Sony A8H OLED Review (XBR-55A8H, XBR-65A8H) (2024)

Curved No

The Sony A8H has a sleek design. It's simple, the bezels are extremely thin on all sides, and it comes with Sony's two-way position stand, which allows you to set the TV higher up on its feet to make space for a soundbar in front of the screen without blocking it.

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Wall Mount VESA 300x300

The back of the screen itself is metal, but the rest of the back where the inputs are is plastic. There's not much in terms of cable management; you can only route the cables through the feet. If you choose to wall-mount it, it's compatible with Sony's SU-WL855 slim wall-mount, making the TV sit flush against the wall. The inputs are side-facing, and they're really easy to access with the TV wall-mounted.

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Borders 0.31" (0.8 cm)

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Max Thickness 2.17" (5.5 cm)

The TV is extremely thin, and if you use Sony's proprietary wall-mount, it will sit flush against the wall.

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The Sony XBR-A8H has a fantastic build quality with a mix of metal and plastic. There aren't any obvious issues, and it's well-put-together. There's a bit of flex in the back panel, but it's nothing of concern. The stand supports the TV well, and there's almost no wobble.

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Native Contrast

Contrast with local dimming

Like all OLED TVs, the Sony A8H has a near-infinite contrast ratio, as it can turn the pixels off completely. It results in perfect blacks, which is fantastic for dark room viewing.

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Real Scene Peak Brightness

Peak 2% Window

Peak 10% Window

Peak 25% Window

Peak 50% Window

Peak 100% Window

Sustained 2% Window

Sustained 10% Window

Sustained 25% Window

Sustained 50% Window

Sustained 100% Window

Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)

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Local Dimming

Backlight

The Sony A8H doesn't have a local dimming feature since there's no backlight. OLED panels can turn off pixels individually, so there are no issues with blooming, and subtitles are displayed perfectly. We film the videos so you can see how it performs versus a TV with a backlight.

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Local Dimming

Backlight

Once again, there's no local dimming feature because it doesn't have a backlight. The above videos are to show how it performs in Game Mode versus another TV.

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Real Scene Highlight

Peak 2% Window

Peak 10% Window

Peak 25% Window

Peak 50% Window

Peak 100% Window

Sustained 2% Window

Sustained 10% Window

Sustained 25% Window

Sustained 50% Window

Sustained 100% Window

Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)

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Real Scene Highlight

Peak 2% Window

Peak 10% Window

Peak 25% Window

Peak 50% Window

Peak 100% Window

Sustained 2% Window

Sustained 10% Window

Sustained 25% Window

Sustained 50% Window

Sustained 100% Window

Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)

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50% Std. Dev.

50% DSE

5% Std. Dev.

5% DSE

The Sony A8H has amazing gray uniformity. There's almost no visible dirty screen effect in the center, which is great for watching sports or scenes with lots of uniform colors. Uniformity is even better in darker scenes. Unlike some other OLEDs, there aren't any signs of vertical or horizontal bands in the 5% gray image.

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Native Std. Dev.

Std. Dev. w/ L.D.

OLED panels can turn individual pixels off completely, resulting in perfect black uniformity.

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Color Washout

Color Shift

Brightness Loss

Black Level Raise

Gamma Shift

The Sony A8H's viewing angles are excellent, making it suitable for large rooms with wide seating arrangements as everyone will see an accurate image from the side. However, there's still some color shift at moderate viewing angles, which can be distracting if you easily notice inaccurate colors.

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Screen Finish

Total Reflections

Indirect Reflections

Calculated Direct Reflections

The Sony A8H has exceptional reflection handling. It handles even the strongest light sources very well, so combined with the decent peak brightness, you won't have any issues using it in a well-lit room. However, it's not suggested to use it in a bright room with direct sunlight.

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White Balance dE

Color dE

Gamma

Color Temperature

Picture Mode

Color Temp Setting

Gamma Setting

Out of the box, the Sony A8H has excellent accuracy. It's typical of Sony TVs, and you likely won't need to get it calibrated to enjoy an accurate image. Any remaining color inaccuracies, like with some red and cyan, aren't visible to the human eye, and the white balance is amazing. The color temperature is a bit cold, giving the image a slight blue tint, but it's hard to notice. Gamma follows the target fairly well, except most scenes are still too bright for a bright room environment.

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White Balance dE

Color dE

Gamma

Color Temperature

White Balance Calibration

Color Calibration

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Upscaling of 480p content like DVDs looks good, and there are no visible artifacts.

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720p content like cable TV is upscaled well, and there are no issues.

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The Sony A8H upscales 1080p content nearly as well as native 4k content, so Blu-rays look fantastic.

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Native 4k content is displayed perfectly.

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The Sony A8H can't display an 8k signal.

