Sony has come a long way with their Bravia line – starting with just five models introduced into the local market during 2005, Sony now has an extensive lineup consisting of 38 models spanning 9 different series of models. October 13 marks the day when the Bravia lineup was bolstered by some significant new additions to the X and W series of Bravia LCDs. 40”, 46”, 52”, and the largest full-HD screen by Sony – a full 70 inches of viewable area, as well as 40”, 46”, and 52” W-Series Bravia LCDs were all part of the launch event held at the Ayala Museum lobby in Makati.

                                             The Ayala Museum served as the perfect backdrop for Sony's new additions to the Bravia line-up.

The HWZ team as per norm attended the event, expecting one or two LCDs filling out the already extensive Bravia line-up. Instead, we were greeted with a number of cutting-edge technologies in addition to a total of 9 new LCDs, all infused with powerful Sony technology and each having additional strengths and features to cater to nearly all LCD buyers.

                                             Takashi Kozu-San, VP for Marketing, personally shows us the Motionplus 240Hz advantage in the "Always Fast and Forward" booth.

The event was laid out in “theme” booths that portrayed how Sony technology could be used in different situations in the easiest and most convenient way possible. The booths also served to highlight the technology behind the Bravia LCDs, with emphasis on cutting edge viewing technology and viewing pleasure. Starting with “The Vibrancy of a Kaleidoscope World”, we were able to see RGB Dynamic LED backlighting produce rich colors in conjunction with Live Color Creation, a Sony-developed algorithm that extracts the most accurate reading of the original source’s color for a perfect reproduction on the Bravia LCD’s screen. x.v. Colour, as conforms to xvYCC, an international standard for colour space in videos endorsed by the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), makes every tint and detail as accurate as possible – in perfect combination with the color reproduction afforded by the two previous technologies.

                                             "Connectivity of the Modern World" centered on DLNA and its application, hosted by Kozu-San.

                                             Just one of the many potential combinations of Sony products that can take advantage of DLNA.

“The Lushness of Creation” featured the Bravia Engine 2 Pro technology, the processor that takes the HD signal and improves it through a process called the Digital Reality Creation, enabling the viewer to see each detail in the original video. “Connectivity of the Modern World” in turn makes all of the aforementioned technologies more accessible through the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), a feature designed for seamless inter-operability of Sony products, easing their use for the consumer. A good example of the application of this technology is the connection of Sony’s HD camcorders or cameras directly to a Bravia LCD without requiring transfer through a PC first, although this is also possible if required – when the user wants to edit photos or videos first before sending it on to the Bravia LCD for viewing.

                                             Motionflow 240Hz technology was succintly demonstrated by focusing on fast-moving video - such as sports.

We now come to a very interesting portion of the event – the booth with the title “Always Fast and Forward” presented the Motionflow technology both in its original form and in an improved state – the Motionflow Pro ( 120Hz combined with backlight-blinking technique that removes flickering from fast-moving scenes) and Motionflow 240Hz (quadruple the “nominal” 60Hz of other LCD sets!) were features and demonstrated against a competitor’s 120Hz LCD set – smoothness is the end result, with playback that is akin to what the human eye sees for itself at any one time. Interpolation of three new frames (per each original frame) reduce motion blur and is the basis of this super-smooth technology. Motionflow Pro is incorporated into the new X-series LCDs, while the Motionflow 240Hz is currently exclusive to the yet-to-be-released Z-series Bravias.

                                             "Vanity Fair" is a very convincing display of inter-connectivity between Sony products - a feature that is carried over to Bravia's newest.

                                            Theatre System or not, the Bravia line's inherent quality makes it an easy choice for the full cinematic experience, as seen hereat the "Romance of the Reel" booth.

“The Romance of Reel” refers to the cinematic experience, and features Bravia’s Theatre System as well as the 24P True Cinema technology that detects films shot at the industry-standard 24 frames per second and adjusts the Bravia LCD’s imaging standards to match. Bravia Sync works similarly to the DLNA standard and in that it musters all HDMI-connected devices into a set that’s easily controlled through a single remote. “Vanity Fair” uses this same HDMI-based Bravia Sync technology to easily sync with other Sony products such as Cyber-shots and Handycams, enabling easy display of your captured videos or pictures on a Bravia LCD. Photo TV HD turns the Bravia LCD into a real-life frame for whatever picture you want to display, without losing out on any picture-quality.

                                             Besides Sony's monster 70" X-series Bravia, the other models in the lineup seems to be smaller than their purported 40", 46", and 52" sizes.

All of the features listed above are well-represented in the X and W series, with the Motionplus 240Hz limited to the Z-series for now. In the same manner that Sony Philippines is filling out its roster of Bravia LCDs to cater to any and all potential needs of the market, Sony is also completing its mastery of Display technologies, making sure to cover the full gamut of video and picture enhancement to make the Bravia LCD line one of the most desirable and technologically-advanced product lines available locally. Sony intends to dominate the market of increasingly HD-savvy consumers in the Philippines, and with their existing technologies and additional LCDs, they are fully on their way to do so. More pictures to follow.

                                             Sony representatives are all smiles as they field questions from the press near the end of the event.