You asked: Sony’s big move has worried fans, as well as anti-glare in the dark room

On today’s episode of You Asked: Sony’s new Bravia partnership with TCL raises big questions about pricing, quality, and data privacy. We explain what it means, whether the new QD-OLED is coming this year, and how anti-glare screens actually work in a dark room.

Sony and the new Bravia Inc

@charltonium4083 asks: Here’s one concern that can be discussed in the video or in any comments: Which country will have primary jurisdiction over the new Bravia inc? Will it be China (TCL), or Japan (Sony)? Back in 2020, Homeland Security discovered that TCL may be directly funded by the CCP and that TVs have back doors to allow data to be breached by the government (thus allowing it to spy on customers). This has also been a major problem for other companies such as TikTok and DJI, although little has been published with them until the USA has repeatedly threatened to ban all DJI products. If TCL owns 51% of the new Bravia inc, mostly on the manufacturing and business side, does that mean they also have all the customer data, and that CCP would have more ability to screen customers for new Bravia TVs going forward? I wouldn’t worry too much if the customer data is handled by Sony (under Japanese territory).

OK, a loaded question there with some bias, to say the least. But we will go into everything.

First, Bravia Inc will be located in Tokyo, Japan within Sony’s headquarters. So that’s where the business will be. Production is likely to take place where TCL has its major locations, such as China, Mexico, and Vietnam. One of their biggest advantages is the large production facilities that keep efficiency high and prices low.

Regarding your espionage concerns, you may be surprised to know that last month, March 2026, a Texas judge dismissed the Texas Attorney General’s lawsuit accusing TCL of tracking user habits without consent and selling that data to advertisers. So while our online privacy is always an ongoing issue, TCL and Sony probably shouldn’t be too much of a concern. Personally, I’m more concerned about Meta, Google, Amazon, and the hundreds of phone apps that have more reach than a smart TV.

Either way, make sure you’re using a secure internet connection. Read the user agreements when you register. Understand where your data goes, who it can be sold to, and how to limit what tracks you with VPNs, ad blockers, and other tools.

Production and pricing strategy

@theGovnr1 asks: To me, it seems that the new products will have Sony technology and design but be made by TCL.

And that’s my take too. I think the goal is to make production less expensive. There are several outstanding TVs with the Bravia name on the market, and most will tell you their picture quality is best in class. But if I’m wrong, they trail Samsung, LG, TCL, and Hisense in overall sales, probably because of price. So if having a TCL handle lowers the price while keeping the image processing technology that makes Sony what it is, that’s a win.

Time will tell, and until the day comes when we have a TCL-made Bravia TV to test, there really isn’t much one can do to change minds. Based on the comments, many of you have clearly decided that this is not the best thing and the Bravia brand will be destroyed. Hopefully, you’re wrong, because we can get Sony-level TVs for less.

The Sony OLED lineup is a vision

@1.doubleyou asks: Will there be a new QD-OLED TV from Sony this year?

I’m leaning towards no, for a few reasons. First, they poured a lot of resources and marketing into the release of their True RGB Mini LED TV. And secondly, they have been surprising their big TV updates every year.

In 2023, we got the A95L QD-OLED. In 2024, we got the Bravia 9, their flagship Mini LED TV. Then in 2025, the Bravia 8 Mark II was the successor to the A95L in the QD-OLED department. And this year, maybe soon, we will have more details on this True RGB TV that will take the leading role of Mini LED from Bravia 9.

Not to mention, with the TCL integration, there may have to be some adjustments to how Sony’s OLEDs are manufactured before we get a new one.

Does anti-glare TV fail in dark rooms?

@CoolVibe-w5f has a question for Samsung regarding their anti-glare screens, asking: How do blacks look in a dark room compared to a glossy screen? From what I’ve read, blacks aren’t 100 percent, especially near a glossy screen.

A wise man once said: You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet. From what I have seen, take it or leave it, there is very little difference in the dark room. If the only light emitted into the room is from the TV, you will see pure black. I’m sure of that, and apparently Samsung is as well as they continue to expand that anti-glare panel into more TVs.

This year, it’s in S95H and S90H. Previous models of the S90 still had a glossy screen. An anti-glare panel is included in many Mini LED TVs as well.

I don’t think they would have gone ahead with the technology if they weren’t sure it delivered a visual experience on par with the best from Sony and LG. We made a video a while ago putting the Samsung S95D next to LG’s flagship OLED in a dark room to show the difference. And I’ve seen others put their 2025 models, the S95F and S90F, side by side, and it’s very hard to tell the difference, if at all.