It’s award season – and Sony has won no less than five Product of the Year awards at the annual European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA), awards, the largest editorial multimedia organization in Europe. The seductive Xperia Tablet Z won outright in the coveted Tablet of the Year 2013-2014 category, a stunning victory in Sony’s attempt to set new standards in the rapidly expanding tablet sector. Other accolades went to two Sony cameras, a Bravia TV and a HT receiver in a thrilling night.
If the first thing that comes to your mind is cheap when thinking about a Soundbar solution for your home theater needs, then you’re not alone. Traditionally targeted at the budget conscious, the Soundbar is meant to simulate surround sound and give your media and TV experience much more depth without the hassle and cost of running cables all around your house for a proper surround sound setup. Sony who also offers lower end Soundbars is looking to change things up with the premium HT-ST7 Soundbar which offers an impressive 9 drivers powered by 7 independent amplifiers. Interested? Lets talk details.
Sony continues to get more aggressive with their 4K initiative with each passing week. Just yesterday, the company announced a July 15th release date for their 4K media sever which includes 10 4K films. Now Sony is looking to expand their video streaming service Video Unlimited by adding 4K movies to it.
A year ago, Sony launched their mega 84-inch 4K television priced at $25,000, knowing that it was aimed at a small segment of the market. At CES 2013, Sony would follow up with 4K 55- and 65-inch models priced at $5,000 and $7,000 respectively in order to reach a wider audience. To help drive content media, Sony included their 4K media server (FMP-X1) with each 84-inch XBR unit while the standalone versions would eventually be sold separately.
You know what’s a platform that’s not gaining any traction? Google TV. Yet from the beginning, Sony has been a loyal soldier which had the company release a line of televisions around the platform and various setup boxes. Now Sony is following up with the NSZ-GS8, their next generation Google TV box. Like the previous model, the GS8 is meant to be a companion to your cable experience by taking in your cable signal and exporting it once again to your TV with more functionality like apps (Netflix, Hulu, Twitter etc.) and search, thanks to its Chrome browser. To help users better take control of this experience, Sony has added a microphone to their remote for voice search.
Much like the transition from SD to HD, things are beginning to fall in place. Sony, a big proponent of HD and HD films with Blu-ray is once again on the forefront and pushing 4K, the next evolution of the format. As the name suggest, 4K has four times the resolution of HD which results in televisions delivering video at 3,840 x 2,160. Yes, the statement that bigger is better is usually true. Bigger TV is better than smaller TV. 4K resolution is better than HD resolution. But with bigger, can also come headaches like four times the resolution means four times the size.
This in part is where the issues with 4K begin to surface. In order to show 4K content, cable and satellite providers need more bandwidth and capable pipes to push the media. The same holds true for your ISP and even the Blu-ray format. We live in a world, and maybe more the US that we’re just starting to discover what true high speed internet is and with our current infrastructure, there is no way that we can properly support 4K. That is, unless you’re eyeIO, the company whose video compression powers Sony’s 4K server.
Sony’s NAB 2013 announcements have been what videophiles and 4K fans have been hoping for. During the show, Sony finally revealed the price of the 55- and 65-inch 4K XBR sets, which are far more affordable than many had anticipated. As new technologies like HD, Blu-ray, 3D, and now 4K are revealed and released, they live and die by the content that’s designed for them. To ensure that 4K television owners are not sitting idle and only consuming 1080p material, Sony revealed the FMP-X1 4K media server at CES 2013. At the time, the unit was only made available to those who purchase the 84-inch 4K XBR, but now, would-be owners of Sony’s other 4K televisions can purchase one as well.
Here is our un-boxing of the Sony Internet Blu-ray Player (NSZ-GT1) in glorious 720p! Expect a full video review as soon as I finish importing, editing and uploading it.
One of the hardest things to do is purchasing a TV, simply because there are so many options. I myself am in that internal debate currently: which Sony Bravia to purchase next? I currently have a 60″ Sony SXRD and there are a ton of options from Sony now but of course the one I want, the LX900 (their 3D TV), won’t be out until late June to mid July. The other issue that I personally have is that once you own a 60″ TV, its hard to go down to something smaller but again, that is a personal debate. The following will hopefully not get too techie detailed while giving you a good overview of each of the series. After that, hit the jump for a chart that breaks down the entire Sony Bravia series, feature by feature. Also, please note that I’m not listing any prices because they are constantly shifting and I believe you are savvy enough to find the best price for yourself.
Sizes: 60/52/46/40
Motion Flow: 240hz (pro)
3D: Yes. Ready out of the box with two pairs of glasses
Overview: This is really the TV of TVs from Sony. You can stream video to it via built in Wi-Fi, it has web widgets, will adjust the sound and light based on your distance to the TV and is of course 3D ready out of the box so all you will need is to hook up a PS3 or jump on a 3D channel (yes, they are actually coming, including the World Cup 2010). This unit will be have Backlight LED and the Bravia Engine 3. If you’re looking for the top of the line experience and want more than just a good picture quality, this is the TV for you.
