New XR Master Series in 42” Performs Flawlessly
September 01, 2022
Early adopter here of the 42” A90K - bought sight and review unseen in August 2022. I put it through the paces setting up all of the inputs with non-invasive settings, and did not have to adjust calibration settings at all from the factory settings for what I thought looked correct. Fantastic contrast without crushing levels - really brings out the best (and worst) of whatever the source is. HD and UHD Blu-rays look astoundingly good, and Dolby Vision implementation looks spectacular. Broadcast OTA looks great too, and streaming internal apps and external (Roku) all good. CATV low bit rate (decompression) in direct comparison to the same channel OTA you can really tell the difference. It is unforgiving of bad or low quality sources, but in the same turn will let your great stuff shine.
The remote is nice in hand, missing number buttons but otherwise easy to use. Soundbar handshaking works without issue, and internal apps with the built in wireless are great, including the Bravia Core high bit rate streaming you get for free, along with 10 credits for purchasing titles there.
Downsides: almost none. I bought an OLED for true black and near-black detail and this is great. Sources dictate what you get here - the set in its default calibration will be true. I do not like how there is no ‘display’ info button on the remote, and even trying to use an older ‘display’ button from a previous remote only shows time detail. The missing info that is useful to me is resolution, bit rate, frame rate, interlace/progressive, audio channels, etc. which is barely existent and mostly unavailable to the user. I miss having it to be able to check what the set is doing and seeing as source.
It’s expensive but you realize the value of the purchase with a premium presentation of high quality sources.... Read More
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