How to prevent and fix image retention for the A80K, A90K and A95K

Sony released three BRAVIA XR 4K OLED television sets in 2022 with the A80K, A90K and A95K. To see how you can prevent, as well as fix, image retention for these screens, you can take a look at this troubleshooting article from Seeking Tech.

How to prevent image retention for A80K, A90K and A95K

In order to prevent your A80K, A90K or A95K from getting image retention, you can try taking the following precautionary steps:

1. To start off, make sure that you turn off the television screen for at least four consecutive hours on a daily basis. This will give the OLED pixels enough time to rest.

2. If possible, avoid watching long videos that have a watermark or logo that stays in the same place of the screen.

If you can’t avoid this situation, then we recommend turning off the television screen or switch to watch a different video, for a few minutes around every hour or so in order to avoid image retention.

3. If you are playing a game with static user interface elements, check to see the game’s setting offer a dynamic option so that the UI will only show up when needed.

Otherwise, you can turn off the screen or switch it to display something else after every hour or so of playing the same game.

4. Any time you aren’t planning to look at your television screen, we recommend that you turn it off.

If you fall asleep easily when watching TV, then you can set up a Sleep Timer by going to Settings > Timers & Clock > Sleep Timer.

5. If your computer, game console, streaming stick or any other connected device have an automatic screen dimming and/or screen saver feature, then we recommend turning these on as it should help prevent any image persistence.

6. Enabling Pixel Shift should also help prevent image retention as this feature will move the image around slightly at fixed intervals. As a result, the pixels won’t stay stuck displaying the same static colors.

As long as you don’t sit really close to the television set, you will most likely not notice any of the shifts.

To enable this feature, you need to go to Settings > Display & Sound > Expert Panel Settings > Pixel Shift.

How to fix image retention for A80K, A90K and A95K

If part of your A80K, A90K or A95K screen is showing image retention, then you can try doing the following in order to fix this problem:

1. The first step you can take is to avoid playing the same game or watching the same video that caused the image retention to appear.

By making the OLED screen display other content, the ghostly image may be able to go away on its own.

2. If the image retention still persists, then you can try turning off your Sony BRAVIA XR 4K OLED television and then leave it off for at least four hours.

3. If the image still hasn’t gone away, then you can try using the Panel Refresh feature. This feature should help refresh the pixels of the OLED.

With that said, Sony suggests that you don’t use it more than once a year as it may shorten the lifespan of your A80K, A90K or A95K. Therefore, we recommend only using Panel Refresh as a last resort if the previous two steps did not resolve your issue.

In order to use this feature, go to Settings > Display & Sound > Expert Panel Settings > Panel Refresh.

Recommended A90K settings you should use for PS5, Xbox Series X and S

In 2022, Sony released the 42” BRAVIA XR A90K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-42A90K) and 48” BRAVIA XR A90K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-48A90K). You can check out this optimization guide to see how you can set up this TV in order to get the most out of your PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, Xbox Series X and/or Xbox Series S.

1. To begin, make sure you connect your game console to your television set. The A90K features four HDMI ports, the first two feature HDMI 2.0 while the last two are HDMI 2.1.

For the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and Xbox Series X, you need to use the HDMI cable that came with your system to connect to either HDMI Port #3 or HDMI Port #4.

The Xbox Series S only comes with a HDMI 2.0 cable. Therefore, you can connect it to any of the four ports on your Sony OLED. Alternatively, you can get a HDMI 2.1 cable for the Series S and then connect it to the third or fourth port.

2. Next, you can turn on your A90K and then make sure that you updated the television screen to the latest firmware.

If you don’t know how to update, then you can follow the steps laid out in this walkthrough.

3. After updating the BRAVIA XR A90K, you then need to head over to your TV’s Settings menu. From there, you first need to go to the Video Signal section by selecting Display & Sound > Picture > Video Signal.

From this section, select the HDMI port number that is currently connected to your console. You then need to change the format to Enhanced Format (VRR).

If you want to play games in Dolby Vision HDR on your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S with the A90K, then you can select Enhanced Format (Dolby Vision) instead. By doing so, however, you will limit the refresh rate of the screen to 60 Hz as you won’t be able to play games at more than 60 frames per second. Therefore, we recommend setting the HDMI format to Enhanced Format (VRR) on your Xbox Series console as more games support 120 Hz unless you really want to try out Dolby Vision for a specific game.

