2007 Sony Bravia Speculation

I talked to Sony reps at CES.

Next years Sony line coming in August will be LED Backlit (Non Dimming), with XV color, 120hz HDMI 1.3.

Why would Sony go with a non-dimming backlight when Samsung is introducing its new series with local dimming? What's the importance of that feature?

Will Samsung and Sony share the same manufacturing plant for the next gen panels?

Local Dimming patents are owned by a company called briteside. Samsung has licensed the technology. Nothing stops Sony fom doing the same, and maybe they will, but as of now they are not. Local dimming allows the backlight to be turned off where it is unneeded, therefore no light leaks through, the effect is drastically higher contrast ratios.

The panels will still be Sony-Samsung. But of the 120hz veriaty.

Ah, here's a speculation thread where I can lurk for the future. The Sharp D92 speculation thread is self-destructing, as the bands issues continue in that series, and it's now no place to hang.

Query: Based on past Sony behavior, does anyone have a sense of when they might start talking about some of the details of their August offerings?

Usually mid-March they issue a press release.

So what you are saying is: Clouds won't be an option?

Thanks, bluescreen. Patience, then, is the watchword, but not usually a characteristic of AVS types.

Sorry, my post may have been misleading. I went back and checked. By "usually" apparently what I meant was "this is what they did last year".

And "last year" they only issued a general announcement regarding their fall lineup ("Hey, we'll be coming out with new 1080p lcds later in the year!") on March 16. They didn't put out any real details until June 1.

Sony will be talking about their 2007 offerings at some press event that should take place later this month. I'm not sure if this will actually come to fruition, though.

Sony usually previews their 2007 offerings to dealers in February or March, but they don't formerly announce all details and specifications before May, and they don't ship til June or July.

We'll see if 2007 follows that schedule. Sony may push up the release date of new models, because June/July is a long time to go without HDMI 1.3 display products on the market.

So, do you think that the current 52" XBR3 will be reduced so much in price that the 2007 52" model come in around the $5300.00 level?

Yes.

The 52" already goes for $700-$1000 less than that.

I wonder if they'll offer a screen size larger than 52" (ignoring the 70"). Such as 57"...

I don't know about anything being released in between the 52" and 70". I think the 52" is a good "sweet-spot" size because of weight and mounting purposes. Also, 52" fits well in smaller rooms and set's around the 57-60" size fits in rooms that are pretty large but not dedicated theatre size. I think for the next couple of years that any flat panel larger than 52" inches will be cost prohibitive to manufacture and ship which points to the $33,000.00 price for Sony's 70" LCD. I would love to see one of these new sets in person and I would gander to say that it will not be one that suffers from Cloudiness as I am sure these sets are engineered and hand assembled with white gloves and very precise tolerances.

White gloves for sure. But is there any suggestion that the LED backlight system in the new Bravias might ameliorate/eliminate the clouding from the getgo?

Sony has been uncharacteristically aggressive in it's late entry in the LCD TV market IMO. They had to play catchup and caught up well, aren't they now the leading seller of LCD TVs? I was amazed at the number of panels, lowering of prices, and reactions to the market in a really short time compared to before they went all LCD flat panel. This was not Sony's style in the past.

I think we can expect Sony to continue to be aggressive and offer more models on a faster schedule than is their norm, due to the highly competitive nature of flat panel TVs. AV competiton is fierce in all areas, with many more players like Westinghouse, Apple, and so many AV brands no one heard of 2-3 years ago. Plus with increasing production, tech advances, and lower costs, you can't hang onto a model that long or you get passed by. It's telling how pricey the XBR1 line was compared to the newer similarly sized Sony models.
It's good for buyers!

Most manufacturers are introducing their 2007 products early in the year. Is there a chance Sony will ship something sooner than July 2007. The Samsung 81-series will also be coming out in July- so I may be answering my own question.

Also, does anyone think the new XBR4 (I am assuming that will be the moniker) will be redesigned or remain the same?

My Wishlist for the XBR4

57"-60" LCD
More detail in dark scenes
No color banding or mura issues
Better built-in sound
Improved menu system
More contrast and improved sharpness
Less screen noise during sports, etc.
LED Backlighting
HDMI 1.3
USB 2.0
Ethernet
Bluetooth

All for less than $7,000- I know I am dreaming :-)

LG, Samsung and Toshiba are all coming out with new 57" models this year... hoping Sony will do the same.

And the Toshiba is 14 bit processing.

Yeah, the Toshiba LX177 has a particularly impressive feature list... it's at the top of my list for quite a few reasons. :-) Also seemingly good is the Samsung 81F series with local LED dimming.

I'm interested in seeing if Sony will bring something good to the table in a 57" size.

every sony 46 xbr2/3 lcd didn't show any clouding in my experience. from store to store to the one i have at home. i have my set dialed in and it is bright but still no clouding. of course i could force it to show some uneveness by taking long exposures like the folks in the very famous/infamous thread on the clouding issue, but what's the point if you never ever see it in normal use?

of course if some sets are worse from the get go i can sympathize but i just haven't seen any in all my experience with the sony sets.

I'm more concerned with motion blur with these sets.

All this talk about 2007 models and their features has turned me off buying a current gen lcd.. I will definitely wait until the spring/summer time now.

Considering my receiver (and most receivers) don't support HDMI 1.3, are there any features in the new Bravia's that make it worth waiting for. I'm about to order a 52xbr3.

No one has any real details on the new sets yet. But with all other brands, 2007 LCD technology is *significantly* improved over 2006. This isn't just tweaking, it's major.

Ditto.

We are talking about significant improvements that are well worth the wait- not just the typical increase in contrast ratio or improvement to black levels we expect every year. I think 2007 will be remembered as the year LCD finally surpassed the CRT in black and color performance!

I am a Sony fan becuase I like their industrial design, quality, performance, but I am also considering the Samsung 81 series arriving in July 2007- what specs!!

Exciting year for HD enthusiast :-)

Any ideas/speculation on cost of these LED/100,000:1 contrast/120hz LCDs? I'm wondering if this new tech is going to cost much more than what we already have.