We need to mention Sony A80L and A80K as our options if we are talking about basic 4K OLED TV from Sony. Sony A80L is introduced as part of Sony’s 2023 TV lineup while Sony A80K comes from Sony’s 2022 TV lineup. So, we can call Sony A80L as the successor of Sony A80K. Sony A80L comes with 4 screen size options: 83-Inch (XR-83A80L), 77-Inch (XR-77A80L), 65-Inch (XR-65A80L) and 55-Inch (XR- 55A80L) while Sony A80K is offered in 3 screen size options: 77-Inch (XR-77A80K), 65-Inch (XR-65A80K) and 55-Inch (XR-55A80K). In this article, we will talk about the key difference between Sony A80L and A80K so that we can find out whether Sony A80L is a better successor series.
Sony A80L Introduction
Sony A80L
Sony A80L comes with OLED display that can deliver perfect black and infinite contrast as its pixels can be completely powered off and dimmed autonomously. The contrast is also enhanced by XR OLED Contrast Pro that brings higher contrast ratio for OLED panel, Pixel Contrast Booster that boost the peak brightness of OLED pixels, XR HDR remaster that reproduce more natural contrast and Dynamic Contrast Enhancer that adjust the contrast according to the environment’s lighting condition.
OLED panel of Sony A80L is completed with XR Triluminos Pro that can bring Wide Color Gamut so that we can enjoy rich and accurate color details on the screen of this TV. We can also find XR Smoothing, Precision Color Mapping and Live Color Technology as the additional color technology of Sony A80L. XR Smoothing can bring more natural colors, Precision Color Mapping can optimize color individually in real time while Live Color Technology brings more lively color details.
XR 4K Upscaling is also integrated with 4K UHD resolution of Sony A80L so that we can enjoy excellent picture clarity not only from original 4K content sources but also from non 4K contents that upscaled into near 4K picture quality. XR Clear Image, Dual database processing and XR Super Resolution are also integrated as the additional clarity technology of Sony A80L. XR Clear Image can produce better textures and details, Dual database processing can reduce on-screen noise while XR Super Resolution can bring more realistic textures on the screen of this TV.
Cognitive Processor XR is the picture processor integrated with Sony A80L. It’s able to optimize the color, clarity and contrast of the picture delivered on the screen of this TV. HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision are already supported by Sony A80L so that we can enjoy enhanced details and expanded contrast from wide range of HDR content sources.
The motion technology of Sony A80L is XR OLED Motion based on 120Hz Native refresh rate. It’s able to bring fluid motion images for our favorite action movies and sports as well as minimum input lag when we use this TV as our gaming monitor. Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) is also integrated with Sony A80L to bring more immersive gaming experience.
Google TV is the operating system integrated with Sony A80L. It can bring wide range of premium entertainment from our favorite content providers with 802.11ac wireless provides easy connection to our home network. Google TV is also connected to Google Play Store that allows us to run wide collection of smart apps. With ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV), we can also enjoy 4K HDR OTA (Over the Air) entertainment on the screen of this TV. Sony A80L comes with RMF-TX810U voice remote that can help us easily control this TV. We can also use Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit/AirPlay 2 to control this TV since they are already supported.
The speaker system integrated with Sony A80L is Acoustic Surface Audio+ with 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W audio power output. It’s already able to bring rich and quite powerful sound experience for this TV. We can also setup additional AV system with eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) of this TV to enjoy higher quality audio formats.
The table below can summarize the key specs and features of Sony A80L.
| Sony A80L | |||||
| Brand | Sony | ||||
| Introduced | 2023 | ||||
| Screen Size |
|
||||
| Resolution | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160) | ||||
| Display Technology | OLED | ||||
| Dimming Technology | Pixel Level Dimming | ||||
| Clarity Technology |
|
||||
| Contrast Technology |
|
||||
| Color Technology |
|
||||
| HDR Support |
|
||||
| Motion Technology | XR OLED Motion (120Hz Native) | ||||
| Gaming Technology |
|
||||
| Picture Processor | Cognitive Processor XR | ||||
| Smart TV Platform | Google TV (Android TV) | ||||
| Remote Control | RMF-TX810U (Voice Remote) | ||||
| Control Support |
|
||||
| Built-in Wifi | 802.11ac (WiFi 5) | ||||
| ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) | YES | ||||
| Sound Technology |
|
||||
| HDMI/USB | 4/2 | ||||
| Price |
|
Sony A80K Introduction
Sony A80K
Sony A80K is introduced as basic 4K OLED TV series from Sony’s 2022 TV lineup. It comes with OLED panel that brings pixel level dimming to deliver perfect black with infinite contrast as its pixels can be completely powered off and dimmed autonomously. The contrast is also enhanced by OLED XR Contrast Pro and Pixel Contrast Booster that can bring better peak brightness of OLED and enhance the contrast ratio of each pixel as well as XR HDR remaster Dynamic Contrast Enhancer that bring more realistic contrast and Dynamic Contrast Enhancer that adjust the contrast according to the environment lighting condition.