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Type OLED

Sub-Type

The Sony A8H has a four sub-pixel structure, like all other OLED TVs. The four sub-pixels are never on at the same time. The above photo is with the red, white, and blue pixels, and you can see the green sub-pixel in this photo. You can also see all four pixels next to each other here. There aren't any signs of the issue that the Sony A8G OLED had with text rendering when using the TV as a PC monitor.

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Wide Color Gamut

DCI P3 xy

DCI P3 uv

Rec 2020 xy

Rec 2020 uv

The Sony A8H has an excellent HDR color gamut. It has superb coverage of the commonly used DCI P3 color gamut, so it displays the wide range of colors needed in most HDR movies. It also has decent coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space, making it somewhat future-proof, but it can't display all the colors needed for movies as more come out with this color space.

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Normalized DCI P3 Coverage ITP

10,000 cd/m² DCI P3 Coverage ITP

Normalized Rec 2020 Coverage ITP

10,000 cd/m² Rec 2020 Coverage ITP

This TV has good color volume. It displays dark colors well due to its superb contrast ratio, but it has a bit of trouble displaying very bright colors. This means that colors aren't as vivid as the creator intended, and colors don't get as bright as pure white.

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Color Depth

Red (Std. Dev.)

Green (Std. Dev.)

Blue (Std. Dev.)

Gray (Std. Dev.)

The Sony A8H OLED has exceptional gradient handling. There's only a bit of banding in dark shades, so you'll notice it in some scenes with similar shades of dark colors. The Smooth Gradation setting helps smooth out most gradients, except for green, but it also causes a loss of fine details in high-quality content.

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IR after 0 min recovery

IR after 2 min recovery

IR after 4 min recovery

IR after 6 min recovery

IR after 8 min recovery

IR after 10 min recovery

Sadly, there's a bit of temporary image retention after displaying a high-contrast static image, but it's minor, and it goes away after a few minutes. This test is only indicative of short-term image retention and not the permanent burn-in that may occur with longer exposure to static images.

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Permanent Burn-In Risk

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80% Response Time

100% Response Time

The Sony A8H OLED has a remarkable response time. Like all OLED TVs, the response time is near-instantaneous, which results in almost no blur trail behind fast-moving objects. However, motion still looks a bit blurry due to persistence blur.

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Flicker-Free

PWM Dimming Frequency

The Sony A8H OLED isn't completely flicker-free because there's a slight dip in brightness every 8 ms, which corresponds to the 120Hz refresh rate. However, this isn't noticeable while watching content.

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Optional BFI

Min Flicker For 60 fps

60Hz For 60 fps

120Hz For 120 fps

Min Flicker for 60 fps in Game Mode

The Sony A8H has an optional black frame insertion feature to reduce persistence blur. It flickers at 60Hz or 120Hz, depending on the setting you choose. If the TV is playing 24p content, like a movie, it flickers at either 96Hz or 48Hz, once again depending on the setting. This helps the TV reduce motion artifacts with 24p content, like movies, without introducing judder. The BFI score is based on the flicker frequencies and not the actual performance.

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Motion Interpolation (30 fps)

Motion Interpolation (60 fps)

The Sony A8H can interpolate lower frame rate content up to 120 fps to make motion look smoother, known as the 'Soap Opera Effect'. It does a good job in slow-moving scenes, but unfortunately, it introduces a lot of artifacts when the action gets intense. Unlike most other TVs, it doesn't stop interpolating in busy scenes, which leads to the artifacts.

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Frame Hold Time @ 24 fps

Frame Hold Time @ 60 fps

Due to the TV's near-instantaneous response time, low-frame-rate content appears to stutter. If this bothers, enabling motion interpolation can help.

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Judder-Free 24p

Judder-Free 24p via 60p

Judder-Free 24p via 60i

Judder-Free 24p via Native Apps

The Sony A8H can remove 24p judder from any source, like Blu-ray players or native apps. It helps with the appearance of motion in movies, and is good for 60Hz sources, like a cable box, while watching 24p movies.

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Native Refresh Rate

Variable Refresh Rate

HDMI Forum VRR

FreeSync

G-SYNC Compatible

4k VRR Maximum

4k VRR Minimum

1080p VRR Maximum

1080p VRR Minimum

1440p VRR Maximum

1440p VRR Minimum

VRR Supported Connectors

The Sony A8H doesn't support any variable refresh rate technologies, so you'll see screen tearing in games when the frame rate drops. If you want an OLED TV with VRR support, check out the LG BX OLED.

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1080p @ 60Hz

1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode

1440p @ 60Hz

4k @ 60Hz

4k @ 60Hz + 10-Bit HDR

4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4

4k @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode

4k @ 60Hz With Interpolation

8k @ 60Hz

1080p @ 120Hz

1440p @ 120Hz

4k @ 120Hz

1080p with Variable Refresh Rate

1440p with VRR

4k with VRR

8k with VRR

The Sony A8H has fantastic low input lag, a significant upgrade from the Sony A8G OLED. It's good enough for casual gamers, but there are other TVs like the LG CX OLED that have lower input lag for competitive gamers. You can use the motion interpolation feature in Game Mode, but it significantly increases the input lag, so it's not for reaction-based games.

