Sony Bravia HX929 Firmware Available, New Features Abound

The top of the line Bravia XBR929 sets are barely hitting the store shelves (a few lucky owners are already posting their impressions on the AVS Forum), and a new and quite feature-

filled juicy firmware update popped up on Sony Support site. The following enhancements will be available to your new set.

This software update (version PKG3.121AAA) provides the following benefits:

• Adds the ability to use the Skype® online calling service
• Adds the “What’s New” feature
• Media Remote (Software keyboard, Full / Simple Remote and Shake Track ID)
• VAIO® Remote Keyboard
• Media Remote (text by voice)
• Audio Theatre Control Widget
• WMV/WMA Codec for DLNA / USB
• 3D on IPTV and USB for NX and above
• Improves performance and stability of IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) features.
  Note: IPTV allows you to enjoy HD (High Definition) programming from the Internet on your BRAVIA television that is connected to a broadband Internet connection.

Now, if only I could get this 63 Mb loaded on my already forgotten by Sony HX909…

Exclusive Sony Internet TV Commercial

With the launch of new Sony Bravia TV line up this year (even though there are rumors that the HX929 65″ behemoth may not even hit the market later this summer), Sony created a pretty enticing, blast from the past integrated ad that was “aired” exclusively to Sony Electronics YouTube™ viewers and Facebook fans. The 30 second version will be airing in select TV markets. However enjoy the 60 second of goodness and let us know if this is a true representation of Sony TV empire.

Sony Bravia HX929 Series Pricing Revealed?

Sony USA has been mum on pricing details for new Sony Bravia HX series TV sets since they showed off the XBR-46HX929 and XBR-55HX929 at CES. We already witnessed European announcement with their price tags, and they did seem pretty promising. As some of you may remember the original HX909 flagship models were pretty pricey (the 52″ model MSRP was set at $3699), so what might the new and improved HX models cost?

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Sony’s 2011 3D TV Glasses

Lets take a look at Sony’s new active shutter 3D glasses for their 2011 range of BRAVIA TV’s. There are two models: TDG-BR200 (large/adult) and the TDG-BR250 (small/child) differ only by size. Both series come in black and white.

With a new design, the glasses are more lightweight and have a less bulky appearance without sacrificing the ability to block out ambient room light. Despite the thinner look, these latest 3D active shutter glasses are durable, unless your chucking them around in an argument.

Definitely one of the best designs on the market.

The new shades have a standard micro USB port. The battery is rechargeable and boasts a very quick recharge time. 3 hours after just 3 minutes of charging. 30 hours use on a 45 minute full charge. Not too shabby!

Sony Launch Two New Professional OLED Monitors

Sony has launched a new series of professional OLED monitors in 24.5 inch (BVM-E250) and 16.5 inch (BVM-E170) varieties. (more…)

Sony Bravia 2011 Line Up Introduced in Europe & Japan, Pricing Details Revealed

We all know that CES product extravaganza usually would be a good indicator of what to expect pretty much for all markets and not just the US, however it looks like January 20th was a big day for Sony Europe and Sony Japan, where the company officially revealed the Bravia family line up and also announced some pricing information. It is interesting to note that in the Japanese event in Tokyo has not revealed any information on the high end model – the HX92 series range.

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Sony’s BRAVIA Monolithic Design Exhibit At CES 2011

Sony often has interesting exhibits and displays during large trade shows, and during CES 2011 the real gem was a stunning Monolithic Design exhibit. From the primary booth entrance, a row of droolworthy 55″ HX929 series BRAVIA TVs led to the origin of Sony’s TV design inspiration. Amusingly, the sheer size and open layout of Sony’s booth may have left this artistic vision overlooked by many attendees. The large, monolithic black screen was surrounded by thin slate and was something truly reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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Hands-on With Sony BRAVIA Internet Browser

Believe or not, but many 2011 Sony BRAVIA devices (TVs, Blu-ray players, etc) have a built-in web browser accessible through the updated XMB interface. This was not officially announced at CES 2011, but as you can see in our exclusive hands-on video that the browser was most certainly functional. According to our sources, the browser is HTML5/Java compliant, and is powered by a MIPS processor. We heard that one day it might be upgradeable to support flash, but no time table was given. Tabbed browsing is supported, and you can also utilize the TrackID service to identify which song is playing in the browser.

In our video of the BRAVIA Internet Browser, you can see that the test page loaded rather slowly. This is mostly due to the horrendous Internet speeds available in Las Vegas during CES 2011. Regardless, even on a diamond connection it wouldn’t be the fastest browsing experience because of the slow hardware, but this is still a nice option.

