Here comes 4K resolution TVs. And they’re about to make a big, noisy splash, too – at least judging by the way manufacturer Sony sees it.
At the ongoing IFC conference in Berlin, Sony announced its plans to launch at the end of 2012 the massive 84-inch XBR 4K LED TV, which not only features a staggering resolution of 3840 x 2160, but also represents the company’s largest screen to date – and first-ever 4KTV.
Arriving in Sony stores and select retail locations in the US later this year, the new XBR 4KTV has 8 million individual pixels, 4 times the resolution of Full HD, a wide viewing angle of 60 degrees, and a new XCA8-4K chip that’s designed to upscale HD (or lower resolution) images by analyzing and refining images from all sources.
The TV also features 3D capability, a rich set of Smart TV, video-on-demand, and wireless connectivity features, SimulView™ gaming compatibility (which eliminates the need for split-screen gaming), and a detachable 10-driver virtual 5.1 surround sound speaker system designed to deliver high-quality home audio performance.
In a press release, Sony explained its aim to lead the 4K workflow. “With several 4K movies in production, the first broadcast TV shows beginning to shoot in 4K, and Taylor Swift’s release of the world’s first-ever 4K music video, the content evolution has begun.”
The company already has over 12,500 digital cinema projectors for the professional market. The introduction of the Sony XBR 4K LED TV at the end of the year, meanwhile, will mark Sony’s attempts to make this new standard in ultra-HD television technology available to consumers and the home theater market. (Last year, it also announced the VPL-VW1000ES, its first-ever 4K home theater projector, which is available through custom home theater installers.)