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Resolution 4k

1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4

1080p @ 120Hz

1440p @ 60Hz

1440p @ 120Hz

4k @ 60Hz

4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4

4k @ 120Hz

8k @ 30Hz or 24Hz

8k @ 60Hz

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Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)

PS5, 4k @ 120Hz + HDR

PS5, 4k @ 120Hz

PS5, 4k @ 60Hz + HDR

PS5, 1440p @ 120Hz

PS5, 1080p @ 120Hz

PS5, Variable Refresh Rate

Xbox Series X, 4k @ 120Hz + HDR

Xbox Series X, 4k @ 120Hz

Xbox Series X, 4k @ 60Hz + HDR

Xbox Series X, 1440p @ 120Hz

Xbox Series X, 1080p @ 120Hz

Xbox Series X, Variable Refresh Rate

As the Sony A8H is limited to HDMI 2.0 bandwidth, you can only play 4k games up to 60Hz from the PS5 and Xbox Series X. It doesn't have Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) support for the Xbox Series X, but it has a proprietary Sony feature that switches it into Game Mode when you launch a game from the PS4 or PS5, as long as you have Auto Picture Mode enabled. This makes gaming easier as you don't have to constantly switch into Game Mode to get the lowest input lag possible.

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HDR10

HDR10+

Dolby Vision

HLG

HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth

HDMI 2.1 Class Bandwidth

CEC Yes

HDCP 2.2 Yes (HDMI 1,2,3,4)

USB 3.0

Variable Analog Audio Out Yes

Wi-Fi Support Yes (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz)

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HDMI 4

USB 3

Digital Optical Audio Out 1

Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 1

Analog Audio Out RCA 0

Component In 0

Composite In 1 (adapter required, not incl.)

Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1

Ethernet 1

DisplayPort 0

IR In 1

SD/SDHC 0

There's a composite input to connect older devices like DVD players. Unfortunately, it requires an adapter, and it isn't included in the box, so you'll have to buy one separately.

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ARC

eARC support

Dolby Atmos via TrueHD via eARC

DTS:X via DTS-HD MA via eARC

5.1 Dolby Digital via ARC

5.1 DTS via ARC

5.1 Dolby Digital via Optical

5.1 DTS via Optical

The Sony A8H supports eARC, letting you send high-quality audio over an HDMI connection. It supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats, so you won't have to worry about which format your movie is in before watching it to experience lossless audio.

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Low-Frequency Extension

Std. Dev. @ 70

Std. Dev. @ 80

Std. Dev. @ Max

Max

Dynamic Range Compression

The Sony A8H's frequency response is good. There's a very healthy amount of bass, more than most TVs, but there isn't enough low and sub-bass to create that room-shaking, rumbling sound, and you'll still need a dedicated subwoofer for the best bass possible. It gets very loud, though, and there's very little compression even when playing at max volume. Like the Sony X950H, it has a digital room correction feature that automatically adjusts the frequency response based on your room's acoustics.

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Weighted THD @ 80

Weighted THD @ Max

IMD @ 80

IMD @ Max

The distortion performance is okay. It isn't much of an issue when playing at low to moderate volume levels, but there's significantly more distortion when playing near max volume.

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Smart OS Android TV

Version 9.0

Ease of Use

Smoothness

Time Taken to Select YouTube

Time Taken to Change Backlight

Advanced Options

The Sony A8H ships with Android 9.0. The interface hasn't changed much compared to past versions. It's still relatively easy to navigate, it runs smoothly, and there weren't any bugs during testing. You can pin settings or apps to the taskbar at the bottom, which makes them easy to open, as you don't have to navigate through the menu or settings page to find them.

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Ads

Opt-out

Suggested Content in Home

Opt-out of Suggested Content

Like most smart platforms, there are ads on the home page, and there's no way to disable them.

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App Selection

App Smoothness

Cast Capable

USB Drive Playback

USB Drive HDR Playback

HDR in Netflix

HDR in YouTube

Since this is an Android TV, you get access to the Google Play Store. It has a large selection of apps, and apps run very smoothly.

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Size

Voice Control

CEC Menu Control

Other Smart Features

Remote App Android TV

The remote has been redesigned compared to past models, like with the Sony A8G OLED. There are fewer buttons, and the top of the remote now has brushed plastic. The button layout hasn't changed that much, and there are still shortcuts to Netflix and Google Play. There's a built-in microphone and a dedicated button to summon the Google Assistant, so you can ask it to open apps and change inputs, but you can't ask it to change settings like the Brightness.

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There's a single button to turn the Tv On/Off, change the channel or input, and adjust the volume.

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Power Consumption 99 W

Power Consumption (Max) 159 W

Firmware PKG6.4770.0615NAA

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