Audio Video News

At a press event in Pittsburgh, PA, last week, Sony announced two new rear-projection SXRD televisions. Previously available only in the company's upscale Qualia line, SXRD now enters a wider market. The 60-inch KDS-R60XBR1 and 50-inch KDS-R50XBR1 Grand Wega designs, at $5000 and $4000 respectively, are still priced toward the high-end, but they are now in direct competition with top-of-the-line sets using other digital display technologies.

At the heart of both models, which are identical apart from size, are new, smaller (0.61-inch diagonal, 16:9) SXRD panels, together with a more compact light engine. The sets offer full 1920x1080 resolution on the chip and on the screen, with separate SXRD panels for red, green, and blue. The sets will not accept 1080p source material directly (when and if significant 1080p program material becomes available), but all current high-definition sources, including 1080i, are said to be mapped to 1080p within the set without sacrificing any resolution.

The sets also incorporate Sony's Advanced Iris function, which operates automatically to enable the set's claimed peak contrast ratio of an astonishing (for a digital display) 10,000:1. The contrast ratio of the chip itself is said to be 5000:1.

Additional features will include dual HDMI inputs, three iLink (IEEE 1394) connectors, a PC input, an optical audio output, a Memory Stick flash media reader, and an integrated SD/HD tuner with a CableCARD slot.

Sony expects to produce enough chips for up to 1 million SXRD displays per year worldwide. Production of the sets for the US market is scheduled to begin in September at Sony's Pittsburgh assembly line.