It’s safe to say that it looks like Kaká, the Brazilian footballer who has played for AC Milan for the past six years, is moving to Spain’s Real Madrid this summer. (Don’t worry, this is technology-related, I swear.) Milan’s vice-president, Adriano Galliani—here’s a photo of him (and new AC Milan coach Leonardo and SlashGear’s Vincent Nguyen) that I took at the San Siro in December—told an Italian newspaper that the Kaká has to leave for the financial well-being of the team. My question is: what happens to the Sony Bravia commercial—I’ve seen it on TV a few times now—that shows Kaká playing keepy-uppy?
Bravia
by Nicholas Deleon on June 4, 2009
by Serkan Toto on May 25, 2009
Here is some news from Sony, which comes directly from the who-on-earth-needs-this department. The company has launched a new service for the Japanese market that enables owners of Bravia TVs to send and receive e-postcards. Obviously, “Bravia Postcard” [JP] only works if you have an Internet-enabled Bravia at home.
by John Biggs on March 2, 2009
Sony just pushed out a new series of TVs, the W, with 1080p resolution and Yahoo! widgets, Amazon Video On Demand, and other networked TV features. They’ll come in 52-, 46-, and 40-inch models and include 4 HDMI ports.
by Nicholas Deleon on February 26, 2009
I bet the boys and girls over at Sony breathed a huge sigh a relief when that “Kaka-to-Manchester-City” rumor finally died last month. After all, he’s the star of its latest commercial, seen here, promoting the company’s Motionflow technology. Fast-paced sports benefit from all those hertz (and a nice helping of signal processing).
by Devin Coldewey on February 19, 2009
Looking for a sweet new LCD HDTV for the den? You’re not going to find a much better deal right now than this 52″ Sony. Its Bravia line is, of course, known for its quality, and $1450 is hundreds off of the “real” price. It’s got four HDMI inputs, it’s 1080p of course, and it supports 24p (thank god).
by Devin Coldewey on December 10, 2008
[image credit: CNET]
The short answer is: almost certainly not. The benefits of a 120Hz refresh rate are pretty clear, but as I noted when Sony had people playing Gran Turismo at 240FPS, there is a point at which the human eye can no longer distinguish any difference. You’re getting seriously diminishing returns after 100-150Hz, but adding considerably to cost. Not only that, but the smoothing of the image can eliminate the “implied motion” of a 24FPS picture that makes it so compelling; it’s not without reason that every film in theaters is displayed at 24FPS or a close approximation.
The picture, I’m sure, is very good, and for many things a high refresh rate will improve the visual quality, but paying $1000 for the 240Hz option is looking a bit like paying $500 for cables: Yeah, there’s technically a difference, but the placebo effect of owning these things is greater than the actual effect.
by Nicholas Deleon on December 7, 2008
AC Milan Brazilian midfielder Kaká scored the winning the goal against Catania only a few minutes ago. This, believe it or not, is relevant to us here at CrunchGear, for the Manchester City-bound player (if you believe the European sports pages) is Sony’s new frontman for an upcoming Bravia ad campaign. And if you’ve spent any amount of time on YouTube then you know what to expect from such a campaign: a big idea and an even bigger budget (Kaká’s no fool) leaving you wondering, “Wait, this is about TVs, right?”
That quick, shaky (sorry!) video shows you some behind-the-scenes action of the shoot in a Turin square. It also shows one Dan Magness breaking a whole bunch of keepie-uppie records. Incidentally, Turin is home to Juventus, one of AC Milan’s principal rivals.
Some explanation is in order.
by Doug Aamoth on November 19, 2008
Sony’s $300 Internet Video Link add-on box for BRAVIA-series TVs has recently added the Slacker streaming music service to the list of available channels. Also added was content from Howcast.com, a site that contains a series of user-generated how-to videos. Slacker ought to lend some good music features to Sony’s service and Howcast has won some awards from TIME and PC Magazine, so both seem like good additions.
