Sony Electronics announced the pre-sale today for its newest lineup of 4K HDR Ultra HD televisions, the XBR-X850D and the XBR-X930D/XBR-X940D series, with exclusive Sony picture enhancing technologies. Powered by Sony’s 4K Processor X1™ advanced image engine, these televisions deliver a better 4K and HDR viewing experience as well as near 4K HDR Ultra HD quality up-converted from HD sources.
Dramatic brightness and black levels bring scenes to life with dark, inky blacks and stunning bright whites. The Slim Backlight Drive™, found in the stand-out X930D series, provides dramatic contrast with X-tended Dynamic Range™ PRO, while the TRILUMINOS™ Display delivers brilliant color. An ultra-thin design creates an expansive, borderless picture and the optional flush mount system, available in the X930D and X940D series, enables the TV to be mounted closer to the wall than ever before. All of these TVs feature Google™’s Android TV™ operating system making your home smarter with access to a growing number of apps and support for IoT (Internet of Things) devices.
“This new lineup of 4K HDR Ultra HD televisions is proof of our continuing commitment to deliver a premium 4K HDR experience to our customers. With the development of 4K HDR shooting, editing, recording, storage, playback, transmission and display technologies, Sony understands 4K HDR like no other company,” said Sunil Nayyar, Director of Product Marketing, TV and Projectors, North America. “Sony TVs provide superior picture quality no matter what content is being viewed, but these new televisions really shine when displaying 4K and HDR content.”
These new TVs, as well as current shipping Sony televisions that are capable of fully taking advantage of HDR content, will be branded with Sony’s “4K HDR Ultra HD” logo. This logo is used across Sony’s 4K HDR compatible products and services. Logoed televisions meet the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) HDR definition and support compelling next-generation visual experiences.
Dramatic Contrast and Brilliant Color
All of Sony’s new premium 4K HDR Ultra HD televisions support High Dynamic Range and reproduce dramatic contrast and rich, brilliant color. With Sony’s unique color technology, the TRILUMINOS Display and X1 picture engine can provide a wider color range and more realistic color details, producing subtle shades and depth of color to maximize the HDR experience.
The new X930D series features Sony’s new Slim Backlight Drive technology which uses a unique grid array, local dimming and boosting backlighting structure to provide dramatic contrast. It does so by distributing the light source more precisely to each specific zone of the screen while maintaining a slim display. The X940D delivers similar dramatic contrast with a slim full-array direct backlit LED. Both the X930D and X940D feature X-tended Dynamic Range PRO to produce maximum contrast, boosting and dimming the backlight levels precisely for each zone of the screen with a unique backlighting algorithm resulting in darker, inky blacks and whiter whites, it up converts current content to near HDR quality.
Elegant Design
To support an enhanced viewing experience that goes beyond the screen, the X930D and X940D Sony 4K HDR Ultra HD models have an ultra-thin design that creates an expansive, borderless picture. With the optional wall mount, the television hangs like a picture, with only 3.7cm, or less than 1.5 inches, between the X930D screen and the wall. These televisions are elegant on a stand or cabinet, with a clean cable-free look that keeps set-top box or Blu-ray cables tidy and out of sight.
More than Just a Smart TV
These new 4K HDR Ultra HD TVs support Google’s Android TV operating system, making it even easier to watch broadcast and cable TV, stream video, download entertainment, or use as a gaming device. Android TV brings the world’s most popular mobile platform to Sony’s TVs, providing a tailored and intuitive entertainment experience. TV lovers can watch hit shows and timeless movies from Google Play™, Amazon Video, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, PBS and PBS KIDS. Users can also access a huge selection of games and additional apps from the Google Play store right on the TV. Additional popular apps available via Android TV include HBO NOW, EPIX, Starz Play, iHeartRadio, Fusion, PlutoTV and Vevo.
In addition, Android TV’s Voice Search feature has been enhanced to support natural language voice actions and longer, more complex sentences. And with Google Cast™, users can cast their favorite entertainment apps such as HBO GO from their Android or iOS device, Mac or Windows computer or Chromebook to the TV.
Beyond streaming content, Sony’s Android TV platform allows Home Automation control directly from the TV’s user interface using a Logitech Harmony Hub. More than 270,000 home entertainment products and IoT (internet of things) devices, such as lights, shades and thermostats can be controlled and automated at the push of a button on the TV’s remote.
