New LCD TVs from Sony deliver increased Internet functionality and content, enhanced 2D and 3D viewing, and smart connectivity features
In 2011 BRAVIA TVs bring more of the best of the web to your TV screen. With Internet capabilities available on almost all new BRAVIA LCD TVs, and channels and services being added to BRAVIA Internet Video all the time, it’s now even easier to watch what you want, whenever you want.
You can browse popular video sharing sites such as YouTube™ and DailyMotion™ or catch up on TV programmes you missed with BBC iPlayer – all from the comfort of your sofa, with no need to connect a laptop or PC.
Find out what friends are doing with real-time updates from sites like Twitter™ and Facebook™.* You can even visit your favourite websites and search the Internet using an Opera web browser on the TV screen.**
And with Qriocity™ Video on Demand and Music Unlimited from Sony you’ll be able to discover millions of music tracks, rent classic films or enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbusters streamed straight to your living room.
Be smarter on how you connect
2011 sees integrated Wi-Fi connectivity extended throughout the range – from the cinematic HX920 and slim and stylish NX720 to the EX320, the ideal small screen for the bedroom or kitchen with Full HD and Internet TV.
Other Internet TVs such as the essential Full HD CX520 are Wireless LAN Ready. Just connect an optional USB Wi-Fi adapter and you’re set for a future of cable-free connections and online entertainment. Most TVs also feature DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct* for quick and easy sharing of photos, music and movies from all over the home.
Add an optional camera and microphone accessory to new Internet TVs, and you’ll be able to make free voice and video calls over the Internet using Skype™.* Chat to friends and family in clear big screen detail without crowding around a PC.
Other smart features include direct recording to Hard Disk Drive via USB. Simply set your TV to record based on the Electronic Programme Guide and it will automatically save programmes for you. Watch TV you might miss when it suits you, even from HD channels, or replay your favourite shows again and again.***
Also new for 2011 are free iPhone and Android apps so you can turn your smartphone into a TV remote control.*Use your phone to control clever new features such as TrackID™, which can identify a TV music soundtrack at the click of a button. The app also provides a handy way to type using the phone keyboard when you want to browse online. Or you can connect selected VAIO notebooks too for an easy way to type remotely.*
Enhanced Full HD picture quality in 2D and 3D
With a clearer, brighter Full HD 3D picture with minimal blur, BRAVIA 3D TVs such as the EX720 are a perfect way to bring 3D home to the whole family.
Sony 3D Active Shutter glasses are now rechargeable and have a new lightweight design for a more comfortable fit. Delivering a high quality 3D picture in Full HD, you’ll be able to enjoy immersive 3D viewing for hours and hours.
The 2011 range also features enhanced Full HD 2D picture quality. The HX920 has innovative Intelligent Peak LED backlighting for a beautiful cinematic picture with deep blacks and boosted white levels.
The latest Motionflow technology combines advanced LED backlighting with High Frame Rate panels to improve picture detail and create smoother motion sequences. Motionflow XR 800 means you can watch fast-action games, sports and movies at the equivalent of 800 frames per second and enjoy high image detail with less blur.
BRAVIA TVs in 2011 also feature X-Reality, a new image processor that delivers crisper detail even with Standard Definition pictures. X-Reality PRO takes things a step further: this dual-chip image processor produces true-to-life images and can even boost low quality pictures from the web to near-HD resolution.
Do more with your TV
“With a greater choice of Internet content, smart technology and features, and industry-leading 3D, the 2011 range of BRAVIA TVs will change the way people think about TV,” says Patrick Naltet, Director, TV Marketing Europe. “Now your TV will really be the centre of your home entertainment. It is television, redefined.
