SONY 2024 TV's- some big changes

[mikizee]

On 14/05/2024 at 7:52 PM, Cevolution said:

I bought my 77” A95L brand new from Harvey Norman on the 1st of December 2023 for $6500.

 

Bloody hell, and that wasn't a floor demo unit? That's an absolute steal, that price is SIGNIFICANTLY below cost. There's next to no margin in TV's, and RRP before they were discontinued was $8895.

[Cevolution]

3 hours ago, mikizee said:

 

Bloody hell, and that wasn't a floor demo unit? That's an absolute steal, that price is SIGNIFICANTLY below cost. There's next to no margin in TV's, and RRP before they were discontinued was $8895.

No, it wasn’t a floor model, it was brand new:

 

 

The RRP for the 77” a95L must’ve dropped not long before they were discontinued if you’re saying it was $8895, because the RRP was $9495 when they were released at the end of October 2023, and that RRP price remained through to December when I bought it and took delivery, $9495 minus 20% equals $7596:

 

 

I originally bought the 77” a95L on what I believe was the first week it was released in Australia (or perhaps it was the 2nd week after release, it was one or the other), the reason I decided to buy one was because that week JB HiFi did a 20% off of all TV’s promo sale for 3 days only, during that period JB were selling the 77” Sony a95L for $7596. I made a spontaneous decision to purchase one, I noticed that Harvey Norman had a 60 months interest free promo running at the same time in October, so I asked if they would price match JB HiFi and also allow for me to pay a part of the cost for the 77” a95L on interest free finance, they agreed.

 

2 days later I decided to cancel my order with HN though because I had learned that the Australian Sony store had beaten JB HiFi’s $7596 price for the 77” a95L for some people, because they price matched JB and also allowed the use of a 10% off promo code on top, taking the price of the TV down to $6836.40. Unfortunately when I discovered this the promo was already over so Harvey Norman couldn’t offer any further price match reduction, so I decided to cancel my order and thought I would try my luck on Black Friday week.

 

Fast forward to Black Friday week, the discounts offered on the 77” a95L by Australian retailers were abysmal, they were only shaving off just over $1000 selling it at $8475, so I decided to go back to Harvey Norman to see the sales person from the month earlier that I bought the a95L from to see if he could do better, and he offered it to me for $7250. This still wasn’t as low as it reached the month prior at $6836.4, so I declined.

 

Once Black Friday week was over, I noticed on the 1st of December that HN had a 10% of the value of your purchase given back to you in gift cards promo for just that day, so I went back to HN (I dropping in The Good Guy’s first on my way there to see what price they could do), and was able to negotiate for the 77” A95L either $6520 including free delivery for cash, or $7000 and free delivery with $700 in gift cards back, taking the TV down to $6300, I decided on and accepted the cash deal.

 

 

 

Edited May 17 by Cevolution

[mikizee]

35 minutes ago, Cevolution said:

No, it wasn’t a floor model, it was brand new:

 

 

The RRP for the 77” a95L must’ve dropped not long before they were discontinued if you’re saying it was $8895, because the RRP was $9495 when they were released at the end of October 2023, and that RRP price remained through to December when I bought it and took delivery, $9495 minus 20% equals $7596:

 

 

 

Yeah the 77A95L through Sony Pro dealers was $1000 less than Sony website, $8499. Went up to $8895 for the last few units. Through Sony Pro dealers, the TV is the same but has a different model code (in this case, FWD77A95L as opposed to XR77A95L). The FWD model code denotes the 3 year pro warranty.

Edited May 17 by mikizee

[Cevolution]

1 hour ago, mikizee said:

Yeah the 77A95L through Sony Pro dealers was $1000 less than Sony website, $8499. Went up to $8895 for the last few units. Through Sony Pro dealers, the TV is the same but has a different model code (in this case, FWD77A95L as opposed to XR77A95L). The FWD model code denotes the 3 year pro warranty.

Meaningless considering under Australian consumer law that this level of protection, and the amount of years a TV to the calibre of the a95L is covered, would be the same or greater than this 3 years warranty on paper that the manufacturer provides.