4. You should then go back to the Picture menu. Here, make sure you enable Auto Picture Mode (which will turn on support for Auto Low Latency Mode) as well as set HDR to Auto.

In the same Picture menu, you also need to disable the following:

  • Ambient Light Sensor
  • Light Sensor
  • CineMotion
  • Motionflow

5. Afterwards, go back to the Display & Sound menu and then select Expert Panel Settings. From there, you need to enable Pixel Shift as it will help prevent image retention and screen burn in if you play a game with a lot of static images.

Your A90K should now be fully optimized for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

6. Once you are done with setting up your BRAVIA XR, you should then make sure that you are using the right settings on your console.

If you have a PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition system, then you first need to go to the Settings menu. From there, select Screen and Video > Video Output. You then need to make sure you match the following settings:

  • Resolution: 4K
  • HDR: On When Supported
  • VRR: Automatic
  • 120 Hz Output: Automatic
  • ALLM: Automatic
  • 4K Transfer Rate: Automatic
  • Deep Color Output: Automatic
  • RGB Range: Automatic

Finally, select the Adjust HDR setting from the Video Output menu and then follow the steps that appear over the next several screens in order to optimize your PS5’s HDR output for the A90K.

If you have an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, then you need to open the Settings menu and then select General > TV & display options > Video modes. From there, make sure the following settings are turned on:

  • Allow auto-low latency mode
  • Allow variable refresh rate
  • Allow 4K
  • Allow HDR10

If you want to use Dolby Vision, then you can also enable the Allow Dolby Vision and Dolby Vision for Gaming from the Video modes menu as well.

Afterwards, head back to the TV & display options and make sure you have Resolution set to 4K. You then need to select the Calibrate HDR option from this menu and follow the instructions in the following pages in order to optimize the HDR output for the Xbox Series X or S console for your A90K.

How to prevent the A80K, A90K and A95K screen from auto dimming

If you are using a 2022 Sony 4K OLED, then you may have noticed that the screen is automatically dimming the image by itself. To see how you can potentially prevent this auto-darkening effect, you can take a look at this article from Seeking Tech.

Before we begin, it should be noted these steps will be based on the A80K, A90K and A95K, which include the following models:

  • 55” Sony BRAVIA XR A80K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-55A80K)
  • 65” Sony BRAVIA XR A80K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-65A80K)
  • 77” Sony BRAVIA XR A80K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-77A80K)
  • 42” Sony BRAVIA XR A90K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-42A90K)
  • 48” Sony BRAVIA XR A90K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-48A90K)
  • 55” Sony BRAVIA XR A95K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-55A95K)
  • 65” Sony BRAVIA XR A95K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-65A95K)

1. It is important to state auto dimming is part of the features set for the A80K, A90K and A95K. This function will go into effect when your television detects the whole image, or part of an image, have remained in the same position of the screen.

Sony put this feature in place in order to prevent image retention and screen burn in.

With that said, you can still reduce the frequencies of auto dimming.

2. To stop your screen from darkening automatically, make sure that it isn’t display a static image.

If this can’t be avoided, whether if its due to a logo of a video or the heads-up-display of a videogame, then you can try playing a different content occasionally so that the image won’t stay in place. You can also try turning off your A80K, A90K or A95K for a couple of minutes, especially if you need to do something else and, thus, won’t be able to use the TV.

3. Enabling the Pixel Shift feature may also help. With this function turned on, your OLED will slightly shift the picture, which shouldn’t be noticeable to your naked eye unless you are sitting up close to the screen.

Be shifting the image, the pixels won’t be showing the same colors continuously for an extended length of time. As a result, the screen will be less likely to protect itself from image retention and screen burning by activating the auto dimming feature.

In order to enable Pixel Shift, use your A80K, A90K or A95K to go to Settings > Display & Sound > Expert Panel Settings. From there, make sure you set the Pixel Shift Setting to On.

