The F1 series with narrower bezels
Fumiya Matsuoka explaining the design concept
Demonstration of the J1 series featuring chic design
Sony Corp unveiled 11 new models of its LCD TV "BRAVIA" for spring 2008. The upcoming lines are the F1, V1, J1 and M1 series.
The F1 series comes in 46-, 40- and 32-inch products with narrow bezels. For example, the width of bezels on the 46-inch model is only about 27mm. The V1 series (including 52-, 46- and 40-inch models) employs the Motionflow technology, which enables smooth video display, in spite of its affordable price.
The J1 series (32-, 26- and 20-inch models) features a sophisticated design with slightly rounded corners on the chassis. The M1 series (20- and 16-inch models), which comes in a wide variety of bright colors, is targeted at younger people.
The design concept for the new BRAVIA series is "Draw the Line." The frame design is kept in balance by providing a horizontally extending slit between the display unit and the speaker under it. To accentuate the lightness of design, all models have the slit under the display. The J1 series especially enjoys the synergy of narrow bezels and the slit, the company said.
"As one of the themes, the designers have always requested the developers to make a narrower bezel," said Fumiya Matsuoka, Chief Art Director of TV HAV Design Studio of Consumer Products Design Group at Creative Center of Sony, who was in charge of designing the series. Matsuoka also appreciated the efforts by the developers, saying that "the reduction in the thickness and the size of the components made a layout with narrower bezels possible."
Matsuoka also appreciated the efforts by the developer side, saying that "the reduction in the thickness and size of the components made the layout with narrower bezels possible."
The company proposed the installation in a manner similar to wall-hanging TVs by providing the "wall-style" stand as an option. The 46-inch model in the latest lines is 7.4cm thick, which is the thinnest in the BRAVIA series.
The new TVs can display images optimized in accordance with the type of content, eg sports, movies, Internet images, home video, digital photos as well as the standard programs in high definition. To display video with fast motion, the TVs adopted the Motionflow technology to correct the blur in each frame of the original image at 60fps before displaying the double speed image at 120fps.
The TVs also have the 24p True Cinema mode to play back movies at 24fps, which is the original frame rate of films, and the Cinema mode developed in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. For displaying still pictures shot with a digital camera, the TVs reproduce the textures and the colors resembling those seen on the camera monitor with the adoption of the "Photo Mode for Still Pictures."
The new models are equipped with the new image engine, BRAVIA engine II, which can significantly reduce noise in the dark areas and improves the grayscale characteristics on the black side.
The new BRAVIA lines also feature an enhanced network functionality. The number of content delivered by the Applicast function, which displays online information concurrently with the TV programs, is increased from 13 to 30. In addition, all models support the acTVilla portal service. When connected with a network TV box "BRX-NT1," the users can enjoy a number of video-on-demand (VOD) services.
Moreover, the Sony Room Link function of the new TVs is applicable not just to Blu-ray and HDD systems but also to digital camcorders and Sony's TV side PC "VGX-TP1DTW" (from the spring 2008 models).
Another feature of the new lines is the recycled plastic used for the back panel, the inner part cover, etc in 9 out of the 11 models. The plastic was produced under the company's in-house waste renewal program.
The company reprocessed the plastic parts used in CRT TVs and polystyrene left behind in the LCD TV production process and the resultant plastic was molded again into the parts for use in the new TVs. In this way, the company reportedly reduced the use of new material and cut CO2 emission by approximately 30%.
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