Audio Video News

Much work was put into improving the speakers integrated with the TV to ensure they'd mate up well with the new wireless speakers to complete a full surround system. The Avant's drop-down speaker array now includes separate left, center, and right channel speakers, versus the simpler left-right stereo array featured in the prior BeoVision 11; they may be configured as left-center-right or as a single dedicated center-channel speaker in the event the TV is straddled by standalone mains. Fully sealed speaker enclosures inside the TV accommodate a 2-inch cone midrange and 0.75-inch dome tweeter for each channel, with an extra forward-firing 4-inch woofer and rear-firing 6.5-inch subwoofer for bass. Each of the eight speakers is driven by a dedicated 60-watt Class D switching amplifier with digital signal processing to extract the best performance. Music demos of the built-in speakers revealed natural, extended frequency balance, solid dynamics, and a suprisingly wide and tall soundstage (without the use of any artificial spatial processing) for what amounts to an integrated three-channel soundbar.

Video Advances: 4K and More
Bang & Olufsen has made the Avant its first Ultra HDTV, with a 55-inch panel rated at 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution. (No other screen sizes were announced and B&O officials were cagey about when larger models might be coming.) A 16-zone smart dimming scheme is employed for the edge-positioned backlight. The set comes with just a few built-in apps for music: Deezer (not yet available in the US), Spotify, and an Internet radio service. Rather than chase after the app of the day and dealing with the associated integration and required regular updates, B&O expects customers to supply their own Apple TV or other streaming media player. A small hidden cavity behind the back panel covering the input connections was designed to comfortably hide an Apple TV or similarly-sized device. Additionally, the set is DLNA compliant for streaming media from a local network, and includes B&O's Smart TV platform for Web browsing (which utilizes an Opera-based browser).

B&O execs say that a new factory calibration process will insure good-as-ISF results for every set that ships. The automated 10-point calibration adjusts both gamma and primary color points across the full grayscale, and stores the results internally so each Avant sample can be counted on to visually match all others regardless of manufacturing tolerances.

Along with a purist Movie preset intended to meet Rec.709 HDTV specs for color temperature and color gamut, an advanced chromatic tracking function can actually read the color temp of ambient room light through the set's 360-degree light sensor to temporarily adjust the image and ensure that the visual result remains consistent with the intended settings. This can, for example, ensure that the reddish hue of late afternoon light streaming in from a window does not add unnatural ruddyness to faces, despite the TV being set for a perfectly neutral 6500K color setting. The TV will compensate by temporarily dropping the color temperature more toward blue, then gradually restoring it as nightfall arrives.

Notably, for a 4K TV, the Avant is rolling out now with HDMI ports compliant with the HDMI 1.4 and HDCP 2.0 standards. A firmware update for new-generation HDCP 2.2 compliance was expected as early as June, and B&O says the set contains all the required hardware for full HDMI 2.0 implementation (for displaying 4K signals at up to 60 Hz); a firmware update for that will come later in the year.

An Aluminum Wand

B&O designed a new universal remote control to ship with the Avant, the BeoRemote One. The long, narrow wand is milled from a single piece of anodized aluminum, and offers a beautifully elegant bend about its midpoint that makes it both easier to pick up and more comfortable to hold and operate. Three "MyButton" buttons up top can be programmed to fire up the TV and set its input to a preferred source, allowing some customization. While the sculpture-like design features a small OLED display at the top to assist operation, it offers no backlight—a decision made in part to greatly extend the life of the batteries. B&O expects consumers to quickly adapt to the feel of the button layout for dark room use, though an iPad tablet control app is available as well.

What's It Cost?
Not surprisingly, given the Avant's 4K display and unique technology, its modern industrial design and motorized operation, and B&O's history of luxury pricing, it doesn't come cheap. The television alone, with no stand or mount, is priced at $7,995. Adding the motorized floor or tabletop stand, or the motorized wall mount, adds $1,995, bringing the combo in for just under $10K (a fixed wall mount option is $895). Of course, this price includes the integrated surround processor with WISA-certified wireless transmission, though wireless powered speakers to fill out the sound system for surround sound are extra.