4. The screen darkening may not be related to image retention and screen burn in protection of your Sony OLED at all.

Instead, you may have the Ambient Light Sensor and Light Sensor settings turned on. These will cause the brightness output of your television set to automatically lower if the light sensor detects that the room lighting has gotten darker.

To disable both of these, you need to use your TV remote and then go to Settings > Display & Sound > Picture. Afterwards, make sure you set the Ambient Light Sensor and Light Sensor settings to Off.

Recommended A80K settings for PS5, Xbox Series X and S

The A80K is an entry level BRAVIA XR 4K OLED television set. To optimize this 2022 Sony TV for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, Xbox Series X and/or Xbox Series S, you can take a look at this optimization guide from Seeking Tech.

This article will be covering the following variants of the A80K series:

  • 55” Sony BRAVIA XR A80K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-55A80K)
  • 65” Sony BRAVIA XR A80K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-65A80K)
  • 77” Sony BRAVIA XR A80K 4K HDR OLED TV (XR-77A80K)

1. To start off, you need to connect your console to the TV. When it comes to the A80K, HDMI Port #1 and #2 are HDMI 2.0 while Port #3 and #4 are HDMI 2.1.

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X support HDMI 2.1 right out of the box as both of these systems come with a HDMI 2.1 cable. Therefore, you need to connect them to the third or fourth HDMI ports of this TV.

The Xbox Series S only comes with a HDMI 2.0 cable. So, you can either use the first or second HDMI ports for this console instead or use a HDMI 2.1 cable to connect the Series S to the third or fourth HDMI ports of the A80K.

2. If you haven’t done so already, make sure you updated the firmware of your BRAVIA XR A80K to get improvements and potentially new features.

You can learn how you can download and install a new version of this TV set with this tutorial.

3. Once your OLED has been updated, use the TV remote again and then go to Settings> Display & Sound > Picture > Video Signal. From there, select the HDMI port that is connected to your gaming console.

For PS5 consoles, make sure that the HDIM port is set to Enhanced Format (VRR).

For the Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S consoles, we recommended setting the HDMI port to Enhanced Format (VRR) as well. If you are planning to use the Dolby Vision HDR format for a supported game, then you can use the Enhanced Format (Dolby Vision) instead.

4. Now, you need to head over to the Settings > Display & Sound > Picture menu.

Here, you need to first enable Auto Picture Mode in order to enable Auto Low Latency Mode. You then need to select the Video Signal option and then set HDR mode to Auto.

5. Return to the Settings > Display & Sound > Picture menu. From there, make sure you disable the Ambient Light Sensor, Light Sensor, CineMotion and Motionflow settings.

6. From the Display & Sound menu, you then need to select Expert Panel Settings.

Afterwards, make sure you turn on the Pixel Shift feature as it helps you avoid any screen burn-in when playing games that have static display elements.

7. You should now be done with setting up the A80K side of the equation.

With that said, you still need to make sure you have the right settings on your console. To start off, update your system to the latest firmware if you haven’t done so already.

8. Next, you need to make sure you have the correct settings enabled and optimized.

If you have a PS5, the you need to go to Settings > Screen and Video > Video Output.

In this menu, you need do the following:

  • Set Resolution to 4K
  • Set HDR to On When Supported
  • Set VRR to Automatic
  • Set 120 Hz Output to Automatic
  • Set ALLM to Automatic
  • Set 4K Transfer Rate to Automatic
  • Set Deep Color Output to Automatic
  • Set RGB Range to Automatic

Select the Adjust HDR and then complete the on-screen steps to calibrate the HDR brightness output for your A80K.

If you have an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, then you need to head over to Settings > General > TV & display options > Video modes menu.

You then need to do the following:

  • Add a check mark to the “Allow auto-low latency mode” box
  • Add a check mark to the “Allow variable refresh rate” box
  • Add a check mark to the “Allow 4K” box
  • Add a check mark to the “Allow HDR10” box
  • If you are planning to use Dolby Vision, then you also need to add a check mark to the “Allow Dolby Vision” and “Dolby Vision for Gaming” boxes as well.

Now, you need to return to the Settings > General > TV & display options menu and then make sure Resolution is set to 4K. Afterwards, select the Calibrate HDR option and then follow the on-screen steps to optimize the HDR brightness output of the console with the A80K.