Full release after the jump…
by Serkan Toto on October 3, 2008
Above is a short video I made of Sony’s most spectacular product at the CEATEC, its 0.3mm curved OLED TV.
The second video shows a 40-inch Bravia full HD TV that is just 9.9mm at its thinnest part (they made it flip so it looks good on video). That’s it from Sony at CEATEC this year. But the OLED screen is really cool.
by Matt Burns on September 23, 2008
Sony is aiming to bring back simplicity to its Bravia flat-panel TVs with Link Modules. These devices hook to the back of Bravia LCDs and add different functionally to the set, but allows the owner to use the same remote and menu system. These add-ons will be priced will with the 1080i Wireless Link (DMX-WL1) going for $800, the DVD Module (DMX-DVD) for $200, and Input module (DMX-SW1) that adds four more HDMI ports for $150 but they are a great idea.
by Matt Burns on September 18, 2008
Who hasn’t sat in front of their HDTV thinking about wonderful little apps that could float on top of live TV all widget-like: weather, RSS feeds, webcams, sports scores, anything. Now Sony has released the SDK for its Japanese Bravia TVs with the hope that developers will create such apps. Samsung high-end LCDs have had a similar functionality but Sony is taking it to another level with this Windows-only app aimed at creating your own. Sony is even holding a competition with only restriction is that the apps max out in size at 1.3MB for speedy load times. Winners will get a Bravia 40-inch LCD, Blu-ray player or digital cam with the runners up receiving digital Walkmans. Hopefully Sony will work out all the bugs over in tomorrow land and we will see a similar option sometime soon here in the States.
by Brian Krepshaw on September 3, 2008
Starting today, customers using Amazon’s Video On Demand will be able to watch ad-free content on their Mac’s, PC’s and select TV’s. Previously, users had to use the Unbox application or use TiVo. Users can still use the Unbox app to download content, but options are opened with the ability to view directly in the browser.
If you have a compatible Sony BRAVIA television set, you’ll be able to stream directly to your TV via Sony’s BRAVIA Internet Video Link. The set-up is currently in beta, but consider this another possible nail in the physical disc coffin. Just add some more compatible TV’s (like all of them) and I’ll be on-board.
Read the whole press release after the jump.
by Peter Ha on September 3, 2008
Today at CEDIA, Sony announced that the US will soon get their hands on some slender 9.9-mm thin LCD HDTVs. The KDL-52XBR7 has a whopping 240Hz frame rate displayed on a 1080p 52-inch LCD screen with 80,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. No word on price but it ships in December.
The 40-inch 1080p KLV-40ZX1M LCD weighs a mere 26 pounds, but this one can only claim a 120Hz frame rate. This, too, will be available in December.
Read More
by Serkan Toto on September 2, 2008
Sony Japan today added the XDV-W600 [JP], a mini TV (145×42×98mm, 302g) to their Bravia brand. The new device is waterproof and supports the Japanese digital TV standard One-Seg.
The 4-inch LCD TV (16.7 million colors, 272×480 resolution) boasts an IPX7 and IPX6 waterproof rating, meaning that you can theoretically watch TV under water (at a depth of up to 1m) for around 30 minutes. After a full charge (internal battery and two AA batteries), the XDV-W600 can be used for 23 hours.
The mini Bravia also features an AM/FM tuner and 2GB of internal memory, enough to record about 10 hours digital TV broadcasts.
The Japan-only XDV-W600 goes on sale October 30th (in pink, blue and white) and costs $370.
In Nippon, Panasonic has actually been selling Mini Viera TVs (also waterproof) since June this year.
by Scott Merrill on August 28, 2008
Sony wants to be the number one TV company by the year 2010. To that end, they’ve announced three sexy new products today at IFA.
The Bravia EX-1 PictureFrame television is a wall-mountable LCD television that utilizes wireless HDMI to reduce cables going to your set. It’s designed to look good on your wall, as though a piece of art. The wireless HDMI has a range of about 30 meters, so you can tuck that little white box under the couch or in the closet.
