Sony releases update to support 4k at 120fps on ZH8 and XH90 television
Sony has started releasing the update for the ZH8 and the XH90 that will allow the TVs to support 4k at 120fps. This combination is possible with HDMI 2.1; the two models support this standard. These and many other features were missing at release.
Sony Europe informs FlatpanelsHD that it has started to release the update for these two models. It is still unclear exactly when the update for the XH90 will be available. The firmware update is already online for the ZH8. The description with the update makes it clear that it is about the addition of support for 4k and 120Hz.
It is not clear whether the update also means that 8k and 60Hz will be possible on the ZH8-8k TV. That should be the case, as that is just within 40 or 48Gbit / s of the HDMI 2.1 standard in terms of bandwidth requirement. At 8k60 this is only the case with 4: 2: 0 chroma subsampling and thus the application of color compression.
Sony is probably very keen to release this update as soon as possible, as these two televisions are specifically used in a Sony campaign with the ‘Ready for PlayStation 5’ designation. This current firmware update is very important in that context, because otherwise the display of 120fps at a 4k resolution is not possible.
The PS5, like the Xbox Series S and X, supports 120fps, but that frame rate in combination with a 4k resolution requires HDMI 2.1 on televisions. The ZXH8 and the XH90 have HDMI 2.1 connections, but many features that come with the standard were missing with the release of these TVs and would follow later via updates. From the beginning, e-arc was already present on both TVs and the current update makes 4k120 possible. Two optional other features of HDMI 2.1, namely allm and vrr, will be available for the XH90 via an update at a later date, according to Sony. The ZH8 may not get those two features. Incidentally, the ZG9 also gets the option for 4k120 and 8k60 via a future firmware update.
The ZH8 is available in 75 “and 85” and has a single HDMI 2.1 connection. The XH90 is a 4k TV, has two HDMI 2.1 connections and is available in four sizes: 55 “, 65”, 75 “and 85”. In both cases these are LCD TVs.