How to disable crossplay for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Series X and S

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 supports crossplay, a feature that allows you to play online multiplayer matches with players from other platforms.

While this is great if you have friends that play on different systems, it can also be a detriment as players on other platforms may end up having an unfair advantage. This is especially true when playing against PC gamers as the game is easier to hack on computers.

To see how you can disable crossplay for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

Is there an in-game setting to turn off crossplay for MW2 on Xbox Series X and S?

Unlike the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions, there is currently no in-game setting that you can use to disable the crossplay feature on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

With that said, the development team at Infinity Ward could eventually add the feature if there is enough demand (and there are a lot of complaints from the Call of Duty community already). Therefore, you can try contacting them on social media to see if you can get your voices heard. Hopefully, the developer will release a patch that will let you disable this feature.

For now, you have to use the system menus of your console to turn off crossplay multiplayer altogether.

How to turn off crossplay on Series X and S

In order to disable crossplay entirely on your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, we recommend that you take the following steps:

1. To start off, make sure that to close Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on your console.

If you are playing the game currently, then make sure you saved your progress and then press the Xbox logo button on your controller. Inside the Xbox Guide menu, hover over the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 icon and then press the menu button on your controller (this button is the one with three horizontal lines). In the pop-up menu, you can then select the Quit option.

If you have the game suspended in the Quick Resume queue, then you need to press the Xbox button to bring up the Xbox Guide menu. From there, select My Games & Apps. In the Quick Resume section, hover over to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 icon and then press the menu button. In the pop-up menu, you need to select Remove from Quick Resume.

2. With the game closed, head into the Settings menu of your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S. You can do so from the Home menu.

Alternatively, you can also open the Xbox Guide menu, change the tabs until you get to Profile & System and then head into Settings.

3. Inside of Settings, you need to select General from the left column and then Online Safety & Family on the right side.

4. In the General – Online Safety & Family menu, you then need to select the Privacy & Online Safety option.

5. You should now be in the Account – Privacy & Online Safety for [Xbox Live Gamer Tag] menu. Here, you need to select the Xbox Privacy option.

6. In the next screen, you need to select the View Details & Customize option.

7. You should be in the Account – Xbox Privacy for [Xbox Live Gamer Tag] menu. From there, select Communication & Multiplayer.

8. You should arrive at your final destination, the Account – Communication & Multiplayer for [Xbox Live Gamer Tag] menu. Here, you need to select the drop-down menu underneath the You can join cross-network play column.

9. In the drop-down menu, select the Block option.

10. Open Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S again.

You should now only match with other Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S players when playing online matches.

Recommended X95K settings you should use for PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S

The X95K is the premium model from the 2022 BRAVIA XR 4K Mini LED lineup. To see how you can optimize this Sony television set for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

Before we begin, it should be noted that this guide should be covering all three of the following screen sizes:

  • 65” Sony BRAVIA XR X95K 4K HDR Mini LED TV with Smart Google TV (XR-65X95K)
  • 75” Sony BRAVIA XR X95K 4K HDR Mini LED TV with Smart Google TV (XR-75X95K)
  • 85” Sony BRAVIA XR X95K 4K HDR Mini LED TV with Smart Google TV (XR-85X95K)

1. The first step you should take is to make sure that your television set has been updated to the latest firmware. A new update may contain added features as well as enhancements.

If you don’t know how to update your X95K, then you can follow the steps from this tutorial.

2. Next, connect your PS5, Series X or Series S to either HDMI Port #3 or HDMI Port #4. These are the only two ports that contain HDMI 2.1.

With the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and Xbox Series X, you can use the HDMI 2.1 cable that came with your console. For the Xbox Series S, you need to get your own HDMI 2.1 cable as this system only comes with a HDMI 2.0 cable.

3. You then need to change the Video Signal format.

To do so, open the Settings menu of your X95K by using its remote. From there, navigate to Display & Sound > Picture > Video Signal.

Inside the HDMI Signal Format menu, select the HDMI port that is connected to your console. Afterwards, make sure you change the format to Enhanced Format (VRR).