Edited May 17 by Cevolution

[Tweaky]

When QD OLED had been out for about a year, it was pretty easy to find articles from various Tech review sites claiming that the cost of producing QD OLED was dropping fast, so they predicted a fall in prices.

If it wasn't for the slight problems with the A95L, plus the worldwide economic slowdown, which caused production to be reduced quite heavily, I wouldn't have been surprised if a 77" A95L was currently priced no more than $1200 - $1500 over a  77" Series 8 once a discount was applied.

[Snoopy8]

12 hours ago, Tweaky said:

When QD OLED had been out for about a year, it was pretty easy to find articles from various Tech review sites claiming that the cost of producing QD OLED was dropping fast, so they predicted a fall in prices.

Undoubtedly, QD OLED costs have come down but it cannot compete at sizes beyond  77" because production yields drop after that. Unlike OLED which are made as a single unit, Mini LEDS are built from blocks, and will take over that premium large screen market.

 

I will be watching the Bravia 7 (mini LED) which can potentially make Sony the most money.  Especially if it is close enough for most people to the QD OLED but cheaper.  

[Tweaky]

3 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

Undoubtedly, QD OLED costs have come down but it cannot compete at sizes beyond  77" because production yields drop after that. Unlike OLED which are made as a single unit, Mini LEDS are built from blocks, and will take over that premium large screen market.

 

I will be watching the Bravia 7 (mini LED) which can potentially make Sony the most money.  Especially if it is close enough for most people to the QD OLED but cheaper.  

I'm still perplexed on why the A95L is listed as discontinued in Australia.

 

1] Is it because they still haven't sorted the TCON board issue , and don't want to have to send out people to repair sets that suffer it in the future ?

This is what I think might be the true reason behind it being discontinued, at least until further notice.

 

2] Is it because QC at Samsung for the 77" panel isn't reaching the standard SONY require to be listed as a Master Series TV, so production is too low ?

Seeing that the 65" version of the A95L is also discontinued, that can't be 100% of the reason.

 

3] Is it that SONY just can't produce enough of the A95L to fill orders in every country, so canned supply to Australia until they can ?

Possibly, but unlikely, I think they would more likely just tell stores there is a low supply until further notice so not to piss off the stores.

 

4] Is it that the current lousy exchange rate of the Aus $, combined with the price point SONY want to sell the A95L at, makes the profit margin so low as to not be worth bringing stock into Australia.

If that were true it would apply to the new series 9 and 8 as well I imagine.

 

I guess we shall never really know unless somebody at SONY Australia chips in a response, but reason 1 seems the most logical IMHO.

[Cevolution]

1 hour ago, Tweaky said:

I'm still perplexed on why the A95L is listed as discontinued in Australia.

 

1] Is it because they still haven't sorted the TCON board issue , and don't want to have to send out people to repair sets that suffer it in the future ?

This is what I think might be the true reason behind it being discontinued, at least until further notice.

The faulty TCON board issue hasn’t receive a great number of reports outside of North American. For each other country there has been approximately 1-3 or so cases of red light blinking hardware failures reported, which easily falls within the normal low percentage of expected failure rates with any piece of electronic equipment.

 

The TCON board problem has officially been acknowledged and addressed by Sony USA, if it’s a problem for all other countries models as well, then it shouldn’t be difficult for someone working in the local industry to get an answer from Sony Australia, confirming if it’s a problem with our models too.

 

I haven’t been reading AVS much this week, but I did see last week someone from Germany on there mention that it’s not a major problem in Germany with their models like it has been in the U.S., and that he had been also discussed it on a German forum, where the general consensus was the same as my theory, that it’s 110v a95L models made out of certain factory locations that have the faulty TCON boards in them, and not 230v models. Some confirmation on this would be great.

Edited May 18 by Cevolution

[Tweaky]

3 minutes ago, Cevolution said:

The TCON board problem has officially been acknowledged and addressed by Sony USA, if it were a a problem or all other countries models as well, then it shouldn’t be difficult for someone working in the local industry to get an answer from Sony Australia, confirming if it’s a problem with our models too.

