Is the Sony Bravia 9 75-inch Actually Better Than OLED? What Most People Get Wrong

Is the Sony Bravia 9 75-inch Actually Better Than OLED? What Most People Get Wrong

The TV world is weird right now. For a decade, if you wanted the best, you bought an OLED. End of story. But then Sony dropped the Sony Bravia 9 75-inch and basically told the industry that LED isn't dead—it's just been waiting for better math.

I’ve spent a lot of time looking at screens. Usually, high-end LEDs (even Mini-LEDs) have this annoying "halo" or "blooming" around bright objects. You know the look. A white loading circle on a black background looks like it’s glowing in a fog. The Sony Bravia 9 75-inch is supposed to kill that. It uses a new 22-bit LED driver that’s smaller than a grain of rice. Sony calls this XR Backlight Master Drive. Honestly? It's the first time an LED TV has made me stop and wonder if I actually need an OLED in my living room.

The Peak Brightness Myth

Most people think "brighter is better." That’s a trap. If a TV is bright but can't control where that light goes, your favorite moody sci-fi movie looks like a washed-out mess. The 75-inch Bravia 9 is ridiculously bright—we’re talking peaks that can hit 3,000 to 4,000 nits depending on the window size. That is double what most high-end OLEDs can do.

But the secret sauce isn't just the raw power. It’s the dimming zones. Sony is being cagey about the exact number, but teardowns and industry analysts like Vincent Teoh from HDTVTest have noted a massive increase in zone density compared to the previous X95L. On the 75-inch model, the control is granular. It’s about how the TV decides to starve a pixel of light while neighboring pixels are screaming at full blast.

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Why 75 Inches is the Sweet Spot for This Tech

Size matters for Mini-LED. On a smaller 65-inch screen, the density is fine, but you don't feel the scale of the brightness. When you jump to the Sony Bravia 9 75-inch, the physical canvas is large enough for the XR Processor to really flex.

The processor is doing a billion things a second. It’s looking at a scene, recognizing a human face, and realizing the sun is hitting the water behind them. In older sets, the TV might just brighten the whole top half of the screen. Here, it pinpoints the glint on the waves. It’s subtle. It’s realistic.

If you go bigger, like the 85-inch, it's glorious but takes over the whole room. The 75-inch fits. It’s the size where 4K resolution still looks incredibly sharp before the pixel density starts to stretch thin. You get that theater feel without needing to remodel your entire wall.

Color and the "Sony Look"

Samsung goes for "pop." LG goes for "ink." Sony goes for "truth."

That sounds like marketing fluff, but it’s visible. Sony uses the same processing logic in their consumer TVs as they do in their $30,000 BVM-HX3110 mastering monitors used in Hollywood. When you watch a movie on the Bravia 9, you're seeing the color grade the director actually approved. The blacks are deep—kinda shockingly deep for a non-OLED—but you still see the wrinkles in a black leather jacket. That’s shadow detail. Most TVs just crush that into a black blob.

The Gaming Reality Check

Gamers are picky. I get it. We want low latency and high refresh rates. The Sony Bravia 9 75-inch delivers 4K/120Hz, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode).

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There is a catch, though. Sony still only offers two HDMI 2.1 ports.

Seriously. In 2026, it feels a bit stingy. If you have a PS5, an Xbox Series X, and a high-end soundbar using eARC, you’re playing musical chairs with your cables. Is it a dealbreaker? Probably not for most, but if you’re a multi-console power user, you’ll need a high-quality HDMI switcher or an AVR.

The "Auto HDR Tone Mapping" for PS5 is a nice touch, though. The TV and the console talk to each other and set the HDR parameters automatically. It saves you from that annoying "adjust the slider until the logo disappears" screen.

Sound: More Than Just Tinny Speakers

Most thin TVs sound like garbage. You’re basically forced to buy a soundbar. Sony tried something different here. They added "Beam Tweeters" at the top and "Frame Tweeters" on the sides. The TV literally vibrates the frame to create sound that follows the action on screen.

If a jet flies from left to right, the audio actually shifts across the physical chassis of the 75-inch beast. It’s surprisingly meaty. You’ll still want a dedicated subwoofer for that floor-shaking bass, but for everyday Netflix watching, it’s the first TV I’ve heard in years that doesn't sound like it’s underwater.

Reflection Handling and Viewing Angles

This is where the Sony Bravia 9 75-inch beats OLED in a "real world" living room. OLEDs are basically mirrors. If you have a big window behind your couch, a daytime football game is a struggle.

Sony’s X-Anti Reflection coating is stellar. It diffuses light rather than reflecting it back at you. Also, the X-Wide Angle tech means your friend sitting on the "bad" end of the sectional sofa still sees accurate colors. Usually, LEDs wash out when you move 30 degrees to the side. Not this one. It stays saturated.

What Most People Get Wrong About Mini-LED

People think Mini-LED is a "budget" alternative to OLED. On the Sony Bravia 9 75-inch, that’s just false. This is a premium choice.

You buy this because you want the impact of high-peak HDR. You buy it because you want a TV that can fight the afternoon sun and win. You buy it because you’re worried about OLED burn-in (even though that’s rarer these days, the peace of mind is real). It’s not a compromise; it’s a different philosophy of light.

Actionable Steps for Potential Owners

Don't just plug it in and use the "Vivid" mode. That's a crime against cinematography.

  1. Switch to Professional Mode: This disables most of the "soap opera effect" motion smoothing and sets the white point to the industry standard D65. It’ll look "yellow" for the first five minutes if you’re used to cheap TVs, but your eyes will adjust to the natural warmth.
  2. Check Your Cables: If you’re buying a TV this expensive, don't use the HDMI cable you found in a drawer from 2014. You need Ultra High Speed (48Gbps) cables to actually get 4K/120Hz.
  3. Mounting Concerns: The 75-inch model is heavy. It’s around 95 lbs with the stand. If you’re wall-mounting, ensure you’re hitting studs or using a pro-grade mount like a Sanus. Do not trust cheap drywall anchors with a $3,000+ investment.
  4. The Stand Versatility: Sony actually did something smart here. The feet can be placed in four different positions. You can have them wide, narrow, or raised up to fit a soundbar underneath. Measure your media console before it arrives so you know which configuration you need.

The Sony Bravia 9 75-inch represents the current peak of what's possible without organic LEDs. It’s a bright, punchy, incredibly smart piece of hardware that handles motion better than almost anything else on the market. If your room has even a single window, this is likely a better real-world choice than an OLED. Just make sure you have the desk space for it—it's a massive, commanding presence.