Back in July 2020, Sony launched a new campaign for its Bravia TV range entitled ‘Ready For PlayStation 5’. This was designed to highlight the models in Sony’s 2020 TV range that were capable of handling the next generation gaming features being promised by the then still-to-be-launched new PS5 console. Now, though, the support pages on some territories of Sony website, backed up by multiple confirmations from Sony’s US eSupport team, suggest that the TVs Sony highlighted as being Ready For PlayStation 5 may actually not be Ready For PlayStation 5 at all.
The only 2020 Bravia TV models picked out by Sony’s PS5 campaign as being capable of handing the next-gen gaming features of 4K at 120Hz, variable refresh rates (VRR), and automatic low latency mode (ALLM) switching were the X900H (US)/XH90 (Europe) series. However, the support for these features wasn’t available at the time the Ready For PlayStation 5 campaign launched; it needed to be added via firmware updates.
The 4K/120Hz update has now gone live. However, the VRR and ALLM updates are still outstanding. And as understandably impatient X900H/XH90 owners recently spotted, the promised VRR and ALLM support for their TVs suddenly seems to have vanished from the HDMI 2.1 feature support page of a number of Sony regional websites - including the US and France.
The Sony XH90/X900H range's HDMI 2.1 features should mean that it's Ready For PlayStation 5 - ... [+]
Photo: Sony XH90 (Sony)If you want to check this for yourself, here’s the link to the relevant HDMI feature support page on Sony’s US website.
This prompted concerned X900H/XH90 owners (who in many cases bought their TVs precisely because of their promised PS5 support) to contact Sony’s customer support channels. And unfortunately multiple US customer service responses have confirmed that plans to add VRR and ALLM to X900H/XH90 models have indeed been cancelled.
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If this assertion by Sony’s US customer service department turns out to be correct, then it seems Sony could have a pretty serious problem on its hands given how loudly it’s pushed the X900H’s PS5 capabilities.
On the other hand
Confusingly, though, Sony’s territories around the world aren’t currently all singing from the same hymn sheet. On Sony’s UK website, for instance, the HDMI 2.1 feature support page states that the XH90 series WILL still be getting VRR and ALLM support. Here’s a link to that if you want to check it out for yourself.
What’s more, Sony customer service agents for France and the UK have both confirmed (though both countries potentially use the same agents/database) over the weekend that VRR and ALLM are still coming to the XH90 range after all.
Also, at the time I’m writing this, if you scan through the Specifications for specific X900H/XH90 models on Sony’s US, UK and French websites, the VRR and ALLM features are still shown as coming via future firmware updates.
Sony's Ready For PlayStation 5 campaign only talks of 4K/120fps support on this advert, but the ... [+]
Photo: Ready For PlayStation 5 Graphic (Sony)The hope has to be, then, that multiple members of Sony’s US eSupport team are mistaken; that the HDMI 2.1 features pages on some Sony websites are incorrect; and that VRR and ALLM support are therefore sill coming to the X900H/XH90 after all.
It’s perhaps worth saying that Sony has previously stated to me that the reason it has been taking so long to add VRR and ALLM to the X900H/XH90 is that it’s been waiting for the official ratification of these features by the HDMI Org. Something that has only just happened. But I guess it’s not completely beyond the bounds of possibility that now the specs have been completed, they’ve suddenly thrown up an issue the X900H/X90H TVs can’t work around.
The potential withdrawal of VRR/ALLM support for the X900H/XH90 has even raised some speculation that the PS5 might now not be getting these features, despite Sony repeatedly saying it would.
I’ve asked Sony for clarification on what’s going on via multiple channels, and will provide an update as soon as I have an official response.
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The Link LonkJanuary 11, 2021 at 06:03AM
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Are Sony’s ‘Ready For PlayStation 5’ TVs Not Really Ready For PlayStation 5? - Forbes
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