If you want to play games in the Dolby Vision HDR format on your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, then you can change the format Enhanced Format (Dolby Vision). By doing so, however, you will limit the refresh rate to 60 Hz on your X95K. Since more games support 120 frames per second than Dolby Vision, we recommend setting the format for your Series X or Series S console to Enhanced Format (VRR).

4. Return to the home page of the Settings menu. From there, head over to Display & Sound > Picture and then make sure that Auto Picture Mode is activated. By doing so, the game mode display settings will automatically turn on when you are playing a game.

5. In the same Picture menu, make sure that the following features are disabled:

  • Ambient Light Sensor
  • Light Sensor
  • CineMotion
  • Motionflow

Ambient Light Sensor and Light Sensor will end up messing with the brightness output of your X95K. CineMotion and Motionflow will also make your game look weird in motion.

6. Afterwards, select Video Signal from the Picture menu and then make sure that HDR is set to Auto.

You should now be done with setting up your Sony BRAVIA XR X95K for your console.

7. After optimizing your television set, you should also make sure that your gaming console is properly set up for the X95K as well.

On the PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition system, open the Settings menu and then navigate to Screen and Video > Video Output. In the Video Output screen, make sure that the Resolution is set to 2160p (which is 4K) and HDR is set to On When Supported. You should also set the following settings to Automatic if you haven’t done so already:

  • VRR
  • 120 Hz Output
  • ALLM
  • 4K Transfer Rate
  • Deep Color Output
  • RGB Range

In the same Video Output screen, head into Adjust HDR. You then need to follow the on-screen guide to calibrate the PS5 HDR brightness out for the X95K.

With the Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, you need to head into settings and then navigate over to General > TV & display options > Video modes. From there, make sure that you enable the following options:

  • Allow auto-low latency mode
  • Allow variable refresh rate
  • Allow 4K
  • Allow HDR10

If you are planning to use Dolby Vision, then you need to check the Allow Dolby Vision and Dolby Vision for Gaming as well. Furthermore, make sure you disable the Auto HDR feature.

Next, go to the General > TV & display options menu. In there, make sure that the resolution is set to 4K and then head over to Calibrate HDR. You then need to follow the on-screen guide to calibrate the HDR brightness output of your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S for the X95K.

You should now be done setting up the console for your Sony Mini LED TV. With that said, you may still need to make minor adjustments on a game-by-game basis.

Fortunately, most modern games usually offer display options such as brightness and contrast sliders. Therefore, you won’t have to change the general settings on your TV or console.

How to mute Xbox logo startup sound when turning on Xbox Series X and S

When you turn on your Series S or Xbox Series S, you will see the animated Xbox logo appear on your television screen or monitor. This animation is accompanied by a sound effect. This audio can be unpleasant to hear and/or distracting to others as it is rather loud.

Thankfully, a recently console update added the ability to mute the startup sound when the Xbox logo appears. To see how you can use this feature, you can follow the steps laid out in this article from Seeking Tech.

1. Before anything else, make sure you updated your Series X or Series S console. As we stated above, the ability to disable the startup sound was just recently added via a new firmware.

In order to manually update, turn on your gaming system and then make sure you connect it to the Internet.

Afterwards, open the Settings menu on your console. If you can’t find Settings from the home screen, then you can press the Xbox button to bring up the guide menu. From there, scroll over to the Profile & System tab and then select Settings.

Inside of Settings, you need to first select System on the left column. Afterwards, you need to select Updates. The System – Updates menu will then let you know if there is a new console update available to download and install.

2. With the Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S updated, head back to the Settings menu.

3. In the Settings menu, you first need to select General from the options available in the left column.

4. On the right side, you then need to select the Volume & Audio Output option.

5. You should now be in the General – Volume & Audio Output menu. Here, you need to select Additional Options underneath the Advanced column.

6. After getting to the General – Additional Options menu, make sure that the Mute Startup Sounds box underneath the Power & Startup section is checked. This should mute the sound effect when the Xbox boot up animation appears.

7. Once you are done, back out of the Settings menu.

The next time you turn on your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S from a cold boot, you should no longer hear the startup sound effect playing during the Xbox logo boot up animation.