* via firmware update
** display of embedded video not supported
*** requires a dedicated USB Hard Disk Drive for recording and playback as it is formatted only to work with your TV. Playback is only possible on the TV used for recording
The BRAVIA 2011 range at a glance
| HX923Peak cinematic performance | HX823Slim and stylish cinematic 3D TV | HX723Internet and 3D on the big screen |
| · Intelligent Peak LED for dramatic contrast· Motionflow XR 800 for smooth, clear action· High quality 2D and 3D viewing with X-Reality PRO· 2 pairs of 3D glasses and a camera & microphone for Skype™ supplied | · Slim, high contrast Dynamic Edge LED screen· HD boost for online video and low quality images with X-Reality PRO· Smooth action with Motionflow XR 400 | · Lifelike 2D and 3D viewing on a slim LED screen· Smooth action with Motionflow XR 400· Watch Internet videos in high resolution with X-Reality PRO |
| NX723Change the way you see TV with Monolithic Design | EX723Full HD 3D TV for the whole family | EX523 / EX423Enhanced entertainment with LED and Internet TV |
| · Ultra-slim LED screen with Monolithic Design· Wireless connection to the Internet and free calls with Skype™*· Smooth, high quality viewing in 2D and 3D | · Clear, smooth 3D and 2D picture quality· Watch Internet videos and make free Skype™ calls*· Smart features to optimise viewing, save energy and make life easier | · Slim Edge LED screen with High Definition detail· Enhanced detail with X-Reality picture engine· Watch Internet videos and make free Skype™ calls* |
| EX320LED and Internet TV for second rooms | CX523Ready for the Internet when you are | CX32DEnjoy all-in-one DVD and karaoke fun |
| · Small, slim and stylish Edge LED screen· Built-in Wi-Fi for Internet video and Skype™· Enhanced high definition picture and colour | · Get a clear and highly detailed Full HD picture· Watch Internet videos and make free Skype™ calls*· Make life easier with smart sensors and features | · Save space and clutter with a built-in DVD player· Sing karaoke with 2 microphone connections· Share music, movies and photos via HDMI® and USB |
* via firmware update
The TV market has always been a rapidly evolving one, now never more so, with new technologies seemingly appearing every week. With the old tube TV long gone, we are now left with three main screen technologies – plasma, LCD and LED LCD.
Plasma TV technology is the most mature in the TV marketplace and creates a picture from a gas (plasma) and used mostly on large screen TVs of 42in upwards, while backlit LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) TVs uses florescent tubes behind the screen to light the image.
If you want a cutting-edge TV that is easier to move and position anywhere in your home, LED Edge-lit LCD TV uses lights around the edge of the display screen, resulting in a thinner, more lightweight TV, which uses less electricity.
As well as new ways of displaying the programs we watch, there has been a revolution in the way it is delivered to our homes.
Until this year, the only way to receive high definition (HD) programmes had been to subscribe to Sky HD, Cable or Freesat. Then came the advent of Freeview HD, upgrading the current Freeview digital service to HD and offering HD channels via your existing TV aerial, all for free. It’s available in a set-top box you need to connect to an HD-ready TV, or if you don’t have an HD-ready TV, TVs with Freeview HD built in are already available.
Channels transmitting in HD on this service are the BBC HD channel, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD, and you can also access more than 50 standard definition (SD) digital channels and radio stations.
The launch of Five HD on Freeview HD is expected soon and with more programmes being filmed in HD, many more channels will transmit in HD in years to come.
The best thing about Freeview HD is that, like standard Freeview, there is no subscription or monthly contract and all HD channels will be free as well!
Freeview HD is only being transmitted in certain parts of the country as part of the digital switchover (turning off the old analogue service, leaving just digital transmissions) and until the Tacolneston transmitter serving our region is switched over on November 9, 2011, Freeview HD remains tantalisingly out of reach.
However, Freeview HD TV receivers are available and will still work now (though not in HD) so it’s better to buy a product with this technology built in now, rather than miss out.
3DTV is the “newest kid on the block” and offers a new dimension to home viewing, bringing the viewer closer to the action.
The best 3D effect is achieved by the viewer wearing special glasses with liquid crystal lenses which, in conjunction with a different type of image on the screen, creates a 3D image and a perception of depth than can make the action appear to “jump from the screen”.
