Sony bolsters Bravia line

Sony Philippines is consolidating its premier home entertainment brand as it launched in Makati Shangrila-La last Thursday a strengthened and geared-up Bravia.

The Sony subsidiary now carries a more diverse Bravia range with more models available locally than in Japan, an expanded Bravia Engine, and optical engine technology, and the new Bravia Solutions Gear that offers the widest line-up of Sony products in the market.

"Around the world, Sony is putting premium effort into building up the Bravia as the future of home entertainment, with its promise of a high-definition (HD) viewing experience," said Hiroaki Kobayashi, president and managing director of Sony Philippines.

"And we’re proud to say we are seeing our efforts bear fruit. The Bravia is now leading in the Philippine HDTV market with over 50 percent market share in the over 40-inch segment; two-thirds of Filipino customers buy Sony in the above 50-inch segment," Kobayashi added.

The Bravia was introduced in the Philippines in late 2005 with just five models. It was then referred to a premium-quality, high-definition LCD TV line-up.

This year, Sony Philippines is expanding the Bravia range to a total of 18 models and even going beyond LCD TV.

H-LCD (High-Temperature Polysilicon 3-LCD) and SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) projection TVs will now also be carried under the Bravia brand.

"This year, Sony Philippines is introducing more powerful models with the HD-ready V2 and S2 series as well as the X, E2, and R series – bringing our line-up to a total of 18 models," said Arnold Balao, Sony Philippines’ deputy director for home audio-video marketing.

"Meanwhile, the H-LCD range that has made a mark in the local market as the Grand WEGA will now be part of the Bravia family as they take viewers into a high-definition experience with the E2 series," added Balao.

The E2 series comes in 42-, 50-, and the new 55-inch models.

Also introduced was the all-new Bravia with two-megapixel-screen X series, available in 40-, 46-, and 52-inch sizes. These models deliver 1080p HD signals via one-cable High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) input for HD digital video and audio streaming.

The E2 series will be available in October, and the X series in November.

"Lastly, the Bravia SXRD projection TV, introduced just recently as the ultimate TV, is venturing ever closer toward full HD," Balao said.

"It is Sony’s initial venture into full HDTV with two-megapixel, high-resolution picture quality, going higher than high-definition. This November, we will be introducing the largest screen size of Sony display devices, the 70-inch SXRD projection TV, that will truly make Sony’s dominance in the Philippine large-screen TV segment a cut above the rest," he added.

In the same event, Sony Philippines’ Bravia product manager Jhoey Benedicto also introduced an expanded Bravia Engine processor in three grades: Bravia Engine, Bravia Engine EX, and Bravia Engine Pro.

According to her, this proprietary Sony technology is a fully digital processor that refines images from the source for excellent picture quality.

The Bravia Engine provides vivid and high-contrast images, while Bravia Engine EX provides realism for SD signal (from SD to HD Creation). The Bravia Engine Pro, for its part, provides realism for every signal from HD to HD Creation.

Sony Philippines also introduced the Bravia Solutions Gear composed of Bravia Theater, Sony Philippines’ first DVD/HDD (hard disk drive) recorder, Cyber-shot and Handycam cameras and personal audio accessories.

Also announced was a Gear Up Your Bravia promo where customers can get big discounts of as much as P68,000 for the Bravia Solutions Gear products.