 

SONY has acknowledged the TCON board issue, and they think they have found what causes it, but going by what was said about the problem in the LG G4 calibration video, when the topic came up, they haven't as yet fixed it.

 

Also we don't know if there will be a, as yet to be mentioned, design update for the 2024 model A95L.

All details about the 2024 models was about the change to MINI LED as being the new top of the line, and the name change to Series 6/7/8/9 etc, the QD A95L had very little mention at all apart from it will stay in the line up.

 

There is a lot going on at SONY ATM, with two new company heads just announced

[Cevolution]

19 minutes ago, Tweaky said:

 

SONY has acknowledged the TCON board issue, and they think they have found what causes it, but going by what was said about the problem in the LG G4 calibration video, when the topic came up, they haven't as yet fixed it.

 

Also we don't know if there will be a, as yet to be mentioned, design update for the 2024 model A95L.

All details about the 2024 models was about the change to MINI LED as being the new top of the line, and the name change to Series 6/7/8/9 etc, the QD A95L had very little mention at all apart from it will stay in the line up.

 

There is a lot going on at SONY ATM, with two new company heads just announced

Are you referring to what was said about it in the video that I posted on here where Classy Tech and D-Nice discussed it? In that video they talked about how Sony North America has acknowledged the TCON board issue with their countries a95L models (Classy Tech and D-Nice didn’t mention that Sony USA has confirmed it’s a worldwide problem, where all countries models are affected), and that from April 2024 Sony USA have corrected the TCON board problem in USA a95L models that have been manufactured in April 2024 onwards.

 

 

Edited May 18 by Cevolution

[mikizee]

1 hour ago, Tweaky said:

I'm still perplexed on why the A95L is listed as discontinued in Australia.

 

 

Seeing that the 65" version of the A95L is also discontinued, that can't be 100% of the reason.

 

I can't answer that either. I sure have asked though!

 

Last batch of 65A95L's are in stock with the Sony Pro distributor and available now, by the way. 

[Snoopy8]

2 hours ago, Tweaky said:

I'm still perplexed on why the A95L is listed as discontinued in Australia.

It will not be the first, nor the last time, that Sony, and other TV manufacturers neglect the Australian market!  Much as we like to think we deserve attention (because we are a rich first world country???), we are probably 5% of the USA market. And we will continue to get treated as a second tier market.    

 

Yes, we can jump up and down here on the forum, but that does not change the fact that we are a small market, and hold no sway.

[Tweaky]

3 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

It will not be the first, nor the last time, that Sony, and other TV manufacturers neglect the Australian market!  Much as we like to think we deserve attention (because we are a rich first world country???), we are probably 5% of the USA market. And we will continue to get treated as a second tier market.    

 

Yes, we can jump up and down here on the forum, but that does not change the fact that we are a small market, and hold no sway.

Same reason Panasonic quit Australia, but strangely is still sold in NZ last I heard.

[Cevolution]

1 hour ago, Tweaky said:

Same reason Panasonic quit Australia, but strangely is still sold in NZ last I heard.

Not quite the same, Panasonic don’t sell TV’s in the United States any longer either.

[Tweaky]

1 hour ago, Cevolution said:

Not quite the same, Panasonic don’t sell TV’s in the United States any longer either.

True, but they dropped out of the US market many years before they dropped out of the Australian one.

Same cause, Samsung selling cheaper TV's [plus slinging sales folk kickbacks for years to push Samsung TV's ]

 

Panasonic have and always have been quality first, and couldn't compete with the quantity first Samsung flooding the market, with what turned out for the most part to be crap TV's, especially in regards to QC.

 

They didn't get the most complained about company to the N.S.W dept of fair trading for nothing.

https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/fair-trading/news/electronics-company-notorious-filtration-supplier-top-complaints-list

[Cevolution]

On 18/5/2024 at 1:13 PM, Cevolution said:

The faulty TCON board issue hasn’t receive a great number of reports outside of North American. For each other country there has been approximately 1-3 or so cases of red light blinking hardware failures reported, which easily falls within the normal low percentage of expected failure rates with any piece of electronic equipment.

