In a close-up, for example, the XR chip will focus on providing realistic skin tone. But if the camera moves behind an actor, it will look for other elements, such as the way the sign lights up in the background or the smoke coming out of the street. While I hadn’t personally seen any of the new Sony TVs turned on, the company managed to replay some of the error-correcting footage via a video call, which showed exactly what the XR processor was focusing on. In a section of SollySmoothly go from featuring Tom Hanks’ face to the neon lights of Times Square in yet another shot. And in a scene No la land, I could see that the slide automatically detected Emma Stone’s visage as the camera rolled around her.
The Cognitive Processor XR will also help Sony at 8K resolution, according to Kazuo Kii, the company’s global display and processor expert. Due to the scarcity of content at this resolution, the Sony 8K Master Series Z9J TVs (available in 75 ”and 85” sizes will rely on XR upscaling to help HD and 4K content take advantage of the extra pixels. Kii says focusing on cognitive intelligence is especially beneficial for 8K TVs, as it allows Sony to focus processing work on important parts of the image. It may take a more powerful processor to optimize the entire 8K screen in real time.
In addition to the Z9J, the Cognitive Processor XR will also power the company’s Master Series A90J and A80J 4K OLED TVs, as well as the X95J and X90J 4K LED series. All Sony devices this year will also have Google TV as an on-board operating system, hands-free Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support. You can look to HDMI 2.1 as well, which means it will support 4K 120fps for next-generation gaming consoles, along with eARC and variable refresh rates.
One interesting omission is Mini-LED, which is a display technology Samsung And the LG Progressed this year, after TCL certification in 2019. It allows for smaller LEDs, which can greatly improve the backlight performance. Kii says Sony is exploring the technology, but doesn’t have anything to announce yet.
Like most TV announcements during CES, Sony doesn’t have any pricing or availability details to share yet, but we expect to hear more this spring.
