Dolby Vision arrives on 2017 Sony 4K TVs
Is completely botched and worthless for many
Dolby Vision has arrived. After being announced alongside their 2017 TVs which debuted at CES 2017, a year later and via a firmware update, the following Sony TVs have gained Dolby Vision:
- Sony A1E OLED
- Sony X940E
- Sony X930E
- Sony Z9D
This is great news for anyone who buys into Android TV and uses it. For all others hoping to use Dolby Vision, which is offered on select 4K Blu-rays as well as a host of movies on iTunes and Netflix via Apple TV 4K, you’re out of luck.
Rasmus Larsen writes for flatpanelshd:
Several Sony TV owners have gotten in touch with us to say that while the update works as expected via streaming sources such as Netflix, providing pristine Dolby Vision video playback, it does not appear to work via HDMI sources such as UHD Blu-ray players and Apple TV 4K.
It appears to be general problem when you read forum posts on a number of sites. No one can get Dolby Vision to work via HDMI.
I have to say my initial reaction wasn’t that Sony botched their firmware update and no one internally thought to test for Dolby Vision via HDMI and that perhaps Sony was shoehorning people into using Android TV.
But then the Sony X700 4K Blu-ray with Dolby Vision came to mind which just debuted last week at CES 2018. Frankly this whole thing is baffling so hopefully Sony will clarify their stance with Dolby Vision on their TVs.
Is what we’re seeing a feature (only works with Android TV apps) or a bug which happens and can be and will be fixed?
It’s also worth pointing out that Sony’s own notes on the firmware release make no mention of Dolby Vision.
This software update (version PKG6.2818.0075NAA) provides the following benefits:
Improves general performance of the TV
When you dig a bit deeper into the firmware update, which comes in at a massive 1.57GB, you see that there are a host of tweaks arriving with it:
Improves general performance of the TV
Adds support for the Amazon® Alexa™ app that runs on Amazon Echo™ devices
Resolves an issue where optical digital sound sometimes stops
Resolves an issue where the TV speakers and the sound from the PS4 controller are out of sync
Resolves an issue where frame drops occur and the AV is out of sync when playing 4K HDR 60fps content
Adds support for the A2DP Bluetooth® profile
Adds support for PIP (Picture-in-Picture) while using an app (watch TV in a small window while using an Android TV™ app)
Adds support for Hybrid Log-Gamma HDR content via HDMI® and USB/Home network
Improves the Settings screen to support changing settings while viewing TV (some exceptions may apply)
Adds support for task-switching (switch between previously used apps and the current app by holding down the HOME button on your remote until the task-switching menu appears)
but Dolby Vision isn’t among them. Is the full firmware update still not fully baked? After all, Sony had promised a mid to late January rollout that wouldn’t be completed till February for the long awaited feature. I’m sure we’ll learn plenty more soon but those awaiting the feature certainly can’t help but be disappointed.
Till then, let me know what’s going to be your avenue of choice to consume Dolby Vision content. For me, it’s Apple TV 4K, making this update completely useless.
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