Browser settings are fairly basic, including adjustments for Character Size, Javascript Setup, Cookie Settings, and the option to delete all Cookies. There are also options for Bookmarks, Next/Previous Page, Stop, Refresh, Enter URL, Zoom, Open in New Window, Character Encoding, and Details. When you are entering in a website address, it can be a little slow as you have to do it through a T9 interface, using the remote’s numeral keys to enter in the letters.

BRAVIA Internet Browser should be available on products such as the HX929, HX820, NX720, HX729 televisions. We are still working to confirm compatibility on the EX series TVs and the various BDP-S series Blu-ray players.

Hands-on With Skype For Sony BRAVIA Devices

One great new feature added to 2011 BRAVIA devices (TV, Blu-ray players, etc) is the embedded Skype application.

The camera (CMU-BR100) used for Skype isn’t built into the television, and is sold separately. You can video call anyone with Skype, even on mobile devices, or make voice calls while watching TV.

It’s been puzzling as to why it took Sony so long to launch video chat for their TVs, as Samsung and other manufacturers launched Skype for their sets back at CES 2010.

We spent some time with Skype for BRAVIA at CES 2011, and our impressions are mixed. The version we saw was still in prototype form, but seemed very close to the final product.

The CMU-BR100 camera module itself is very small, and the shape somewhat reminds me of the Microsoft Kinect. It is definitely far smaller and lighter than the Kinect, though. Video quality maxes out at 720p resolution, which is on par with the competition. The camera has an array of four microphones as well. There is a flap at the bottom that is also made out of rubber, which I assume helps prevent the camera from slipping off smooth surfaces.

The actual video quality of Skype for BRAVIA was mediocre, and didn’t even feel like 720p. There was problems with sharpness and also jagged blocks were evident during movement. To be fair, though, I must remind you the demo I witnessed was a prototype. There’s also the fact that in Las Vegas during CES, and nearly all Internet connections are completely overloaded so that also had a significant impact on quality. I assume the final version, on a good broadband connection, will look and feel like 720p quality.

We will be following up with Sony to see what the price of the CMU-BR100 will be and if the camera is backwards compatible with 2010 BRAVIA devices.

We shot many pictures of the service in action, including: contact list, profile view, on-screen call notification, video call interface, tools menu, and several settings menus.

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Sony Launches 27 New BRAVIA TVs At CES 2011

As expected, Sony has launched a massive salvo of new televisions at CES 2011. Ranging from 22 to 65 inches, the 2011 BRAVIA line is their most ambitious yet, offering a new assortment of hardware for even better picture quality than before. New models are coming for several series, with the refreshed series carrying HX929 (pictured above), HX820, HX729, NX720, EX720, EX620, EX520, BX420 and BX320 designations.

The differences between each of the models are vast, and unfortunately we don’t have pricing information yet. We’ll mention some notable additions for the 2011 line and then let you read the fact sheet which gives you more information about each model.

First and foremost, Monolithic Design returns to the 2011 BRAVIA range with the addition of Corning Gorilla Glass, which became popular in mobile devices such as Apple’s iPhone. Gorilla glass is stronger, lighter and thinner than conventional glass. It could help next time a PlayStation 3 Motion Controller or Wii remote goes flying into the screen.

For those of you who are fans of LED backlit LCD TV’s, Sony has hit a grand slam in with Intelligent Peak LED backlighting, which has full array local dimming, but also the ability to boost brightness in lighter scenes. A contact of mine gave a good example of a night shot with the moon: the LEDs are darkened for the night and boosted for the moon. This feature will be found in the HX929 series, and will be very tough for competitors to match in overall picture quality.

Many models will have Skype embedded into the TV, meaning you can connect a special Sony camera and microphone (CMU-BR100) to do 720p HD video calls with friends from your living room. I’ll try video calling my girlfriend from CES and let you know how well it works.

Another cool feature added this year is Sony’s TrackID, which is a music recognition service for your TV. Powered by Gracenote, TrackID for BRAVIA allows you to quickly identify which song is playing on a movie, TV show or commercial.

BRAVIA Engine has shedded and reborn into the new X-Reality Engine and X-Reality PRO Engine, which offers several interesting improvements in picture quality. The X-Reality Pro is a dual-chip digital video processor that noticeably improves video content playback, whether it be HD, compressed HD, SD or low-rez Internet clips. Sony states the PRO engine adjust signal patterns by analyzing and comparing content to an enormous library of film and video. Content coming in looks better coming out.

Multi-frame analysis in the X-Reality Pro Engine also helps create missing resolution, while Sony’s Super Bit Mapping has 14 bit up-scaling, processing and pixel mapping. Gradients will look smoother than ever before.