The new X850D and the X930D/X940D series will support ULTRA, an app from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to be launched this year in the US. With ULTRA, consumers can purchase and stream 4K HDR movies and TV shows – the best new and classic titles from the 4K digital library of Sony Pictures – directly on their Sony 4K HDR Ultra HD TV. ULTRA will also be available to Sony’s existing 4K HDR Android TV models.
HDR content is also available on Amazon Video, the first video provider to offer titles in HDR. Amazon Original Series HDR content includes the most-streamed Amazon original show ever, The Man in the High Castle, and Golden Globe winning series Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle, as well as movies including After Earth, Fury, Salt, Elysium and more. Netflix was the first to roll out 4K content to the mainstream market and has made a commitment to providing HDR content to its subscribers as well.
Pricing and availability
The X850D and X930D/X940D 4K HDR Ultra HD TVs are available for pre-sale today, and will be on-sale in March at Amazon, BestBuy.com and other authorized dealers nationwide.
4K HDR TV Ultra HD Models and Prices
- XBR-55X850D, 55” class (54.6” diagonal), $2,499.99 MSRP
- XBR-65X850D, 65” class (64.5” diagonal), $3,499.99 MSRP
- XBR-75X850D, 75” class (74.5” diagonal), $4,999.99 MSRP
- XBR-85X850D, 85” class (84.6” diagonal), $9,999.99 MSRP
- XBR-55X930D, 55” class (54.6” diagonal), $3,299.99 MSRP
- XBR-65X930D, 65” class (64.5” diagonal), $4,999.99 MSRP
- XBR-75X940D, 75” class (74.5” diagonal), $7,999.99 MSRP
Also available later this spring will be the 32W600D, 40W650D, and 48W650D series of 32” to 48” class HD TV’s, providing a world of movies, TV and apps in beautiful HD with the clarity and sharpness of X-Reality PRO. Prices are as follows: 48W650D, $699 preorder; 40W650D, $599 preorder; and 32W600D, $349 preorder.
4K HDR Ultra HD TV Highlights
XBR-X930D Series 4K HDR TV (55” and 65” Class models) and XBR-X940D (75” Class model)
- 4K HDR compatibility to receive and process the new video standard signal with higher brightness, higher contrast and more vibrant colors.
- X-tended Dynamic Range PRO to produce ideal contrast, with three times the brightness range of a conventional LED-backlit TV.
- New Slim Backlight Drive technology, which uses a unique grid array local dimming and boosting backlighting structure to distribute the backlight source more precisely to each specific zone of the screen while maintaining a slim display. (X930D only, the X940D uses a slim full-array direct backlit LED.)
- More colors, depth and realism with TRILUMINOS Display, further enhanced for color accuracy.
- Sony’s 4K Processor X1™ advanced image engine to improve color accuracy, contrast and clarity of HD, 4K and 4K HDR video.
- 4K X-Reality PRO brings stunning detail and optimized 4K upscaling using a unique algorithm from a reality creation database for TV broadcasting, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Internet video and digital still photos.
- Supports Google’s Android TV operating system, making it easy to stream video, function as a gaming device and provide enhanced features. Also allows Home Automation control directly from the TV’s UI in combination with a Logitech Harmony Hub.
- An ultra-thin design that creates an expansive, borderless picture. When hung against a wall with the optional mount, the television is so close, and the bezel is so thin, that it appears to hang like a picture.
XBR-X850D Series (55”, 65”, 75” and 85” Class models)
- 4K HDR compatibility to receive and process the new video standard signal with higher brightness, higher contrast and more vibrant colors.
- More colors, depth and realism with TRILUMINOS Display, further enhanced for color accuracy.
- Sony’s 4K Processor X1™ advanced image engine to improve color accuracy, contrast and clarity of HD, 4K and 4K HDR video.
- Dynamic Contrast Enhancer optimizes contrast with improved gradation, better reproduction of dark areas, and increased contrast control with reduced noise levels.
- 4K X-Reality PRO brings stunning detail and optimized 4K upscaling using a unique algorithm from a reality creation database for TV broadcasting, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Internet video and digital still photos.
- Supports Google’s Android TV operating system, making it easy to stream video, function as a gaming device and provide enhanced features. Also allows Home Automation control directly from the TV’s UI in combination with a Logitech Harmony Hub.
- An ultra-thin design that creates an expansive, borderless picture
Please visit www.sony.com/news and follow #Sony4K on Twitter for the latest Sony 4K HDR news.
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Our own Chris Chinnock recently visited Sony to view these TVs. Find his coverage at Sony Shows Latest HDR/WCG UHD TVs.
