Sony Japan has somehow decided to bet on LED displays for their upcoming lineup of HDTVs. I’m not sure if this means we are to see less LCDs in the near future, but at least they say the LED displays should bring considerable improvements and enhance our experience. At IFA 2008 held in Berlin, Germany, Sony announced a series of innovative products, including the slimmest HDTV and the greatest contrast ratios ever seen with a LED-based display.
Sony ZX1 is the newest LED backlit 40-inch display that is only 9.9mm thick, and weighs 26 pounds. Since it’s that slim, the HDTV doesn’t come with too many features. It only integrates 1 HDMI port, but it does come with wireless box that can send the 120Hz, 1080p display up to 1080i images over a 5GHz channel, which points out to the fact that the display could be among the first to support the WHDM standard. There is also an external port box that can be attached to the display, bringing more connectivity options, like 3 HDMI, 2 component, s-video, VGA, and even USB, mouse, and LAN ports. The TV menus will feature something similar to the Playstation 3 XMB crossmedia interface. The ZX1 will be launched in October in Japan and around Christmas in Europe.
As for the greatest contrast of one million to one, Sony announced the XR1 series of Bravia HDTVs. These will be 1920 x 1080 pixel full-HD models, featuring tri-color RGB LED backlighting for an improved color gamut, and dynamic switching backlighting tech to generate impressive contrast ratios. However, Sony says that in static mode, the displays are capable of only 3000:1 ratios, although it’s not quite clear what “static mode” means. The new displays integrate a 10-bit Bravia 2 Engine for image processing, with separate algorithms for SD and HD picture sources, 120Hz Motionflow tech to improve smoothness, plus the standard connectors and an additional USB port for connecting digital cameras. The XR1 series will include 46” and 55” displays, for around $5,500 and $6,800, respectively. These are set to hit the Japanese market on October 10, while Europe should be receiving them in early December.
