Adds Dolby Vision to flagships
Sony has added 4K OLED TVs to its LCD TV lineup, launch its first 4K TVs with Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) technology, and unveil its first soundbar equipped with Dolby Atmos object-based surround decoding.
Sony unveiled three models in its flagship XBRA1E Bravia OLED series and three LCD models in the XBR-X930E and X940E series. All six feature Dolby Vision and Android TV OS.
The OLED series dispenses with traditional speakers, instead using Sony’s Acoustic Surface sound technology to produce audio directly from the screen itself. The technology is said to improve sound quality in slim TVs regardless of seating position and enabling a stand-less form factor.
All of the new TVs are also the company’s first new models to integrate with the Google Home smart speaker, enabling consumers to issue voice commands to the TVs from the smart speaker. A firmware update was launched last month to add the feature to existing Sony TVs.
Android TV also provides access to Sony’s Ultra 4K HDR streaming service and to Sony’s PlayStation Vue, a live TV-streaming service. The OS also features Chromecast, enabling the TVs to play audio and video content from Cast-enabled apps on smartphones and tablets.
The OLED series comes in 77-, 65- and 55-inch sizes. The new 4K LCD TVs consist of a 75-inch X940E series model and two X930E Series models in 65- and 55-inch sizes. Prices and ship dates were not announced.
The two X930E models feature Sony’s upgraded Slim Backlight Drive+ technology, a grid-array edge lighting that is said to deliver more precise local-dimming control than the previous iteration.
The X940E doesn’t include Slim Backlight Drive+ but does feature a full-array direct LED backlighting, the company said.
The XBR-X930E/X940E series also incorporate Sony’s 4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme, which the company said offers 40 percent more real-time processing power than Sony’s 4K Processor X1.