In contrast, the regular X-Reality Engine is a single chip solution that still offers excellent picture quality. The engine features Sony’s Intelligent Image Enhancer, which separates consistent parts of incoming video (such as outline, texture, and color/contrast) and adds enhancements individually.

Internet equipped BRAVIA’s are numerous this generation, as Sony continues to offer more entertainment than ever before. A total of 40 free/premium services are available, including the usual suspects such as Qriocity VOD/Music Unlimited, Netflix, Pandora, Hulu Plus, Amazon VOD, YouTube, Slack, Crackle and blip.tv.

XBR-HX929 Series features include:
Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality with full-array local dimming LED backlight
Sleek Monolithic Design with OptiContrast Panel Technology
Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11n)
Skype ready in 720p high definition
BRAVIA Internet Video and Qriocity
X-Reality PRO Engine
MotionFlow XR 960
Rear two-way IR inputs and two-way RS232C control
Screen sizes include 65-inch (XBR-65HX929 which is available in August 2011), 55-inch (XBR-55HX929), and 46-inch (XBR-46HX929)

Other new BRAVIA models include:

BRAVIA HX820-Series LED LCD 3D Capable HDTV
Available in May
Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality with Dynamic Edge LED backlight
Sleek Monolithic Design with OptiContrast Panel Technology
Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11n)
Skype™ ready in 720p high definition
BRAVIA Internet Video and Qriocity™
X-Reality PRO Engine
MotionFlow XR 480
Screen sizes include 55-inch (KDL-55HX820), and 46-inch (KDL-46HX820)

BRAVIA NX720-Series LED LCD 3D Capable HDTV
Available in May
Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality with Dynamic Edge LED backlight
Sleek Monolithic Design with OptiContrast Panel Technology
Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11n)
Skype ready in 720p high definition
BRAVIA Internet Video and Qriocity
MotionFlow™ XR 240
X-Reality™ Engine
Screen sizes include 60-inch (KDL-60NX720), 55-inch (KDL-55NX720), and 46-inch (KDL-46NX720)

BRAVIA HX729-Series LED LCD 3D Capable HDTV
Available in May
Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality with Dynamic Edge LED backlight
X-Reality PRO Engine
MotionFlow XR 480
Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11n)
Skype™ ready in 720p high definition
BRAVIA Internet Video and Qriocity
Rear two-way IR inputs and two-way RS232C control
Screen sizes include 65-inch (KDL-65HX729), 55-inch (KDL-55HX729), and 46-inch (KDL-46HX729)

BRAVIA EX720-Series LED LCD 3D Capable HDTV
Available in February
Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality with Edge LED backlight
X-Reality Engine
MotionFlow XR 240
Wi-Fi ready (USB wireless LAN adapter sold separately)
Skype ready in 720p high definition
BRAVIA Internet Video and Qriocity
Screen sizes include 60-inch (KDL-60EX720, which is available in April), 55-inch (KDL-55EX720), 46-inch (KDL-46EX720), 40-Inch (KDL-40EX720), and 32-inch (KDL-32EX720)

BRAVIA EX620-Series LED LCD HDTV
Available in February
Brilliant Full High Definition (1080p) picture quality with Edge LED backlight
X-Reality Engine
MotionFlow 120
Wi-Fi ready (USB wireless LAN adapter sold separately)
Skype ready in 720p high definition
BRAVIA Internet Video and Qriocity
Screen sizes include 55-inch (KDL-55EX620), 46-inch (KDL-46EX620), and 40-Inch (KDL-40EX620)

BRAVIA EX520-Series LED LCD HDTV
Available in February
Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality with Edge LED backlight
X-Reality Engine
Wi-Fi ready (USB wireless LAN adapter sold separately)
Skype ready in 720p high definition
BRAVIA Internet Video and Qriocity
Energy saving Presence Sensor minimize power consumption
Screen sizes include 46-inch (KDL-46EX520), 40-inch (KDL-40EX520), 32-inch (KDL-32EX520)

BRAVIA BX420-Series HDTV
Available in February
Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality with CCFL backlight
Five HD Inputs to connect multiple HD devices
USB input for photo, music and video playback
Scene select customized picture and sound settings
Ambient Light Sensor
Screen sizes include 46-inch (KDL-46BX420), 40-inch (KDL-40BX420), and 32-inch (KDL-32BX420)

BRAVIA BX320-Series HDTV
Available in February
Amazing High Definition (720p) picture quality with CCFL backlight
Five HD Inputs to connect multiple HD devices
USB input for photo, music and video playback
Scene select customized picture and sound settings
Ambient Light Sensor
Screen sizes include 32-inch (KDL-32BX320), and 22-inch (KDL-22BX320)