Sony has tonight shown off its new 4K Ultra HD TVs, due in stores in July. The TVs, the Sony X-Series, will be available in 55- and 65-inch screen sizes. The resolution of these backlit LED TVs is 3840 x 2160, four times that of full HD TV.
Sony will bundle in an 8-pack of films to show off the panels to their full capabilities. They are ‘Mastered in 4K’, delivering an “outstanding near-4K experience”. The films included are:
- Angels & Demons
- Battle: Los Angeles
- Ghostbusters
- The Karate Kid (2010)
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- Spiderman
- The Other Guys
- Total Recall (2012)
Mastered in 4K is worked via the magic of algorithms and in-TV smarts. Sony boffins first match the algorithms used to down-convert 4K movie masters to HD, and then the Sony 4K X-Reality PRO engine up-converts them back to 4K. Actually, back near 4K.
The Sony X-Series will also deliver Full HD 3D, and 4 sets of 3D glasses are included in the package.
The 4K Ultra high definition TVs are all Wi-Fi-enabled and in addition to hooking up to your home network they will also be able to connect to the Sony Entertainment Network, with such content as:
- Catch-up TV channels – ABC iView, SBS, PLUS7 and Ten
- On-demand movie services – Video Unlimited, Quickflix, Yupp.TV, Crackle, Mubi, Garage Entertainment and more
- On-demand music services – Music Unlimited, Pandora, Moshcam, vTuner and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
- Pandora – internet radio service that allows you to create personalised radio stations based on a song, artist or genre
- Yupp TV – more than 60+ Indian TV channels
“These amazing TVs are about making 4K resolution a reality for everyday consumers. Sony’s new 4K Ultra HD TVs will make everything you watch look and sound better, regardless of content source – broadcast TV, DVD, Blu-ray, internet, whatever.”, says Hass Mahdi, Marketing Manager, Home Entertainment at Sony Australia.
This ‘making everything better’ is a reference to the X-Reality PRO processing engine inside the Sony 4K TVs, working to upscale the images. Upscaling to ‘near 4K’.
No pricing details were given, but if you’d like to have a guess and you’re skilled in the area of mathematics, the 84-inch model that is on sale now has an RRP of $24,999.99.