At CES 2016, Sony unveiled the flagship X930D (55-, and 65-inch) and X940D (75-inch) flagship 4K HDR TVs. While many, including yours truly, were hoping that Sony would offer even larger sized TV in the series, the only thing that changed was the slim factor (though you can get an 85-inch X850D). That’s because Sony made the surprise move of dropping their Magnetic Fluid Speakers from the 930 line, a differentiator they’ve been pushing for sometime, which in turn has allowed the lineup to get much slimmer than past iterations.

With an all new identity compared to years prior, the big question would be if Sony was moving in the right direction with their flagship series or were they chipping away at the wrong things. The answer couldn’t be better than this:

 Let’s cut to the chase: the daddy of Sony’s 2016 TV line-up is a movie lover’s dream come true. 

Unlike the the X930D range which features Slim Backlight Drive, X940D is an

 LED back-lit TV that supports Ultra HD and HDR through streaming and physical formats, as well as active 3D. If that isn’t enough to lose you in AV-centric reverie, perhaps the fact that it looks stunning will be. 

So let’s dig a little deeper into just what you can expect from the flagship TV.

Thanks to the removal of the Magnetic Fluid Speakers, the X940D can

be wall-mounted, if you feel your plasterwork will hold the telly’s 39kg weight, but plonk it on a tabletop and it won’t go anywhere thanks to a sturdy base plate stand, which is slightly raised and has a removable back cover so cables can feed discreetly underneath it and be hidden from sight

On the back, you’ll find four HDMI inputs which

are 4K-ready with 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 certification.

The KD-75XD9405 has three USB inputs, but now there’s much more streaming 4K content available, we make more use of its LAN socket – a more stable way of getting online than using wi-fi.

Besides a host of ways of plugging in devices to it, the X940D also includes Sony’s latest take on Android TV. For those familiar with last year’s software, not a lot has changed though you’ll certainly find the experience much smoother and refined. Sony isn’t exactly revealing the specs it puts inside its TVs to power Android TV but compared to last year, the OS is certainly much snappier.

Of course, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video – both now with 4K and HDR content in their catalogue – are present, along with lesser-known services such as wuaki.tv and MUBI.

Because it’s Sony, there’s also the PlayStation Video store for buying and renting movies and TV shows, and PlayStation Now for disc-free game playing. And because it’s Android, there’s Google Cast and Google Play at your service to

Smart features aside, the real showstopper is of course picture quality which especially shines when watching a 4K Blu-ray via a Panasonic DMP-UB900 Ultra HD Blu-ray player.

The Sony’s colour pallet is on the rich, enthusiastic side of neutral, with the benefits of HDR flagged by the variants of shading in explosions and building fires, and how intensely car lights punch through the dark underground garage.

HDR may not hit you in the face as immediately as 4K does, but you hardly have to pore over the picture to see that faces, trees and pavements are filled with subtler, more nuanced colour gradations.

As expected, streaming takes a bit of a hit when compared to uncompressed Blu-ray but the truth is that for many who’ve been streaming for years, they’re going to see a fantastic bump in visual clarity and depth.

Crispness and stability is brought down a notch as we head over to a 4K, HDR stream of Marco Polo on Netflix, but that’s down to the intrinsically inferior nature of streaming. It’s still a picture a newcomer would raise an eyebrow to; the empresses’ metallic clothes and the gold armoury shine brightly, while the yellow leaves and red temples pop eagerly through the pixels.

The Sony’s stark clarity and dark detail means you don’t miss so much as a corner of a frame in candle-lit scenes, too

Luckily the X940D shines without native 4K content as well, which is, let’s be honest, the majority of the content you’ll likely consume.

Native material is undisputedly the KD-75X9405’s speciality, but it fancies itself a savvy upscaler too, as keen to sharply etch the uniforms in a Blu-ray of X-Men: The Last Stand as it is the players’ sharp attire in a high-definition broadcast of the World Championship Snooker.

Yes, even your DVDs will look good though we’ll have to talk if you’re still popping in DVDs on your 4K TV.

Even a dated DVD copy of Dirty Harry holds up pretty well; colours and contrast don’t lose their spark, and you aren’t forced to look away as Eastwood pans his surroundings through binoculars. Visible picture noise is the biggest giveaway, but it’s not too damning

In the end, the X940D

isn’t cheap (albeit cheaper than its £6000 predecessor), but it embraces the industry’s cutting-edge technologies and shows how valuable they are. If not for the fact that 3D glasses aren’t included, we’d be more than ready to ask ‘what more could you want?’

While Sony did kill the Magnetic Fluid Speakers which I adored, the reality is that I was the outlier. Most of you who will be purchasing the X940D will likely have a previous 5.1 or even greater surround sound system, making it something that would tick up the price point while adding little value for most. Even Android TV for me isn’t a feature I give much thought about since I have my PS4 and Apple TV connected, making picture quality the number one, two, and three most important aspect on the X940D and it seems that Sony has delivered on that.

More so, for the first time since the launch of 4K TVs, it seems that Sony has put together something that will stand the test of time and is future proof with native 4K HDR support, HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 certification, and full LED back-lit, making it the TV that checks off everything for you to be able to enjoy 4K content for years to come without compromise.

Discuss:

Do you see yourself getting the X940D?

[Via What Hi*Fi?]