Read More
by Serkan Toto on August 28, 2008
Sony presented a number of new Bravia full HD LCD TVs [JP] today in Japan but the KDL-40ZX1 stands out as the world’s slimmest LCD HDTV (thickness: 9.9mm).
The TV, which is only available in a 40-inch version, comes with a contrast ratio of 3,000:1, LED backlighting, 120Hz MotionFlow technology, a viewing angle of 178°, BRAVIA Engine 2 image processing, acTVila video on demand web connection, 3 HDMI ports, 2 component ports and 5W+5W+10W speakers.
Not bad at all but, as to be expected, this amazing piece of hardware comes with a high price: Japanese customers will have to pay around $4,900 when TV hits shops in this country November 10th (in silver, red and blue).
by Serkan Toto on June 17, 2008
Today Sony Japan presented their new 32-inch Bravia LCD TV [JP], claiming it’s the world’s most energy-efficient LCD screen of that size.
The KDL-32JE1 consumes just 89W of electricity per year (momentary power consumption), which translates to a 232% efficiency rating the TV got from the Energy Conservation Center of Japan (ECCJ). Usually, a figure of 164% is enough to earn the five-star “Energy Saving Label” from that institute. Sony says they reduced power consumption by enhancing backlight emission and light transmission of optical film.
The TV comes with WXGA resolution (1366×768 ), 2 HDMI ports, 3 Video interfaces, and modem and LAN connection. It offers a contrast ratio of 2,500:1 and a view angle of 178 degrees.
The $1,400 Bravia KDL-32JE1 goes on sale in Japan on July 25th in champagne gold and silver. Sony said they plan to offer it in overseas markets as well but didn’t reveal any details.
by Matt Hickey on June 5, 2008
As a guy who’s really, really into HD, I’m kind of excited about Sony’s new XBR series of Bravia HDTVs. Like the latest MacBook Pros from Apple and other laptops from makers like HP, the new HDTVs feature LED backlighting instead of the standard lighting most HDTVs and LCDs use. This means a more natural color, brighter and more uniform whites, and deeper blacks.
Not only does the LED backlighting make for a better overall picture, it allows for selective dimming, meaning if you’ve got an image of the Earth floating in space, the TV can smartly dim the LEDs behind the black and other dark pixels, greatly improving contrast and making for a more realistic picture.
There are other technologies at work here, including the Sony Bravia Engine, which post-processes the image from the source to clear up noise, and MotionFlow, which displays compatible signals at 120Hz. If you haven’t seen an HDTV at 120Hz (as opposed to the 60Hz most HDTVs use) then you need to see it for yourself.
The new Sony’s are going to be pricey, but they’re luxury sets for those who are dead serious about getting the best out of their home theaters. If you’ve got the money, the Bravia lines really are a cut above the rest.
Want more info? Full press release after the jump.
by Nicholas Deleon on April 14, 2008
Springtime doesn’t just bring flowers, short shorts and silly Red Sox pranks. No ma’am, it also brings new information on HDTVs that will be released throughout the year. Someone at BGR got a hold of Sony’s HDTV roadmap for its LCD lineup and it looks like the XBR6, XBR7 and XBR8 will getting a little more than a new coat of paint, the XBR8 especially.
Let’s start with that, the XBR8. The big news here is that it uses LED backlighting, which Sony calls TRILUMINOS. No, it’s not the first TV with LED backlighting (Samsung had one last year in one of its DLPs), but it’s still pretty significant. You’ll also find the Bravia Engine 2 and some sort of contrast enhancer. I don’t know about you, but when I read tech specs, I find flashy-sounding names (SUPER DUP3R CONTRAST HELP++) pretty annoying.
by Doug Aamoth on February 27, 2008
Here’s some interface footage of Sony’s $299 DMX-NV1 BRAVIA Internet Video Link module. It’s basically a box that pops into the back of newer Sony TV’s via HDMI that can support downloadable video, weather, news, and traffic information from Sony’s content partners. All the data is pushed, so the unit updates itself.
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