View images on Sony Android TV in 4K
December 22, 2017Generally, it should be easy to view your full-format images in highest resolution on your brand-new Sony BRAVIA Android TV in 4K - but it is not. I’ve tried several different media apps available for Andoid in the Google Play Store, such as Plex or Codi / XBMC - but non of them worked with full 4K on the TV. They might offer great features, but the image quality still remains poor. The only app that perfectly works is Sony’s own Album App (installed by default).
But for a high price:
- The Sony Album App comes with a very ugly and poor user interface. Think you can simply browse your images in folders on your connected memory stick or USB hard drive - nope, you can’t.
- It’s terribly slow in displaying thumbnails and navigation.
- The UI generally needs improvement. Actually, it looks like an early beta prototype at all.
- There is a slide show option, but poor. No setup of delay, no cool transitions.
But a workaround is just around the corner: You can use the Sony Album App as a Plex client. The Sony app is fully compatible with DLNA and shows a very stable implementation with great performance. I never had issues with this. You will automatically find your Plex Media Server in the devices list of the app - if you already have one running in your network (if not - now it’s the time to download and install). You can now quickly browse the folders on your Plex Media Server, or find your pics by other criteria, such as last added. You don’t have to move or copy the images to the TV.
And the most important:
You can display single pics and also slide shows in highest 4K quality.
I’ve never seen my pics in a better quality. You can adjust the image display options in the TV’s menu very flexible. Verry good work at this point, Sony! HDR works great to showcase the finest details. You can even show the original image size cropped on TV in case your image is larger than 4K.