In a close-up, for example, the XR chip will focus on providing a realistic skin tone. But if the camera moves behind an actor, it will look for other elements, like the way a sign is lit in the background or smoke coming out of the street. Although I didn’t see any of Sony’s new TVs in action in person, the company was able to reproduce some debug images in a video call, which showed exactly what the XR processor was focusing on. In a clip Smear, he moved perfectly from Tom Hanks’ face to the neon lights of Times Square in another photo. And in one scene La La Land, I could see that the chip automatically detected Emma Stone’s face while the camera panned around her.
The Cognitive Processor XR will also help Sony’s 8K performance, according to Kazuo Kii, the company’s global display and processor expert. Given the scarcity of content at this resolution, Sony’s 8K Master Series Z9J TVs (available in 75 and 85 inch sizes) will feature XR upscaling to help HD and 4K content take advantage of these extra pixels. The focus on cognitive intelligence is particularly useful for 8K TVs, says Kii, because it allows Sony to focus processing work on the parts of the image that matter. An even more powerful processor would be needed to optimize an entire 8K screen in real time.
In addition to the Z9J, the Cognitive Processor XR will also power the company’s 4K OLED TVs of the company’s Master A90J and A80J series, as well as its X95J and X90J 4K LED sets. All Sony devices this year will also feature Google TV as an integrated operating system, Google Assistant with speakerphone and support for Amazon Alexa. You can also expect HDMI 2.1, which means they will support 4K at 120fps for next-generation game consoles, as well as eARC and variable refresh rates.
An interesting omission is the Mini-LED, a display technology that Samsung and LG are introducing this year, after the adoption of TCL in 2019. It allows for smaller LEDs, which could dramatically improve the performance of the backlight. Kii says Sony is exploring the technology, but it still had nothing to announce.
Like most TV ads at CES, Sony doesn’t have any pricing or availability details to share yet, but we hope to hear more this spring.