Sony X90L/X90CL Calibration Settings

We used the following calibration settings to review the 65-inch Sony X90L (XR-65X90L), and for the most part, we expect them to apply to the 55-inch (XR-55X90L), 75-inch (XR-75X90L), 85-inch (XR-85X90L), and 98-inch (XR-98X90L) models as well. These settings should apply to most types of content, except for gaming or use as a PC monitor, which require a few additional changes, listed below.

These settings are meant to provide a starting point; they're not meant to be copied 1:1. They provide the most accurate image in a dark or moderately-lit room, but you should adjust them to match your preferences and viewing conditions.

For SDR content, you can choose a few different preset picture modes. We used the 'Custom' Picture Mode because it's the most accurate out of the box and allows for the most customization. You should adjust the Brightness to your specific viewing conditions; changing this doesn't impact the overall picture quality.

You can adjust a few settings on the Picture settings page to optimize the image to your preference. We set the Contrast to '90', Gamma to '0', and Black level to '50'. For our calibration, Black adjust and Adv contrast enhancer were disabled, but you should adjust these to your liking. Auto local dimming controls the local dimming feature, and we set it to 'High', and we set Peak luminance to 'High' for a brighter image. We also used the 'Expert 1' Color temperature because it's closest to the target color temperature.

In the Clarity tab, we set Sharpness to '60' for low resolution content. We also left Reality creation disabled for most of our testing, but you can enable it when watching lower-resolution content, as it can help to improve the image quality. Random noise reduction, Digital noise reduction, and Smooth gradation were also left disabled as they can cause a loss of fine details in higher-quality content.

To set HDR so it's automatically enabled, set HDR Mode to 'Auto' in the Video Signal tab. When you start playing HDR content, a small HDR icon appears in the picture settings menu. When HDR is enabled, some settings change automatically, including the Brightness, which increases to 'Max.' We used the 'Custom' Picture Mode for HDR, the 'Expert 2' Color temperature, and left the other settings as-is. Adjust the settings to find the image you find is best. We set the HDR tone mapping setting to 'Gradation Preferred' but set it to 'Brightness Preferred' if you want a brighter image.

When watching Dolby Vision content, you choose between 'Dolby Vision Bright', 'Dolby Vision Dark', and 'Vivid'. 'Dolby Vision Bright' is the most accurate, but choose whichever you prefer.

The following are the old results of calibrating the white balance of our unit to 6,500K in HDR using the 2-point method. We don't publish the values we used for our new 20-point calibration.

They are provided for reference and shouldn't be copied as the calibration values vary per individual unit, even for the same model and size as the TV we reviewed, due to manufacturing tolerances. If you want to try them, you'll need to enter all values shown, as all of them are active at the same time. If you have worse picture quality, simply reset them to the default values.

For HDR to work from external devices, you need to adjust the HDMI Signal Format accordingly. HDMI ports 1 and 2 support HDMI 2.0, so they're limited in the bandwidth they support. However, HDMI ports 3 & 4 have four different HDMI Signal Format options you can choose from:

• Standard format: Limits the bandwidth to HDMI 1.4. Use this for older devices that don't need the extra bandwidth, like DVD players, cable boxes, or the PS3 and Xbox 360, as using a higher setting may result in compatibility issues.
• Enhanced format: Uses the full bandwidth of the selected port. HDMI 1 and 2 have HDMI 2.0 bandwidth, which is good for older gaming consoles like the PS4, Xbox One, or Blu-rays. HDMI 3 and 4 have HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, which is ideal for current-gen gaming consoles, PCs, and other HDMI 2.1 devices.
• Enhanced format (Dolby Vision): Meant for Dolby Vision content, like from streaming devices like a Roku stick or Apple TV, or Blu-ray players. It limits the refresh rate with 4k signals to 60Hz, so if you want to use the TV for high-frame-rate gaming and the game doesn't support Dolby Vision, make sure you don't have this setting selected.
• Enhanced format (VRR): Enable this when gaming and you want the VRR support.

Although we disable most motion settings for most of our tests, you should adjust these to whatever looks best. Some settings, like motion interpolation, may need to be adjusted depending on the specific content you're watching.

If you want to enable motion interpolation, set CineMotion to 'High', Motionflow to 'Custom,' adjust the Smoothness and Clearness slider to your preferred settings. The Clearness slider adjusts the Sony X90L's backlight strobing feature, which always flickers at 120Hz.

The Sony X90L automatically removes judder from 24p sources, like a Blu-ray player or an external streaming device with a 'Match Frame Rate' feature. For 60p/i signals, like a cable box or from the built-in streaming apps, you have to set Smoothness and Clearness to their minimum and set CineMotion to 'High' to remove judder.

From the base SDR and HDR settings, very few changes are required for a great gaming experience. When you start gaming, switching to the Game Mode is best to get the lowest input lag and use the same settings for SDR or HDR. Enable Auto Picture Mode so the TV automatically switches into Game Mode when you start playing a game. There's also a new game bar that makes it easy to change gaming-related settings, including enabling/disabling VRR or the motion blur reduction feature. Like many gaming monitors, you can adjust the gamma in shadows to make it easier to spot other players (black equalizer) or add a virtual crosshair. Note that the variable refresh rate feature has to be disabled for the Motion blur reduction to be available.

For clear text from a PC, make sure you're using either Game Mode or the 'Graphics' Picture Mode and that you set HDMI Enhanced Format to 'Enhanced Format' for the input you're using. Both modes offer low input lag and display chroma 4:4:4 properly, which is important for text clarity.

The Sony X90L supports eARC, or enhanced audio return channel, on HDMI port 3, so you can pass high-quality audio from a connected player, like a Blu-ray player or cable box, to a compatible receiver. To enable it, enable eARC Mode, set Digital Audio Out to 'Auto 1', and set Pass through mode to 'Auto', all from the Audio Output settings.

One of the first things we did was disable Power saving, as we didn't want the TV to adjust the image during testing. We also disabled the Ambient light sensor feature.

The Sony X90L has a few accessibility features, and the settings are available in the Accessibility section. You can enable and customize Captions, Audio description, High contrast text, and Text to speech, to name a few.