If you’re a Prime Video viewer with a new 2024 Sony TV, you’re set to get an important free upgrade later this year: auto-calibrated mode for Prime Video. It’s a very similar feature to the Netflix Calibrated Mode that was first rolled out to Sony TVs in 2018, which optimizes the picture for Netflix viewing – as you’d expect, the Prime Video feature is much the same, although it’s specifically for Prime Video.
This isn’t just a picture tweak. The auto-calibration mode can also identify what kind of content you’re watching, so for example it can differentiate between a TV show or movie or a sports stream. That means if you’re watching a movie, it’ll go into the calibrated movie mode, and if you’re watching sports your Sony TV will adjust the brightness and the colour temperature as well as add some motion smoothing –something you don’t want to have in your normal viewing but that you do want in fast-moving sports.
What Prime Video content will auto calibration work with?
According to Amazon, all of it: all of the Prime Video catalog, MGM titles and live sports too. That’s because Prime Video will include a little digital flag in its content to tell your TV what calibration mode to use. There will be eight modes in all, and there will be different presets for LCD and OLED TVs. The feature will also make use of your TV’s light sensors, adjusting the on-screen display in accordance with the current ambient lighting conditions.
Speaking to Sony, FlatPanelsHD asked whether the content will work with both standard and high dynamic range content. The answer from Sony is yes, although with Dolby Vision content the TV will use its normal Dolby Vision processing instead.
The new update will be coming this summer and for the time being will be exclusive to the 2024 Sony TV range, including its A95L QD-OLED TV. It’ll be delivered via a system firmware update and you won’t need to do anything to enable it. If yours is one of the supported TVs, the new feature will be enabled by default.