SEE PRICE Amazon.com

XBR85X950H

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Test Results

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CATEGORY Picture Quality

PICTURE QUALITY
8.1 Contrast $

Native Contrast $ 3170 : 1

Contrast with local dimming $ 3819 : 1

The Sony X950H has a great native contrast

ratio, and it gets slightly better when local
dimming is enabled. However, it's lower
than what we would expect of a VA panel
due to Sony's 'X-Wide Angle' layer, which
improves viewing angles at the expense of
lower contrast. That said, blacks still look
deep, making it a good choice for dark
room viewing. Note that the contrast ratio
can vary between units.

The 49" variant of this TV doesn't have the

'X-Wide Angle' layer and is expected to have
a higher contrast ratio.

If you want a TV with a higher contrast ratio,

check out the Vizio P Series Quantum X
2020.

LEARN ABOUT CONTRAST #

PICTURE QUALITY
7.5 Local Dimming $

Local Dimming $ Yes

Backlight $ Full-Array

The local dimming is good. In normal

content, there's more dimming than
blooming around bright objects, but not to
the point of crushing small highlights or
losing detail. Highlights don't stand out as
much and are instead handled a bit more
evenly. While there's still some blooming,
it's much better handled than on the Sony
Z9F.

LEARN ABOUT LOCAL DIMMING #

PICTURE QUALITY
8.7 SDR Peak Brightness $

SDR Real Scene Peak Brightness $ 565

cd/m²
SDR Peak 2% Window $ 880 cd/m²
SDR Peak 10% Window $ 1085 cd/m²
SDR Peak 25% Window $ 847 cd/m²
SDR Peak 50% Window $ 628 cd/m²
SDR Peak 100% Window $ 626 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 2% Window $ 867 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 10% Window $ 1060
cd/m²
SDR Sustained 25% Window $ 842 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 50% Window $ 626 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 100% Window $ 625
cd/m²
SDR ABL $ 0.031

Excellent SDR peak brightness. Like the

Sony X950G, the brightness varies
depending on the scene, but overall, it's
more than enough to overcome glare even
in the brightest lighting conditions. If you
want an even brighter TV for outdoor use,
check out the Samsung The Terrace.

We measured the SDR peak brightness

after calibration, using the 'Custom' Picture
Mode, with Local Dimming set to 'High',
and X-tended Dynamic Range set to
'High'.

If you don't mind losing image accuracy,

you can get a brighter image by setting the
Picture Mode to 'Vivid', Local Dimming to
'High', X-tended Dynamic Range to 'High',
and Contrast to max. We achieved a peak
brightness of 1145 cd/m² in the 10%
window with these settings.

LEARN ABOUT SDR PEAK BRIGHTNESS #

PICTURE QUALITY
8.7 HDR Peak Brightness $

HDR Real Scene Peak Brightness $ 980

cd/m²
HDR Peak 2% Window $ 865 cd/m²
HDR Peak 10% Window $ 1176 cd/m²
HDR Peak 25% Window $ 983 cd/m²
HDR Peak 50% Window $ 723 cd/m²
HDR Peak 100% Window $ 694 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 2% Window $ 840 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 10% Window $ 1156
cd/m²
HDR Sustained 25% Window $ 974
cd/m²
HDR Sustained 50% Window $ 721
cd/m²
HDR Sustained 100% Window $ 692
cd/m²
HDR ABL $ 0.028

Excellent HDR peak brightness. While it

varies a lot across di#erent content, the
overall brightness is more than enough to
deliver a fantastic HDR experience.

We measured the HDR peak brightness

before calibration, using the 'Custom'
Picture Mode, 'Expert 2' Color
Temperature, and with X-tended
Dynamic Range set to 'High'.

If you want a brighter image and don't mind

losing accuracy, set the Picture Mode to
'Vivid', Local Dimming to 'High', X-Tended
Dynamic Range to 'High', and Contrast to
max. We achieved a peak brightness of
1185 cd/m² in the 10% window with these
settings.

LEARN ABOUT HDR PEAK BRIGHTNESS #

PICTURE QUALITY
7.6 Gray Uniformity $

50% Std. Dev. $ 4.625 %

50% DSE $ 0.162 %

5% Std. Dev. $ 0.671 %

5% DSE $ 0.080 %

Gray uniformity is good on our unit of the

Sony X950H; however, this can vary
between units. There's very little dirty
screen e#ect, which is great for sports fans,
but the vignetting at the corners is very
visible and can be distracting for some.
Uniformity is much better in dark scenes.

LEARN ABOUT GRAY UNIFORMITY #

PICTURE QUALITY
6.3 Viewing Angle $

Color Washout $ 40 °

Color Shift $ 38 °

Brightness Loss $ 50 °
Black Level Raise $ 23 °
Gamma Shift $ 14 °

Mediocre viewing angles. Despite having

Sony's 'X-Wide Angle' layer to improve
viewing angles, gamma shift still happens
fairly quickly when moving o#-center. It
should be okay for most rooms, but not for
large rooms with wide seating
arrangements.

The 49" variant of this TV doesn't have the

'X-Wide Angle' layer and is expected to have
worse viewing angles.

LEARN ABOUT VIEWING ANGLE #

PICTURE QUALITY
8.9 Black Uniformity $

Native Std. Dev. $ 0.536 %

Std. Dev. w/ L.D. $ 1.229 %

Our unit of the Sony X950H has outstanding

black uniformity; however, this can vary
between individual units. Without local
dimming, the entire image looks more
grayish, and there's a little bit of blooming
around the test cross. With local dimming
enabled, uniformity is signi"cantly better,
but the blooming is much more noticeable.

LEARN ABOUT BLACK UNIFORMITY #

PICTURE QUALITY
9.1 Re!ections $

Screen Finish $ Glossy

Total Re!ections $ 1.7 %
Indirect Re!ections $ 0.8 %
Calculated Direct Re!ections $ 0.9 %

Outstanding re!ection handling. Visibility

shouldn't be a problem even in very bright
rooms with sunlight. However, the TV's 'X-
Wide Angle' layer causes a rainbow e#ect
that some may "nd distracting.

LEARN ABOUT REFLECTIONS #

PICTURE QUALITY
8.5 Pre Calibration $

White Balance dE $ 1.89

Color dE $ 2.35
Gamma $ 2.14
Color Temperature $ 6518 K
Picture Mode $ Custom
Color Temp Setting $ Expert 1
Gamma Setting $ 0

The Sony X950H has excellent out-of-the-

box color accuracy. White balance is good,
and the color temperature is very close to
our 6500K target. Gamma doesn't follow
the target all that well, with most scenes
appearing brighter than they should. Note
that color accuracy can vary between
individual units.

LEARN ABOUT PRE CALIBRATION #

PICTURE QUALITY
9.5 Post Calibration $

White Balance dE $ 0.22

Color dE $ 1.10
Gamma $ 2.18
Color Temperature $ 6502 K
White Balance Calibration $ 10 point
Color Calibration $ Yes
Auto-Calibration Function $ Yes

After calibration, the Sony X950H's color

accuracy is exceptional. White balance and
gamma are nearly perfect, with only a slight
dip in the gamma causing bright scenes to
be over-brightened. There's still some
inaccuracy with the color blue, which is
typical for LED TVs.

You can see our recommended settings

here.

LEARN ABOUT POST CALIBRATION #

PICTURE QUALITY
8.0 480p Input $

480p content like DVDs looks good and we

didn't notice any visible artifacts.

PICTURE QUALITY
8.0 720p Input $

720p content such as cable TV is upscaled

without any issues.

PICTURE QUALITY
9.0 1080p Input $