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Sony unveils new Bravia LCD, LCoS HDTVs for Japan
Sony rolled out some new HDTVs for the Japanese market this winter, some of which have already been announced in the US, the rest we hope soon will be. The biggest new news appears to be that their advanced Digital Reality Creation (DRC-MFv2.5) circuitry is moving downmarket, into the cheaper A2500 series of LCoS HDTVs. The two new RPTVs announced are the KDS-60A2500 and KDS-50A2500, 60- and 50-inches respectively. They'll accept and display 1080p just like their American A2000 cousins, but now with enhanced upscaling technology for non-1080p inputs. At an estimated 600,000 and 500,000 yen respectively, that would give them about a $500-US price bump over the previous 50- and 60-inch LCoS HDTVs and are slated to ship September 15th. Of the nine new LCDs, five are identical to the Bravia LCDs already announced in the US, but they have added the 52-inch KDL-52X2500 at the top of line, and three new S-series LCDs (46-,40- and 32-inch) at the bottom. The KDL-52X2500 includes the aforementioned DRC technology, WCG-CCFL backlighting (1500:1 contrast ratio), Live Color Creation, 1080p resolution and 1080p inputs. The cheaper KDL-46S2500, KDL-40S2500 and KDL-32S2500 are 1366x768 (720p) LCDs with the older Bravia Engine image processing, a 1300:1 contrast ratio on the two large TVs and 1700:1 ratio on the 32-inch. All four LCDs share a 450cd/m2 brightness, feature one HDMI and two D4 inputs (as compared to the three HDMI jacks for the US-specced TVs) and are due to ship in Japan October 20th.
Sony's A2000 series 1080p SXRDs dated, prices slashed
Sony's Grand WEGA 1080p SXRD LCoS-based line of HDTVs is a little closer to store shelves, since SonyStyle has posted ship dates & prices for the A2000 line (no word on the XBR models yet). Their features appear to be fully intact, with true 1080p input support, two HDMI inputs, NTSC & ATSC tuners. The good news is that the prices listed are significantly lower than when they were announced at the beginning of this month.Prices & Dates:50" SXRD KDS-50A2000 - $2,799.99 (down from $3500 previously), shipping 8/255" SXRD KDS-55A2000 - $3,299.99 (down from $4000 previously), shipping 8/1660" SXRD KDS-60A2000 - $3,699.99 (previously $4500), shipping 7/17Maybe Sony can transfer some people form their HDTV department to the Playstation 3 and BDP-S1 Blu-ray player departments, nothing like a price drop and ship dates moving closer instead of further away to make both products easier to love. We'll wait to see if this cost-conscious Sony extends to the XBR version of their SXRD sets before we get too excited. The BRAVIA line of LCDs are still slated for September, no prices or specific dates announced yet.[Thanks for the tip Carl!]
True 1080p from Sony: 5 new Grand Wega SXRD models and 6 new BRAVIA LCDs
In case you were wondering what you would be connecting your new 1080p Blu-ray player or Playstation 3 to this fall, Sony has the answer with their new models, many featuring 1080p inputs and display. The 40- and 46-inch BRAVIA XBR models (KDL-40XBR3 & KDL-46XBR3) will feature 1080p resolution and three HDMI inputs each, built in ATSC tuners, two component inputs, BRAVIA Engine Pro image processing and WCG-CCFL backlighting. They will retail for $4300 and $5200, respectively. The BRAVIA V2500 series offers similar features but add a bottom speaker. All are slated for release in September.For the Grand Wega LCoS-based SXRD sets, the XBR line will include 60- and 70-inch (KDS-R60XBR2 & KDS-R70XBR2) models with two 1080p HDMI inputs, a front mounted HDMI input, 0.61-inch SXRD microdisplays, and the same Digital Reality Creation Multi Function Version Two Point Five image enhancement technology featured in the LCDs to upscale SD and 720p or 1080i sources. They will retail for around $7800 and $5300 this fall. There are also three 50-, 55- and 60-inch models (KDS-50A2000, KDS-55A2000 & KDS-60A2000) in the A2000 series releasing this summer with the same feature set and Cinema Black Pro for up to 10000:1 contrast ratio. Their prices are $3500, $4000 and $4500 respectively.Read - Grand Wega announcementRead - Bravia announcement