OLED Panel of Sony A80K is also completed with Triluminos Pro that can deliver Wide Color Gamut so that we can enjoy rich and accurate color details on the screen of this TV. Sony A80K is also completed with XR Smoothing that can create more natural color details and Live Color Technology that can bring more lively color details.
XR 4K Upscaling is integrated with 4K UHD resolution of Sony A80K that allows us to enjoy excellent picture clarity not only from original 4K content sources but also from non 4K contents that upscaled into near 4K picture quality. The clarity is also enhanced by Dual database processing that can reduce on-screen noise and XR Super Resolution that can bring better accuracy and details.
Cognitive Processor XR is the picture processor integrated with Sony A80K that can optimize the color, clarity and contrast of the picture delivered on the screen of this TV. We can enjoy enhanced details and expanded contrast from wide range of HDR content sources on the screen of Sony A80K as it already supports HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG.
Google TV is the operating system integrated with Sony A80K. It’s able to deliver wide range of premium entertainment from our favorite content providers while also allowing us to run wide collection of smart apps with access to Play Store. With 802.11ac wireless, we can easily connect this TV to our home network. We can also enjoy 4K HDR OTA (Over the Air) entertainment on the screen of Sony A80K since it already comes with ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV). We can conveniently control Sony A80K with its included Voice remote control as well as Google TV and Apple HomeKit/AirPlay 2 that already supported.
Acoustic Surface Audio+ with 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W audio power output is already integrated as the built-in speaker system of Sony A80K. It’s able to deliver rich and quite powerful sound quality. It’s also a good idea to setup more advanced AV system with eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) to enjoy higher quality audio formats.
We can summarize the key specs and features of Sony A80K with the table below.
| Sony A80K | ||||
| Brand | Sony | |||
| Introduced | 2022 | |||
| Screen Size |
|
|||
| Resolution | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160) | |||
| Display Technology | OLED | |||
| Dimming Technology | Pixel Level Dimming | |||
| Clarity Technology |
|
|||
| Contrast Technology |
|
|||
| Color Technology |
|
|||
| HDR Support |
|
|||
| Motion Technology | XR OLED Motion (120Hz Native) | |||
| Gaming Technology |
|
|||
| Picture Processor | Cognitive Processor XR | |||
| Smart TV Platform | Google TV (Android TV) | |||
| Remote Control | Standard Voice Remote | |||
| Control Support |
|
|||
| Built-in Wifi | 802.11ac (WiFi 5) | |||
| ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) | YES | |||
| Speaker System |
|
|||
| HDMI/USB | 4/2 | |||
| Price |
|
Sony A80L and A80K Key Differences
There are few differences between Sony A80L and A80K after we look at their table of specs and features. The first key difference between those two TV series comes from XR Clear Image that we can find in Sony A80L. XR Clear Image is able to deliver better clarity and sharpness by utilizing AI technology. The second difference comes from Precision Color Mapping integrated with Sony A80L. Precision Color Mapping can optimize colors individually in real time.
As the successor series, Sony A80L is normally offered at a higher price than Sony A80K for similar screen size option. Before we can find the latest price difference between Sony A80L and A80K, it’s important to check the price of Sony A80L and A80K as TV prices often change from time to time.
The key differences between Sony A80L and A80K can be summarized with the table below.
| Sony A80L | Sony A80K | |
| XR Clear Image | YES | NO |
| Precision Color Mapping | YES | NO |
| Price | Higher | Lower |
Is Sony A80L a Better Successor Series?
Sony A80L is introduced as the successor series of Sony A80K. We can find that there are few improvements in Sony A80L as we have talked about above that makes it a better successor series. Sony A80L comes with XR Clear Image that brings better clarity and details as well as Precision Color Mapping that brings more accurate color details. But Sony A80L is indeed normally offered at the higher price than Sony A80L so that we need to prepare more budget for it.
| Sony A80L Prices | |
| 83-Inch (XR-83A80L) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
| 77-Inch (XR-77A80L) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
| 65-Inch (XR-65A80L) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
| 55-Inch (XR-55A80L) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
Sony A80K is the predecessor series of Sony A80K. It’s basically a good alternative choice of Sony A80L if you have more limited budget. It indeed doesn’t come with XR Clear Image and Precision Color Mapping but we can find that Sony A80K is basically still able to deliver good picture clarity and rich color details on its screen. So, if you have less budget and you don’t mind with a little less excellent clarity and color, then Sony A80K is a good choice for you.
| Sony A805K Prices | |
| 77-Inch (XR-77A80K) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
| 65-Inch (XR-65A80K) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |
| 55-Inch (XR-55A80K) | Check Today’s Price (Walmart.com)… |