Sony ZH8 8k TV Preview – Sound from the edge of the screen

Three years ago, Sony introduced the A1 OLED television at CES in Las Vegas . With this TV, the sound actually came from the screen, because voice coils were mounted at the back of the OLED panel. Since then, Sony has applied this method of sound generation to all OLED televisions it released. With the LCD models, it is not so easy to actually let the sound come out of the screen, because an LCD consists of many more layers and is therefore much thicker. New technology has been applied to the new ZH8 model so that the sound comes from the edge next to the screen without any speakers being visible.

The ZH8 will be sold in 75″ and 85″ sizes. They are equipped with a full array local dimming backlight for a nicer HDR display. HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision formats are supported. True to tradition, Sony has not disclosed how many zones the false-backlight counts; we will therefore have to count them ourselves if we have a review model to borrow. We will also know what the maximum brightness is, because Sony never makes any statements about these kinds of specifications.

The ZH8 is beautifully finished and has a sleek design. The edges around the screen are made of metal and the feet on both sides of the housing are also made of luxuriously finished metal. The feet can also be mounted closer to the center, so that the ZH8 can be placed on a somewhat narrower TV cabinet.

A Sony logo is visible in the middle below the screen. A narrow bulge has been fitted underneath, containing the infrared receiver and a status LED. Two microphones have also been placed here to be able to operate the TV remotely by means of speech. The voice assistant used is that of Google, because the TV runs on Android TV. If you prefer not to have the TV constantly listening in your house, you can switch off the microphones in the menu. The voice assistant can then still be used by using the appropriate button on the remote control.

The microphone in the remote control can not only be used with the voice assistant, it can also be used to automatically adjust the speaker system to the acoustics of your viewing room. This option has been on LG televisions for a while, but with those devices the measurement does not seem to have any influence on the final sound. Let’s hope Sony’s implementation is better.

The remote control has been given a handy function this year in the form of illuminated buttons for use in the dark. We have seen this more often with remote controls of high-end televisions, but we have never seen it as beautiful as with Sony. You don’t have to press a button for it. There is an ambient light sensor in the remote, so that the lighting only turns on in the dark. Switching on happens automatically after you pick it up, because there is also a motion sensor. The lighting switches off automatically after seven seconds.

The most striking new feature is of course the audio system on the ZH8. This has support for Dolby Atmos. We haven’t been able to listen to any Atmos content, but we don’t have any illusions that the audio system can actually reproduce surround sound. What it does well, and we were able to listen to it in an enclosed space, is to make you think that the sound is actually coming from the screen.

The ZH8 has two woofers on the back, incorrectly called subwoofers by Sony, and a pair of broadband speakers at the bottom that have two voice coils each. In addition, there are two ‘frame tweeters’ that are mounted diagonally behind the edges on the sides at three-quarters of the screen height. They are a pair of piezo tweeters that push against a specially made bulge on the inside of the aluminum profiles by means of a spring. This transfers the vibrations to the edges next to the screen, which in turn vibrate the air.