Sony announces new Bravia TV line with AirPlay and HomeKit support

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2021
Ahead of CES 2021, Sony has announced its latest TVs with "human intelligence," HomeKit support, and AirPlay.

Sony's latest TVs work with HomeKit and AirPlay
Sony's latest TVs work with HomeKit and AirPlay


The Sony Bravia XR lineup have several headlining features which include its unique Cognitive Processor XR. They boast industry leading machine learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide the best picture and sound for any given scene.

Apple users will rejoice as HomeKit and AirPlay is available across all three new TV series. Sony says users will need to be running iOS 12.3 or later or macOS 10.14.5 or later to utilize these features.

Sony officially announced three TVs under the Bravia XR brand including the Master Series Z9J 8K LED, Master Series A90J/A80J OLED, and Master Series X95J/X90J 4K LED. The primary feature involves the Cognitive Processor XR performing active audio and video analysis to provide best-in-class entertainment.

Other features include Google TV with "Hey Google" functionality, HDMI 2.1 compatibility, and specialized calibration modes for Netflix and IMAX video. Retail price and availability will be announced in spring 2021.

Sony TVs with HomeKit and AirPlay Support

2019 models

  • Z9F
  • A9F
  • Z9G
  • A9G
  • X950G
  • X850G (85-inch, 75-inch, 65-inch, and 55-inch)

2020 models

  • Z8H
  • A9S
  • A8H
  • X950H
  • X900H

2021 models

  • Z9J
  • A90J
  • A80J
  • X95J
  • X90J
AppleInsider will be covering the 2021 all-digital Consumer Electronics Show starting on January 11 through January 14 where we're expecting Wi-Fi 6e devices, HomeKit, Apple accessories, 8K monitors and more. Keep up with our coverage by downloading the AppleInsider app, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos throughout the event.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    Sony’s model naming makes little to no sense to users. ^^
    watto_cobrasellerington
  • Reply 2 of 12
    Sony’s model naming makes little to no sense to users. ^^
    True. I totally don't know which line is higher.
    selleringtonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 12
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,924member
    TVs supporting Airplay 2 is no more excitement because everyone has been supporting since 2018. Going forward, display technology like MiniLED, Dot matrix MiniLED, Dot matrix OLED, MicroLED and size/price consumers pay is to look forward. All of these tech(self emitting pixels with better contract,brightness,color,true black) translates into better viewing experience.
    edited January 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 12
    But ... the TV making decisions about how to display an image is exactly what we don't want, right? We want the director to decide how the image will look and we want the TV to display that image as accurately as possible. The perfect Sony TV should display the identical image as the perfect Samsung TV. AI is great for upscaling, however. Go ahead and clean up 480p video when displaying at 4k but leave 4k native video alone please.
    svanstrom
  • Reply 5 of 12
    Like Android phones, we need to know how long these things will get updates otherwise, we are better off getting dumb screens and connecting our other kit to them. My Sony 50in got updates for 2 years and that was it. Then services stopped working because the server end was switched off. Thankfully, I have other kit that works and does not rely on a 'phone home' connection to operate properly.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 12
    Sony’s model naming makes little to no sense to users. ^^
    True. I totally don't know which line is higher.
    Maybe Sony could take a leaf out of Apple’s model naming strategy? As someone who spends more time on Apple forums than I really should I find the product lines easy to differentiate.

    I don’t know if it still goes on but many electronics manufacturers would sell products in UK retailers with differing model numbers specific to each retailer. This made comparing products and prices much more difficult.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 12
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,924member
    In ideal world, we want best display dumb screen monitor. The TV OTA/Cable broadcast tuner, streaming Apps are build into set-top like Apple TV box so updates can keep coming for a long time while you can keep that super dumb display for years.
    watto_cobrasvanstrom
  • Reply 8 of 12
    Looks like Sony has dropped the smaller size 4K/8K TV like 32” and 40”+ models from their 2021 line up!
  • Reply 9 of 12
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,679member
    I’m curious, what functional role do these televisions play in a HomeKit system? I don’t see a human-machine interface (HMI) or video display accessory category (device type) defined in HomeKit. My expectation is that users would want to be able to direct video feeds from, for example, HomeKit cameras to their HomeKit enabled TV, perhaps even using Siri. For example, “Hey Siri, show me the backyard camera and front door camera on the family room TV.”

    Similarly, I’d expect to set up automations to automatically direct camera feeds to a Picture in Picture window on the HomeKit enabled TV if a camera’s object/person detection algorithm is triggered, a video doorbell button is pressed, or a proximity sensor detects the presence of an object and throws a notification on the TV screen.

    A big screen TV would also be a great place to display a dashboard of various data, stats, and calculated metrics available via interactions with HomeKit devices over time, including playing back camera historical snapshots and stream captures, heating/cooling profiles from your HVAC system, energy consumption history from your utilities, water usage, battery charge levels and profiles on everything from HomeKit devices to your car and home (if you have solar or wind power with storage). 

    In other words, what does it mean to be a HomeKit enabled television?
    svanstromtomwickland
  • Reply 10 of 12
    Sony’s model naming makes little to no sense to users. ^^
    100% correct

    The lineup is confusing and at times very frustrating 
  • Reply 11 of 12
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,419member
    Sony’s model naming makes little to no sense to users. ^^
    Almost every Sony product's name defies some sort of logic, so at least they're consistent.

    The perfect Sony TV should display the identical image as the perfect Samsung TV.
    What to you mean "we"? First, realistically, who decides what the perfect picture is on a Samsung TV? Most if not all of the revered video sites say that every TV needs a proper deep setup out of the box for whatever constitutes a perfect picture by their standard. Is there some kind of hash code provided so that a tuner-person knows what the director wanted? How do you know what the director wanted?

    I (being the most important person in the room) what the picture that looks best to me in the environment it's in. The big box store POW! POP! IN YOUR FACE adjustments are generally too much but maybe I just LIKE a little more vivid than the director.

    That said, we don't know anything about this AI in the set yet. My guess is it has an Off button so you don't have to feel emasculated. At least until the TV becomes self-aware. If I could set a picture to my liking, and AI then did the same for any content that came down the cable, that might make me really, really happy. There have been several times where I've adjusted the TV because the source material wasn't to my liking, say from a bad transfer from an LD. (I still have a lot of those and a great player).

    But, if the AI was like Apple's HomePod AI where Apple provides the same EQ no matter what, then I'd be less enthused.

    dewme said:
    In other words, what does it mean to be a HomeKit enabled television?
    This is exactly my question. Using Siri for voice control doesn't seem too likely given how hobbled I believe it/her/him to be. Turn the set on/off? Work with the ATV remote (I wouldn't think HomeKit would be needed for that)?
    edited January 2021
  • Reply 12 of 12
    Sony’s model naming makes little to no sense to users. ^^
    Are other tv manufacturers any better?
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