Dramaqueen
Member
Motion on a big VA mini LED is the thing I would want settled before spending 85-inch money, and there is a good r/4kTV thread asking exactly that about the Bravia 9 II. The poster wants it mostly for films and series, plus a PS5 and a Switch, liked it in the store, thought the blacks looked excellent, and has heard the usual warnings about smearing and ghosting in games. Fair question, because the in-store demo loop is the worst possible way to judge that.
My take from living with a VA LCD for gaming: the smear is real, but it is specific. You see it most in dark scenes where things move from near black to a mid grey, like a torch sweeping a cave or a camera pan across a night sky, because those pixel transitions are the slow ones. Bright, colourful games mostly hide it. On an OLED next to it the difference is obvious; on its own, plenty of owners never notice. The Switch actually helps here, since a lot of its games are cartoon bright and run at modest frame rates anyway.
The other thing is size. At 85 inches you sit further back or you take in more of the screen with your peripheral vision, and smear is more noticeable in peripheral vision than straight on. That cuts both ways depending on your room.
Where I land: if films are the priority and gaming is a second job, the Bravia 9 II is a sensible choice and the blacks you liked in the store are the real reason to buy it. If competitive shooters at high frame rates are the main use, an OLED will annoy you less, and you give up some of that brightness to get there. Just do not judge it on the demo reel.
My take from living with a VA LCD for gaming: the smear is real, but it is specific. You see it most in dark scenes where things move from near black to a mid grey, like a torch sweeping a cave or a camera pan across a night sky, because those pixel transitions are the slow ones. Bright, colourful games mostly hide it. On an OLED next to it the difference is obvious; on its own, plenty of owners never notice. The Switch actually helps here, since a lot of its games are cartoon bright and run at modest frame rates anyway.
The other thing is size. At 85 inches you sit further back or you take in more of the screen with your peripheral vision, and smear is more noticeable in peripheral vision than straight on. That cuts both ways depending on your room.
Where I land: if films are the priority and gaming is a second job, the Bravia 9 II is a sensible choice and the blacks you liked in the store are the real reason to buy it. If competitive shooters at high frame rates are the main use, an OLED will annoy you less, and you give up some of that brightness to get there. Just do not judge it on the demo reel.
