The Sony A80L OLED TV’s AI picture upscaling capabilities blew me away, and it’s now under $2,000

When it launched last year, Sony A80K OLED Display The TV scores pretty well across the board. Despite being in the middle of the company’s 2022 lineup, it has features and quality that are on par with premium offerings from other brands.

This year’s version, A80L OLEDtakes what worked before and improves on it even further, with the end result being a TV that exceeds my expectations and enhances everything I watch.

Also: Best TVs for PS5: Expert-tested displays for console gaming

This isn’t Sony’s most premium TV, but it doesn’t try to be. Still, the A80L OLED is a premium mid-range TV that will appeal particularly to home cinema enthusiasts and gamers. Here’s why.

Specifications

Size	57.13 x 34 x 2.1 inches
Screen size	55”, 65”, 77”, 83”
Resolution	3840 x 2160p
High dynamic range	HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision
Enhance clarity	4K XR Upscaling Dual Database Processing Ultra High Definition XR
Video processor	XR Cognitive Processor
Refresh rate	120Hz
Sound	DTS Digital Surround Sound
HDMI port	4 (2xHDMI 2.1)

---

What’s new in this model?

The Sony A80L brings a processing upgrade for lower-resolution content in the form of XR Clear Image and a new hub that lets gamers customize display options. Its audio performance is also excellent.

1. XR Clear Image is changing the game

On the video side, everything on the A80L looks great. Lower-resolution shows on YouTube TV are upscaled to 4K at lifelike quality, 4K or UltraHD content on Netflix is ​​gorgeous, and games and Blu-Ray discs on the PlayStation 5 look better than I’ve ever seen them.

Sony’s new XR Clear Image technology uses Artificial intelligence to produce dramatically improved clarity and sharpness while preserving the original material. Designed to reveal fine textures and details that would otherwise be absent, this feature really shines on lower-resolution content that’s been upscaled to 4K.

Also: Should You Buy an 8K TV? Here’s How to Decide

I put in a Blu-ray disc Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to test this feature, and I was blown away by how natural everything looked. With my old TV, the upscaling produced a picture that looked “nice” but rather unnatural. The A80L brought new life to Doctor Jones while still retaining the grain and feel of the 1980s.

2. A new gaming center to compete with competitors

Pressing the menu button while gaming opens up a bunch of useful settings, like the option to enable Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), use motion blur, change the black balance level, and add a line of sight (there are six different options to choose from).

Also: Best TVs for PS5: LG, Samsung, Hisense, and more

Users can also change the screen display size, an option that I actually find myself using for games when I need to see a lot of information at once like health bars, maps, inventory, etc. Most gaming monitor has these options, as do other TV manufacturers like LG and Samsung. This is the first time Sony has done this, and it has all the essentials.

3. Acoustic Surface Audo+ is better than ever

While a good portion of OLED TV While you need a soundbar to create a superior audio experience, the A80L does a pretty good job with its built-in audio. That’s largely due to what Sony calls Acoustic Surface Audio+, a system that uses actuators and woofers to gently vibrate the screen and create sound that emanates from the screen itself.

But it’s not just coming from the TV, the sound also comes from the area where the action is happening on screen, helping everything process more smoothly in your brain.

Also: The best sound system for every home

I turn on subtitles for most of the content I watch to make sure I don’t miss any of the dialogue, but this was the first TV show in a long time where I felt comfortable enough to turn the subtitles off and still feel like I was following every word.

The TV handles sound perfectly when used alone, but when I pair it with A5000 Soundbar and Speaker SystemIt’s an almost cinematic experience. It’s a premium add-on, but you’ll be well rewarded.

What I want to see in the next model

1. Higher brightness at the top end

My typical TV viewing environment can be quite bright. I often leave the living room curtains open to let in natural light or to keep an eye on the kids playing in the front yard. Unfortunately, that means there is often a lot of light shining directly onto my TV screen.

My first impression of this TV was that the picture was nice, but it actually seemed a bit less bright than my old TV, a Black Friday purchase at a big box store.

Also: I watched Avatar on the Samsung S95C OLED and it ruined every other TV for me

I don’t have the equipment to test it, but a little digging online confirmed that this TV offers a brightness range of 600-750 nits, which is lower than comparable TVs from Samsung and LG achieves over 1,200 nits. That’s an improvement over the A80KBut I’d like to see Sony match (or surpass) its competitors in this area next year.

2. Additional HDMI 2.1 port

This is really not the problem. Not yet for most people, but probably soon. The A80L, like all Sony TVThere are only two HDMI 2.1 ports — the newer, more powerful version. For a good setup, a next generation game console and a sound bar will take those spots. But what about people with multiple game systems? New products from LG and Samsung have four HDMI 2.1 support, and Sony should follow suit.

3. A heatsink for extra longevity

While heatsinks have been around in the computer world for a while, they’re fairly new to televisions. Heatsinks, which help dissipate heat away from fancy electronic components, not only make panels more durable, but they also help TVs have brighter screens. This would be a great upgrade for the A80L over its predecessor, especially since A90K only one.

ZDNET Buying Advice

The Sony A80L 65 inch The model I tested costs $2,400. That’s right. LG C3 OLED and a little more than that Samsung S90CBoth have similar specs, at least on the video side, but the addition of Sony’s cognitive processor and enhanced audio make this TV worth the slightly higher price tag compared to the others.

Should I buy one?

If you’re looking to buy a “better than affordable” OLED display that works perfectly out of the box, the A80L should be at the top of your list.

The only downsides are the brightness, which I can mitigate by closing the blinds, and the limited HDMI 2.1 port, which is more of a future-proofing issue than anything else.. So if you have an unusually bright space that can’t be dimmed, or you have multiple next-gen video game consoles and sound systems, you might want to look elsewhere.

Alternatives to Consider

See on AmazonSee on Amazon