 

The TCON board problem has officially been acknowledged and addressed by Sony USA, if it’s a problem for all other countries models as well, then it shouldn’t be difficult for someone working in the local industry to get an answer from Sony Australia, confirming if it’s a problem with our models too.

 

I haven’t been reading AVS much this week, but I did see last week someone from Germany on there mention that it’s not a major problem in Germany with their models like it has been in the U.S., and that he had been also discussed it on a German forum, where the general consensus was the same as my theory, that it’s 110v a95L models made out of certain factory locations that have the faulty TCON boards in them, and not 230v models. Some confirmation on this would be great.

 

On 12/5/2024 at 7:41 AM, Cevolution said:

 

On 12/5/2024 at 7:41 AM, Cevolution said:

Does the discontinuing of the A95L in Australia have anything to do with the red light flashing TCON board faults with this TV that quite a number of people in international markets have reported experiencing, particularly in the U.S.? Are Australian A95L models which are manufactured in Malaysia affected by this problem? If so what’s Sony Australia planning to do about it? If the A95L is discontinued here in Australia then owners of this TV here can’t request a swap over for a brand new A95L which we are entitled to under Australian consumer law, even though that’s what I would prefer, so are Sony Australia going announce a free repair program for replacing the TCON boards? Since the A95L is discontinued here now, returning the TV to the retailer for a full refund leaves you in a position where you become an ex owner of an A95L and can’t purchase another one, so a repair program at minimum should be announced and offered if Australian models have defective TCON boards inside them.

 

According to D-Nice and Classy Tech, who are 2 well known isf pro calibrators in the industry in the U.S., the TCON board faults are a true problem with the A95L that Sony U.S. have finally officially acknowledged, and apparently for at least U.S. A95L models that have April 2024 manufacturing dates and onward, the issue with the TCON board has been rectified… Jump to 21:50 in the below video where they begin to discuss it:

 

 

 

I’ve owned my Australian model 77” A95L for 5 months, luckily so far I haven’t experienced a single blinking red light TCON board fault, however I think Australian consumers who have bought this TV have the right to know if our countries models are affected and have faulty TCON boards installed in them.

 

 

 

Well I spoke too soon and jinxed myself. I can confirm that Australian models of the a95L are affected by the faulty TCON board issue as well, I just experienced 5 red lights flashing/blinking with my 77” a95L when I tried to turn it on tonight about 15 minutes ago, it’s the very first time it’s happened with my set in the 5 and a half months I have owned it. I’ll definitely be reporting it to Sony Australia either tomorrow or sometime this week, and I’ll see what they have to say about it and what their remedy is.

Edited May 26 by Cevolution

[LoveKnight]

Seems like Bravia 9 can not compete with flagship Oled TVs with contrast, blooming control but winning in details and colours, two of the best things from Sony. I have eyes on Bravia 7. 

Edited May 29 by LoveKnight

[Snoopy8]

On 26/05/2024 at 6:27 PM, Cevolution said:

 

Well I spoke too soon and jinxed myself. I can confirm that Australian models of the a95L are affected by the faulty TCON board issue as well, I just experienced 5 red lights flashing/blinking with my 77” a95L when I tried to turn it on tonight about 15 minutes ago, it’s the very first time it’s happened with my set in the 5 and a half months I have owned it. I’ll definitely be reporting it to Sony Australia either tomorrow or sometime this week, and I’ll see what they have to say about it and what their remedy is.

Sorry to hear this.  Suggest getting mods (report your post) to split out this post as a separate thread to alert others and, hopefully to resolve this.

[Tweaky]

3 hours ago, LoveKnight said:

Seems like Bravia 9 can not compete with flagship Oled TVs with contrast, blooming control but winning in details and colours, two best things from Sony. I have eyes on Bravia 7. 

The Blooming issue is whats holding back Micro LED as well, since the light output of Micro LED is so very high, and despite having a vastly greater amount of zones, the blooming with micro LED is so intense, it counteracts the gains made elsewhere.

[Snoopy8]

The first proper review (vs impressions) of Bravia 7

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/sony/bravia-7-qled

 

PROS

• Incredibly bright.
• Fantastic contrast thanks to its Mini LED local dimming feature.
• Stays true to the director's intent, with excellent accuracy out of the box.