How to fix A Plague Tale: Requiem quick resume issues

While you can use quick resume when playing A Plague Tale: Requiem on your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S console, this feature can be very buggy.

Instead, of putting you exactly where you left off, the game may end up crashing or go through its cold boot sequence. You may also get the following message:

“We need to close this game or app. Your saved data has changed since you last played on the Xbox, so we need to close A Plague Tale: Requiem. When you launch it again, your data will be up to date.”

As a result, you may end up losing your progress. Since the automatic save checkpoints are few and far between in this game, the buggy quick resume feature can add a lot of frustrating to your gaming experience.

To see how you can potentially fix this issue with the Xbox Series X and S versions of A Plague Tale: Requiem, you can take a look at this troubleshooting article from Seeking Tech.

1. The first step you can take is to make sure that you didn’t put the game in quick resume while it is loading or saving; otherwise, you may cause it to crash when you try to play it again.

You can tell that A Plague Tale: Requiem is loading as you should see a white splash screen. When the game is saving your progress, you should see a diamond-shaped animation located on the bottom right corner of the screen.

2. When you put A Plague Tale: Requiem into quick resume, we recommend that you suspend the game first before you turn off your console, restart your console or put your console in sleep mode.

In order to do so, press the Xbox button on the controller while you are playing the game. Afterwards, select the Home option from the Xbox Guide menu.

Once you have returned to the home menu, you should be able to safely shut down, reset or put the system in rest mode.

3. You can also try closing other games that you have in the Quick Resume queue. In order to do so, you need to take the following steps:

  • Press the Xbox logo button on your controller to bring up the Xbox Guide menu.
  • In the guide menu, select My Games & Apps.
  • Inside the My Games & Apps section, you should see a list of games that are currently in the Quick Resume queue.
  • Hover over the game that you want to remove from the queue and then press the menu button on your controller. For the uninformed, this button has the three horizontal lines.
  • In the pop-up menu, you then need to select Remove from Quick Resume.
  • Make sure that A Plague Tale: Requiem is the only game remaining in the Quick Resume queue.

4. A new console update and/or patch update may help fix the quick resume crashes.

To see if there are new console updates available, go to the Settings menu of your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S. From there, select System > Updates.

To see if there is a new patch available for A Plague Tale: Requiem, press the Xbox button to open the Xbox Guide menu. From there, hover over the game and then press the menu button on the controller. In the pop-up menu, you need to select Manage Game and Add-Ons. In the next screen, select Updates.

Sony X90K recommended PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S settings

The X90K is a full array 4K LED that came out in 2022. You can check out this guide at Seeking Tech to see what recommend settings for this Sony television set you should be using when it comes to playing games on your PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, Xbox Series X and/or Xbox Series S.

This article should cover all currently available screen size options of the X90K, which includes the following models:

  • 55″ Sony 4K Ultra HD TV X90K Series BRAVIA XR Full Array LED Smart Google TV (XR-55X90K)
  • 65″ Sony 4K Ultra HD TV X90K Series BRAVIA XR Full Array LED Smart Google TV (XR-65X90K)
  • 75″ Sony 4K Ultra HD TV X90K Series BRAVIA XR Full Array LED Smart Google TV (XR-75X90K)
  • 85″ Sony 4K Ultra HD TV X90K Series BRAVIA XR Full Array LED Smart Google TV (XR-85X90K)

1. To start off, we recommend checking to see if there is a new firmware update available for your television set. This is because a recent software helped improved the peak HDR brightness output when Variable Refresh Rate was enabled. There may be other improvements available as well as may optimize the display of PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S games.

If you don’t know how to update the firmware of your X90K, then you can follow the steps in this tutorial.

2. You should also check to see if there is a new firmware update on your console as well as it may come with enhancements and or improvements.

3. Once you are sure that both your TV and gaming system has been updated, make sure that you are using a HDMI 2.1 cable to connect your console to either the HDMI #3 or HDMI #4 ports of your X90K.

Keep in mind that the HDMI #1 and HDMI #2 ports are only HDMI 2.0. Therefore, you need to use the third and fourth numbered ports instead in order to take advantage of the extra video signal bandwidth.

