News

Sony Announce Two New Additions to the 'BRAVIA' TV Range (18/4/2007)

Centre Stage In The Digital Living Room: The 'BRAVIA' S3000-Series

* Outstanding picture quality with LIVE COLOUR CREATION & BRAVIA ENGINE * One-touch control over your whole Home Theatre setup with 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync * Three HDMI(tm) connectors for extra flexibility

The 'BRAVIA' S3000-Series LCD TV delivers more than just the superior picture quality you would expect from a Sony. It also features 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync, a new way of controlling Home Theatre setups using HDMI(tm) connections to send control signals between the various units that make up the system. 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync cuts out the complexity so you can concentrate on enjoying the movie.

So when you want to get started, a single push of the Play button on the remote control of the 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync enabled DVD player automatically takes care of everything. The audio equipment is switched on, the TV switched on, the correct inputs selected and the Blu-ray Disc(tm) or DVD player starts to play.

When you press the Theatre button on the TV's remote control, TV sound turns off and the picture settings configure automatically to an optimal movie watching mode, developed in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment to faithfully reproduce movies as they were intended by their creators. All while you settle back in your favourite chair. And when you're done, one final press of a button turns everything off.

Of course the picture you get matches up to the sophistication and convenience of the 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync master switch. First the signal is processed and precision-enhanced by the BRAVIA ENGINE at the heart of the S3000-Series, then it bursts into life on a screen capable of an exceptional range of colours.

What you see is richer and more lifelike because the specially developed Wide Colour Gamut (WCG) backlight and exactly matched filters in the screen create more colours than normal LCD TVs can display. This is the secret behind Sony LIVE COLOUR CREATION.

Wherever you are seated in the room you will be able to appreciate the vibrant picture to the full thanks to the screen's exceptionally wide viewing angle of 178 degrees. Everything will sound great too because the audio is opened up to fill the room by Virtual Dolby Surround signal processing. The spatialisation effects are finessed by BBE ViVA(tm) technology, which ensures that the virtual central channel - usually the dialogue - remains perfectly clear and audible. At the same time, the bass is enhanced and the top end sharpened up for a powerful, realistic sound.

The 'BRAVIA' S3000-Series is HD-Ready, with a hybrid analogue/digital (DVB-T) tuner and features three HDMI(tm) connectors as well as two SCART sockets. The HDMI(tm) connectors provide trouble-free one-cable links to High Definition equipment from Blu-ray(tm) Disc players and HD Broadcast receivers to PlayStation(tm) 3.

"As people increasingly adopt Home Theatre as the norm the amount of button-pressing involved is rising," says Jonathan White, Head of TV and Home Video Group, Sony United Kingdom Limited. "The S3000-Series is both a quality LCD TV in its own right and a new approach which puts the TV back at centre stage. We know that people appreciate simplicity every bit as much as high technology, especially in the home. Put the two together, and you have a winner."

The S3000 will first be available in screen sizes of 40 and 32 inch, with the the line-up to be extended in autumn 2007, then covering screen sizes from 20 to 46 inch.

Closer To Perfection: The 'BRAVIA' D3000-Series

* Motionflow +100Hz doubles the frame rate for super-smooth, ultra-realistic TV * One-touch control over your whole Home Theatre setup with 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync * 24p True Cinema recreates films exactly as they were meant to be seen - and heard * Experience living colour with 10-bit panel technology

The Sony 'BRAVIA' D3000-Series LCD TV combines a new level of user-friendly convenience with advanced image technologies. Thanks to these innovations Home Theatre has never been easier to enjoy, and everything from films on Blu-ray Disc(tm) to High Definition TV is enhanced.

Anyone who wants a Home Theatre setup is likely to appreciate 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync, which is the D3000-Series' way of making life simpler. By connecting compatible devices via HDMI(tm) connections and enabling 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync, you have one-touch control over the entire system, and far fewer buttons to press to get started.

Instead of having to turn on the DVD player, the audio amplifier and the TV, then select the appropriate video and audio inputs and turn the TV sound down, all you need to do is press Play on the remote control of the 'BRAVIA' Theatre Sync enabled DVD player. Everything else is handled automatically, so you just sit back and enjoy the show. The process works in reverse when you are done - simply turn off the TV and the DVD player and the amplifier automatically powers down as well.

Film lovers will also relish 24p True Cinema incorporated into the 'BRAVIA' D3000-Series. Cine cameras actually film at 24 frames per second, but televisions operate at a higher frame rate, so conversion has traditionally been necessary. The result is a 4% discrepancy from the original - the film on TV actually runs 4% faster than the original, and the soundtrack rises by 4% in pitch. When the D3000-Series is connected to a movie source such as Sony's Blu-ray Disc(tm) player, the original 24 frames per second are displayed just as the camera first recorded them. You see - and hear - exactly what you should.

The next step towards a visibly superior picture occurs as the D3000-Series actually boosts the refresh rate from the standard 50Hz to 100Hz using Motionflow +100Hz technology. This Sony-developed algorithm creates and adds extra frames based on the originals, causing the eye to perceive motion as far smoother and more realistic than in the unenhanced source. Motionflow +100Hz works with both sources using film-based contents and standard TV and DVD, imparting smoothness to everything you see.

The D3000-Series also offers hugely enhanced colour reproduction. The standard 8-bit panels normally used for LCD TVs are capable of only 256 steps of gradation between colours, but the 10-bit panel used by the D3000-Series offers 1024 shades of gradation. This breathes life into everything from skin tones to sunsets, and once again ensures that what you see is as close to the original as possible.

To ensure cinematic-style sound to match the quality of the picture the D3000-Series uses S-Force Front Surround technology to create an enveloping surround sound effect from just the two TV's own speakers, to sound as if you were surrounded by many speakers. S-Force Front Surround technology was developed exclusively by Sony.

"Visually, the 'BRAVIA' D3000-Series is all about using powerful technologies to achieve subtle but crucial improvements," says Jonathan White, Head of TV and Home Video Group, Sony United Kingdom Limited "This is the key to its strength. We've all seen several TVs side by side in the showroom and quickly picked out one as the best, but not necessarily because the others were bad. We just notice the small differences and instinctively home in on the one set that is most lifelike, most convincing. Very probably it will be a D3000-Series."

www.sony-europe.com