 

CONS

• Disappointing viewing angle.

Shame about the viewing angle because it brought down the Sports and TV shows scores in a bright room (which I have).

[LoveKnight]

Thank you Snoopy8.

 

I do not mind about viewing angle because I just use a TV for my purposes like watching movies, clips and playing games only. The Sony TV flagship Bravia 9 this year is a disappointment with high price but can not dominate other flagship TVs and the quality control of Sony is no doubt not good as it was. So I do not want to invest too much of my budget for a flagship TV. I am also scared of LG too, bought a 500 bucks LG monitor on Amazon and got vertical lines after a year. Samsung quality control is not good either with cheap build. I think the TV industry is being corrupted, we are paying so much money but with lower quality control than in the past. My father had many CRT TVs from Sony and many of them still work today. 

Edited May 28 by LoveKnight

[Snoopy8]

Further in the rtings review, placing the Bravia 7 between the X93L and X95L.

Quote

The Sony BRAVIA 7 QLED is a bit of an odd TV. It delivers truly impressive picture quality, sitting between the 2023 Sony X93L and the Sony X95L, but Sony has made some strange choices on this model. Its narrow viewing angle and disappointing reflection handling limit its versatility, as it's not suitable for all room setups. If you're mainly in a dark room and these things don't matter to you, then it's one of the best TVs you can buy in 2024.

@LoveKnight, the last sentence is the key! If you have a dark room, it could still work. But then, so will an OLED!

 

For me, looks like the Bravia 7 is out because of a bright room and watching with family  

[Cevolution]

On 27/5/2024 at 7:29 PM, Snoopy8 said:

Sorry to hear this.  Suggest getting mods (report your post) to split out this post as a separate thread to alert others and, hopefully to resolve this.

I appreciate the empathy. I haven’t had the time/opportunity this week to contact Sony Australia about the TCON board fault occurring with my Australian model a95L just yet. It’s a strange situation indeed, because even after the fault occurring the a95L still works fine when powered on after the 5 blinking/flashing red light TCON error has happened, so it leaves you scratching your head and wondering what the severity is long term from this fault… Will the TV still work perfectly fine 5-10 years from now despite this issue, or does it need a part replacement of the TCON board to function correctly/properly? Some honesty from Sony Australia would go along way…

 

Some professional courtesy, acknowledgement and honesty from Sony Australia would be great, it would help their credibility in this situation regarding this known fault with the model and the quality of a95L in general… There is no dispute, I’m entitled to a full refund for the TV under ACL, however I would prefer that as a last resort. Sony Australia should be wanting my money and business, and addressing the issue head on so that people like me who own and want the TV, are happy with their TV purchase and there is no reason to return it for a refund.

 

The model now being discontinued in Australia or not, the a95L is still considered as their flagship QD-OLED/OLED TV/TV in general for 2023 and 2024 and is presented by Sony in general for the worldwide market as such, until they decide to release a new model to supersede it in 2025. Therefore they should be 100% supporting the quality of these expensive flagship premium a95L models of theirs. Australian customers that have bought this TV having to contact them and go through their processes for a standard fault is B.S., Sony Australia should know about and be well aware of this valid hardware problem, and should release an official statement regarding a brand new replacement of the same TV, or repair program.

 

Edited May 28 by Cevolution

[juggernaut1]

Have you followed the Sony support troubleshooting article regarding blinking lights?

 

https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/support/articles/00145302

 

[Snoopy8]

On 27/05/2024 at 6:16 PM, LoveKnight said:

Seems like Bravia 9 can not compete with flagship Oled TVs with contrast, blooming control but winning in details and colours, two of the best things from Sony. I have eyes on Bravia 7. 

 

On 27/05/2024 at 9:26 PM, Tweaky said:

The Blooming issue is whats holding back Micro LED as well, since the light output of Micro LED is so very high, and despite having a vastly greater amount of zones, the blooming with micro LED is so intense, it counteracts the gains made elsewhere.

 

Towards the end of this video, it mentions that there is no blooming in the Bravia 9, while playing a game.  Does that translate to no blooming for movies?