4. Using the remote of your Sony LED television set, you need to head over to the Settings menu and then select Display & Sound > Picture > Video Signal. Afterwards, select the HDMI port that is currently connected to the gaming system.

Once you get to the HDMI Signal Format menu, make sure you select the Enhanced Format (VRR) option if you have a PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition console.

For the Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, you can select Enhanced Format (Dolby Vision) if you are planning to play games that are compatible with the Dolby Vision format. If you don’t plan on using this feature, then you can choose Enhanced Format (VRR) instead.

5. Go back to the first page of Settings on your X90K and then go to Display & Sound > Picture. Afterwards, you need to enable Auto Picture Mode so that you can activate the Auto Low Latency Mode.

With this mode, the TV will automatically switch over to the game mode when you are playing your PS5, Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S.

6. From the same Picture menu, you need to disable the Ambient Light Sensor, Light Sensor, CineMotion and Motionflow features.

Ambient Light Sensor and Light Sensor may cause your X90K to look dimmer. CineMotion and Motionflow could add various visual artifacts and add input lag.

7. Also in the Picture menu, go to Video Signal and then select HDR Mode. Afterwards, you need to select Auto.

You should now be done with optimizing your X90K for the new consoles.

8. On the console side, you need to make sure that you are using the right settings as well.

On the PS5 or PS5 Digital Edition system, you need to open the Settings menu and then head over to Screen and Video > Video Output.

From there, you need to set Resolution to 2160p and then HDR to On When Supported. You also need to make sure that the VRR, 120 Hz Output, ALLM, 4K Transfer Rate, Deep Color Output and RGB Range settings are all set to Automatic.

Finally, select Adjust HDR from the Video Output menu. Afterwards, follow the instructions that appear on screen to match the HDR brightness output of your PlayStation 5 to your X90K.

On the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, go to the Settings menu. From there, head over to General > TV & display options > Video modes.

Inside the Video modes menu, you need to make sure that the following boxes are checked:

  • Allow auto-low latency mode
  • Allow variable refresh rate
  • Allow 4K
  • Allow HDR10
  • Allow Dolby Vision
  • Dolby Vision for Gaming (if you are planning to use this HDR format)

You should also make sure that Auto HDR is unchecked; otherwise, non-HDR games may end up looking a little off in some cases.

You then need to back out to the TV & display options menu. From there, make sure that Resolution is set to 4K. Furthermore, you need to select the Calibrate HDR option and then follow the on-screen instructions to optimize the HDR brightness output.

What to do if the Xbox Series X or S Guide Menu is not showing up

By pressing the Xbox logo button on your controller, you should be able to get the Xbox Guide menu to show up. If you don’t see the quick menu appear, then you can check out this troubleshooting article to see how you can potentially fix your problem.

1. The guide menu issue may be related to the game you are currently playing. In this case, the first step you can take is to restart your console.

In order to do so, you need to press and hold the Xbox button on your controller. You should then see a “What do you want to do?” notification. From there, select the Restart Console option.

After restarting your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, press the Xbox button to see if you are able to get the Guide menu to show up.

2. If you still can’t get the Guide menu to appear, then you can try quitting the game that you are currently playing. In order to do so, you need to do the following:

  • In the Home menu of your Series X or Series S, hover over the game that you currently have suspended.
  • Next, you need to press the Menu button, which has the three horizontal lines, on your controller.
  • In the pop-up menu, select the Quit option to completely close the game.
  • Afterwards, press the Xbox button to see if you are able to bring up the Guide menu.

3. You can also try clearing the cache of your console by doing a power cycle. In order to do so, you can take the following steps:

  • To start off, you need to turn off your console. You can do so, by long pressing the Xbox button on your controller and then select the Turn Off Console option. Alternatively, you can press the Xbox power button located on the console to turn it off.
  • Once the system has been shut down, unplug the power cord.
  • With your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S unplugged, you then need to wait for at least 2 minutes.
  • After at least 2 minutes have passed, you can plug the power cord back into the console.
  • Next, you need to power on the gaming system again.
  • Once the Series X or Series S have booted up, trying pressing the Xbox button to see if you are able to bring up the Guide menu.

4. You can also try connecting another controller and then pressing its Xbox button. If the other game pad works, then there may be a problem with your current controller.