CES 2009

Sony, and other manufacturers as well, are big on 240Hz refresh rates this year. At CEDIA in September Sony showed one Bravia line that operates at 240Hz—the XBR7 (just beginning to ship now).

Now comes the XBR9 series, with three models at 52, 46, and 40 inches. These sets are said to employ a true 240Hz refresh rate plus a (defeatable) strobing backlight (instead of the 240Hz "effect" used by some manufacturers in their new 240Hz sets). The line also has integrated Bravia Internet Video, with the Bravia Widgets enabled (Internet sites such as Yahoo video, weather, stock information, etc.). The XBR9s will be available in the spring, prices TBD.

Sony had a very effective demonstration in its booth of 240Hz operation using three different sets. One was set up to operate at 60Hz refresh, the middle one to 120Hz, and the third to 240Hz. The reduction in motion blur over 120Hz was not subtle.

Many of us don't like what 120Hz with motion compensation does to the look of material sourced from film. The frame interpolation, which is a requirement of this feature to get the maximum motion benefit, is what causes our concern, making film look like video. As usual, the interpolation may be shut off here, and if disengaged, the XBR9 repeats frames to bring the source image up to the panel's native 240Hz refresh rate. No word was yet available, however, as to whether a 1080p/24 source employs 10:10 pulldown in the latter event.

Oddly, the XBR9 series uses CCFL backlighting, not LED backlighting and local dimming. The latter are still exclusive to the XBR8 sets. So it's safe to say that no other models from Sony, old or new, will equal the black levels and shadow detail that the XBR8s can muster.

Sony also announced a number of other sets—too many to report on here. But the new E5 series (summer, no prices yet) received a lot of airtime from Sony's presenters. It's designed with energy efficiency in mind, using a variety of features to obtain a power reduction of nearly 40% compared to previous (and similarly set up) Sony LCD TVs.