Launched in the summer, 3DTVs are available from most major manufacturers, including Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, LG and Sharp, while more 3D movies and other content is becoming available.
This month, Sky launched Europe’s first 3D channel, which will show some of the best sports, movies and entertainment in 3D. They have just shown Ryder Cup Golf live from Celtic manor in 3D and plan to show one Premiership football match per week in 3D too.
3D films in HD are already available on BluRay DVD, and many more will be released over the next 12 months. Many manufacturers are bundling free 3D films with their equipment – including Alice in Wonderland, Bolt, Monsters House and a new 3D version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller as part of the This is It DVD. Exciting films planned for release in 3D on DVD next year include Toy Story 3, Avatar and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Alongside all these developments, the internet and internet streaming are providing the ultimate in on-demand services – giving us instant access to what we want to watch, when we want it.
In the past, services like this have been reserved for PC users, but this year manufacturers have developed easy to use “plug and play’ web portals which stream films, TV programs and web video directly to your TV. This month, the BBC launched its popular iPlayer service on Sony TVs, allowing you to catch up on the last seven days of BBC programmes, Channel 5 have a similar service and ITV and Channel 4 will follow soon.
Subscription services are also available from Love Film, which means you can watch movies on demand in HD steamed through the internet directly to your TV. Other video and photo services such as YouTube, Picasa and Skype have launched this year, and Google TV plans to provide a service in 2011 which will allow viewers to search for channels, shows and access videos, music, photos, and social networking websites on their TV screen.
Manufacturers are building these interactive features into new televisions now, but don’t worry if you already have a new TV – these services will be available via an add-on set-top box allowing you to share content.
Contact Gerald Giles of Norwich on 01603 621772 or visit www.geraldgiles.co.uk.
For more on Sky 3D visit www.sky.com/shop/tv/3d/how-it-works.
Sony 3D TVs have scooped the top three places for 3D LCD TVs in 3D Radar’s ‘10 Best 3D TVs in the World today’ giant review, beating off competition from Samsung, LG and Philips.
3D Radar, Europe’s leading online 3D resource and part of the respected and authoritative TechRadar family of leading technology websites conducted a giant test of the available 3D TV sets on the market and awarded Sony’s 3D TVs the top three places for 3D LCD TVs.
See article for further details: 3D Radar- 10 Best 3D TVs in the World Today
In top place was Sony’s flagship ‘Signature’ 3D KDL-60LX903. “Amazingly slim at just 64mm and sporting Sony’s minimalistic Monolithic design”, the LX903 was commended for delivering “solid 3D pictures which offer a captivating experience”. Not surprisingly, 3D Radar was also impressed by the 2D picture quality of the LX903, which delivered “a very natural looking, cinematic High Definition picture”. They were equally glowing about the multimedia entertainment capabilities of the 200Hz Motionflow LX903, including, “the impressively well stocked Bravia Internet Video service…arguably the most complete online TV platform around at the moment”, BRAVIA Internet Widgets and integrated W-Fi connectivity.
The KDL-52HX903, in second place with its Direct LED backlighting is a highly accomplished 2D TV that can be upgraded to 3D with the addition of an accessory emitter and 3D glasses. Praised by 3D Radar for its “terrific looks, mostly superlative pictures” and its “extensive multimedia capabilities” the HX903 is the perfect 2D TV for those who may wish to upgrade to 3D in the future.
The KDL-40HX803, completing the top three hat trick won accolades for its “admirable sense of depth and brightness, solid HD performance” and “great value”.
Sony’s 3D glasses, available with the LX903 or as accessories for the HX803 and HX903 were applauded for being “unusually comfortable and light shielding”, a key consideration when buying a 3D TV, where light intruding from the side of the glasses can ruin the viewing experience.
To add even more value to these top three award winning 3D TVs, Sony is now offering each of the three winning 3D LCD TVs with exceptional multimedia bundles from PlayStation 3 or Blu-ray players and 3D movies or games (dependent on region).