Sony's shrouded BRAVIA Z4500 LCD with 200Hz Motionflow

We're super short on info here, but it looks like Sony is about to intro a new Z4500 LCD TV with a "world's first" of 200Hz Motionflow -- yeah, you could've gleaned all that from reading the headline, but it's just so much more awesome down here. Stay tuned.

Gallery: Sony's shrouded BRAVIA Z4500 LCD with 200Hz Motionflow

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[BobTurbo @ Aug 28th 2008 4:16AM]

Plasmas have 400Hz motion whatever... it doesn't seem to make much difference. Both LCD and plasma suck at motion, though LCD a bit worse.

[Ayman @ Aug 28th 2008 4:17AM]

at least tell us what the fabric was made of

[j_g_puff @ Aug 28th 2008 4:44AM]

You can tell the model number and refresh rate just by looking at the shape of the display case?

I'm impressed.

[Tim @ Aug 28th 2008 4:58AM]

I get spending money on more pixels, but why spent money on something that refreshes over 6 times faster than the eye needs to perceive fluid motion? And on top of that, manufacturers need to stop at 1080p, 120hz, and built better, cheaper, att that level, so theres actually content at that level with an accepted industry standard. then, for 4k, start at 240hz. or maybe make it 1080p and 240 hz, w/e, but if they keep one-upping themselves, it makes it hard for the consumer to know when to buy.

[7egend @ Aug 28th 2008 7:25AM]

Well seeing as though you can see Stuttering in LCDs with 120Hz refresh rates still, I think it is a great idea to increase the refresh rate to eliminate some of the stuttering effects commonly found in LCDs including your higher end models. Plasma and DLP TVs don't suffer from the same stuttering effect as LCDs.

I don't know about you, but I really don't like watching 1080p content on my Samsung and think that the girl from the Exorcist is playing every character with her jerky movements.

I am ready to see how this TV actually performs and if it does get rid of the stuttering. As for TV pricing, the LCD prices are in range of what I would consider affordable, you can buy a really nice LG 42" 1080 LCD TV for $1,000, that is little money for a large TV. I remember paying $3,400 for a "SDTV" which was a 60" Projection. So prices are inline in my opinion.

Can't get something for nothing, you want a cheap TV, then more than likely you are going to get cheap parts.

[boe @ Aug 28th 2008 8:23AM]

Using sophisticated algorithms, the Motionflow 200Hz system employed by the Z4500 calculates three additional frames for every original, upping the frame rate from 50 to 200 per second. The result is the smoothest and clearest motion reproduction to be achieved by an LCD TV. A complementary image enhancement technology called IB Reduction (Image Blur Reduction) boosts the sharpness of the final picture by improving the original, frame by frame, before it is processed by Motionflow 200Hz. Whether allowing you to see the detail of a panning shot exactly as the Director intended or viewing the ultimate in smooth motion clarity for sports like football, the 200Hz Motionflow BRAVIA sets new standards in image quality and enjoyment.
The underlying superiority of the BRAVIA Z4500's picture is attributable to the centrepiece of BRAVIA quality: the BRAVIA Engine 2. This new version of the acclaimed Sony signal processor uses proprietary technology to improve every aspect of the image, frame by frame, in real time. BRAVIA Engine 2 is even better at reproducing realistic black, depicting objects with impressively lifelike depth and detail, removing blemishes or 'noise' from the picture, and delivering that trademark vibrant BRAVIA colour. Contrast is also essential to a quality picture, and a very high screen dynamic contrast ratio of 80,000:1 leverages the work of the BRAVIA Engine 2 to the full.

[Einhanderkiller @ Aug 28th 2008 11:17AM]

That's what she said.

[GaryZ @ Aug 28th 2008 2:52PM]

So 200Hz... how is this going to play well with 24p video though??

[Josh @ Aug 29th 2008 12:28PM]

Uggh. Most 120Hz sets already make movies look like PBS, I don't want 200hz.


I watched the IMAX bank robbery scene from The Dark Knight the other day on a 120HZ set and it was like watching an episode of Masterpiece Theater. The camera angles looked flat, the characters looked to put it succinctly, like people in costumes. I can't even describe it properly except to say it looked like it was filmed for PBS. If too much realism can ruin one of the best modern movies, what chance do other films fare?

[Jay @ Oct 25th 2008 2:33AM]

I think having 120 hz or 200 hz TVs is a great thing. Who knows maybe some films or games in the future will be made at 120-200 fps native. BUT the big but, lies in the Motionflow or Digital Natural Motion or Vyper Motion or Trimension DNM or whatever they want to call motion smoothing.
The whole idea of having an 120 hz TV is so you can get true 24p output. As appose to 3:2 pulldown. But some computer engineers who know nothing of the artistry of filmmaking have decided that by using a fancy computer chip they can get rid of the age old motion blur found in all 24fps films by creating artificial frames that never existed. Part of the cinematic magic of films over video is that films shot at 24p are naturally blurring and long pan shots are naturally stuttered. The human eyes over the past 80 years of cinema has already adapted and have come to associate 24fps stutter as being something acute to motion pictures. Who are these computer engineers to come along and change all that with motion smoothing.

What some people don't realize is that films are meant to be blurred, because that'ss the way they were originally shot. Next time you are watching a film in the theaters pay close attention to long pan shots, they are not smooth like PBS or Soap Opera, they are stuttered and that's the way we like it.

I serious hope that TV manufacturers either put an end to this whole Motion Smoothing nonsense or at least try to educate the audience about how these features are altering movies from the way they were meant to be seen. It seems every TV spec I see pushes the idea of motion smoothing as the greatest thing since sliced bread, when in fact it's a virtually useless feature that ruins feature films and really only works for live sporting events.

Anyways I hope future TV at 200 hz or whatever will come with warnings about the PBS effect of their fancy motionflow before unleashing them to the populace.