Here’s a quick PSA announcement: If you’ve owned a Sony TV from the past two years, you might want to check for an update when you have a chance today. Sony’s latest software patch affects the Sony X90J, X95J, and Z9J starting in 2021 as well as the new X90K, X95K, and Z9K from 2022. It’s a huge update, especially if you’re a PS5 owner.
The software update is intended to fix an issue that Sony TVs encountered when connected to a PS5 that disabled the local dimming function of the backlight if the Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) was turned on. This caused a noticeable decrease in HDR performance compared to other TV modes.
The fix has been in the works for a few months now and was spotted by Vincent Toh of hdtvtest, who took a call on Twitter to see if readers could detail their experiences with the latest update.
Sony firmware update v6.5929 rolled out to enable local dimming in VRR mode on BRAVIA XR LED LCD monitors from 2021 (X90J, X95J, Z9J) and 2022 (X90K, X95K, Z9K), thus improving contrast performance during VRR games. I don’t have any of these TVs to test, but let me know how you get on! pic.twitter.com/NwIFsjGrTO29 June 2022
However, if you own a Sony OLED or one of the lower-end Sony X85J/X85K models, you won’t be affected by the update, as they either use a different display technology or a different processor than last year’s X90J and X95J models.
Here’s why you want VRR
Variable refresh rate allows the console’s frame rate to synchronize with the TV’s refresh rate, preventing screen tearing. At higher refresh rates, games will look noticeably smoother, which is one of the big selling points of new game consoles.
So far, however, you’ve had quite a hit in visual performance with VRR – a shocking situation that has put gamers between a hammer and an anvil since April of this year when Sony officially enabled VRR on its TVs.
Fortunately, Sony has learned from its mistakes and plans to release a new series of gaming monitors – the Inzone M9 – with support for G-Sync and direct VRR. This, according to our review, makes it “great for PC and PS5 gamers” alike.
Looking for the best gaming TVs for PS5 and Xbox Series X? Check out the Sony A90J, LG C1 OLED, and Samsung QN90A.
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