Android 8.0 Oreo/ 9.0 Pie

[zlays84]

Is it OK to expect Android Oreo on 2017 Sony Android TVs?

[SesioNLive]

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@dutchice wrote:

Hi @zer0ner0,

Since I see you have very specific and content-based questions, I thought of posting a short summary of the most important improvements:

1. Android 8.0 Oreo will certainly improve your current user experience with regards to responsiveness thanks to crucial optimisations compared to previous builds
2. Long standing issues which customers have been asking to resolve, have also been introduced and further refined on the May update, a few examples are:
      ●  Correct selection of picture settings (Color Space, Brightness, etc.) for YouTube HDR playback
      ●  Introduction of DTS passthrough for 3rd-party media player apps such as PLEX, Kodi, VLC, etc.
      ●  Smaller TV Menu Bar footprint allowing more of the main content through
      ●  Expansion of the supported AV formats for USB and network playback
      ●  Fixes for picture posterization in dark content for Dolby Vision on Netflix
      ●  Improvements for random HDMI-CEC based issues for connected devices when TV is in standby
3. Android 8.0 Oreo also adds a number of new optimisation features which app developers such as Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, etc. have now available in order to build further optimisations to their apps. A good real use case example is the latest YouTube app revision 2.06.06 which reduces the use of your TV's limited resources in order to deliver better playback performance. So expect not only existing laggy apps like Google Chromecast to soon make extensive use of the newly available features, but also future apps like Apple TV and Apple TV+ for Sony BRAVIA to also implement the use of these features for optimal user experience.
   
   

Obviously with each update there will always still be unresolved/unintended issues. What customers often forget is that all changes firstly are intended for improving your experience and secondly always have an underlying technical reason. A good example has been the improvement to the behaviour of externally connected devices when TV is in standby mode introduced by Android 8.0 Oreo which inadvertently led to the ARC sound issue. So rest assured that these type of issues will always be addressed in future updates, as there is not such as the perfect update.

Cheers,

Dutchice

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What about:

1) YouTube 2.X runs still very bad on all (aside ATV 3) Sony TVs, 4k 60FPS is lagging / dropping frames like crazy
    (YouTube 1.0 was ok tho)
-> This has already been reported many years ago without any significant improvement

[Kuschelmonschter]

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@SesioNLive  schrieb:

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@dutchice wrote:

Hi @zer0ner0,

Since I see you have very specific and content-based questions, I thought of posting a short summary of the most important improvements:

1. Android 8.0 Oreo will certainly improve your current user experience with regards to responsiveness thanks to crucial optimisations compared to previous builds
2. Long standing issues which customers have been asking to resolve, have also been introduced and further refined on the May update, a few examples are:
      ●  Correct selection of picture settings (Color Space, Brightness, etc.) for YouTube HDR playback
      ●  Introduction of DTS passthrough for 3rd-party media player apps such as PLEX, Kodi, VLC, etc.
      ●  Smaller TV Menu Bar footprint allowing more of the main content through
      ●  Expansion of the supported AV formats for USB and network playback
      ●  Fixes for picture posterization in dark content for Dolby Vision on Netflix
      ●  Improvements for random HDMI-CEC based issues for connected devices when TV is in standby
3. Android 8.0 Oreo also adds a number of new optimisation features which app developers such as Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, etc. have now available in order to build further optimisations to their apps. A good real use case example is the latest YouTube app revision 2.06.06 which reduces the use of your TV's limited resources in order to deliver better playback performance. So expect not only existing laggy apps like Google Chromecast to soon make extensive use of the newly available features, but also future apps like Apple TV and Apple TV+ for Sony BRAVIA to also implement the use of these features for optimal user experience.
   
   

Obviously with each update there will always still be unresolved/unintended issues. What customers often forget is that all changes firstly are intended for improving your experience and secondly always have an underlying technical reason. A good example has been the improvement to the behaviour of externally connected devices when TV is in standby mode introduced by Android 8.0 Oreo which inadvertently led to the ARC sound issue. So rest assured that these type of issues will always be addressed in future updates, as there is not such as the perfect update.

Cheers,

Dutchice

---

What about:

1) YouTube 2.X runs still very bad on all (aside ATV 3) Sony TVs, 4k 60FPS is lagging / dropping frames like crazy
    (YouTube 1.0 was ok tho)
-> This has already been reported many years ago without any significant improvement

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Just another good marketing bla-bla example.

2160p60 content on YouTube indeed still suffers from frame dropping and recurring micro-stuttering. YouTube 2.0 has been released in 2017. Sony/Google still haven't managed to get it right. YouTube 1.0 used way less resources and did a good job on 2160p60.

I am watching Euro League final right now on DAZN. This app is also a major pain. Navigation is so damn laggy. Let's see when those optimizations will arrive at apps...

[zer0ner0]

@stormyuk 

Thanks for the feedback.

The truth is that I have decided to bite the bullet and apply the 6.6510 FW update.

The procedure completed with no errors.

The TV was checked for hours with Netflix, PrimeVideo, Youtube with HDR and SDR. No problem so far.

Pleasant surprise that Youtube HDR is finally properly detected by TV. Also it feels a lot smoother (I am not meaning totally smooth) than before, as already mentioned.

Unpleasant surprise that even though I disable the switch in Channels concerning Sony Select,  OS keeps re-enabling it automatically. I even tried to disable Sony Select from its app properties (as I have done in Nougat), but in vain.

Lastly, I failed to notice the brightness degradation in UI. Mine is as bright as it was in Nougat. No dimming at all.

The evaluation is in proggress (less than 24 hours since installation) and I will report back again.

[stormyuk]

@zer0ner0 Yeh I found no way to remove Sony Select either although the OS seems to run ok tbh on the XG90. How do you find the responsiveness on your XE? I am tempted to update my XE90.

[zer0ner0]

Slightly better than Nougat I think but not much. I will assess the responsiveness issue again, when the TV will have more running hours.

Concerning the UI brightness, I have noticed that in the running apps menu (the one that you get with the ALT+TAB key combination) the settings/picture appears as a running app (if you have previously access it). That was not the case with Nougat where by prolong pressing the HOME button you can access the runnnig apps. I had never seen there the picture app. Moreover, I can recall a user (here or in reddit, I don not remember) mentioning that even the Play Store app looked dimmer for him. Since on this TV you can set a profile for each category (HDMI1, 2..., App (Video), App, Digital TV) I wonder whether now the picture menu being an app "inherits" the picture profile from the App category. Just a thought.

[stormyuk]

Interesting, I don't have a keyboard plugged in to access ALT-TAB but now you mention about the dimming of the UI or not I am not actually convinced mine dims.

[zer0ner0]

I dislike the fact that by pressing HOME button (to access Channels, Settings etc.) the source that you were watching (TV, HDMI, Video etc.) stops completely and does not continue playing in the background. In contrary to Nougat.

[rooobb]

That's true but it can be bypassed using the picture in picture function in the action menu 

[LightFoot]

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@rooobb wrote:

That's true but it can be bypassed using the picture in picture function in the action menu 

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Excellent tip @rooobb 

[zer0ner0]

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@rooobb wrote:

That's true but it can be bypassed using the picture in picture function in the action menu 

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Also, true and I already use this method. But it is a 2-click procedure vs the previous 1-click one.

Minor issue you could say, and you would be right, but simplicity is the goal.