Sony goes higher than High Definition

TOKYO, Japan — Before I started making movies, I was a fan of movies. When I was younger, I’d go to the cinemas, and as the films played, the pictures would take me away from my seat and transport me to a world of, say, Middle Earth or Hogwarts. I’d be engrossed because the pictures would be so clear and so vivid, it’d be like nothing else existed.

This is called “movie magic” — when a screen can teleport a viewer into another realm. For decades, we’ve tried to replicate this magic in our homes, from the Betamax to the Laser Disc to the DVD to Blu-ray. But the result has always been wanting. TV screens have gotten bigger, yes, but image quality has lagged behind. Those of us with LED TVs know this: You may have a 48-inch screen, but switch to channels two and seven and notice how fuzzy the pictures look.

This is because image quality is tied to the number of pixels your screen contains. If you turn on your TV and lean in, you’ll see little dots across the screen — those dots are called pixels. The fact that you can see these dots means that the image isn’t true-to-life (put your eyes close to your table, for example, and you won’t see dots).

Now, imagine if the pixels were so small, that you couldn’t see them? The result would be images so clear and so vivid, that just like in a movie house, if you were watching footage of a landscape, you’d feel like you were actually there.

Enter the new generation of Sony Bravia 4K LED TVs. While the high definition (2K) TVs we have in our homes today have a resolution of 1,920 pixels in length by 1,080 pixels in height, or a total of only two million pixels, 4K refers to a screen resolution of 3,840 pixels in length by 2,160 pixels in height — a whopping eight million pixels of pure visual bliss.

The TVs were recently launched in Tokyo, at a press event I was invited to attend. I got to see the products up close and my verdict is that the new Bravias deliver an immersive home entertainment experience you have to see to believe.

4k content

Of course, a TV screen with eight million pixels needs content that contains eight million pixels. Movies on High Definition Blu-Ray discs contain only two million pixels, while the images broadcast by local networks like channels two and seven are at only 345,000 pixels (that’s why they look so fuzzy!).

Thankfully, Sony has this covered. With the X-reality PRO processing engine, the new Bravias can actually upgrade content. Sony says that the chip reduces visual noise and corrects image shapes, but also up-scales 2K content to a near 4K native resolution. In order to do this, the TVs employ a state-of-the-art “Reality Creation” database as well as “Super Resolution” processing — a system that optimizes images, and produces stunning picture quality with richer colors and sharpness.

Moreover, Sony promises a wealth of 4K content, since the company not only makes TVs, but also professional filmmaking equipment such as cameras, recorders, and monitors — and since the company also owns a major Hollywood studio in Sony Pictures. Recent box office attractions such as Oblivion and After Earth were shot in 4K, while classics such as Lawrence of Arabia are being remastered in 4K. (I saw a preview during my Tokyo trip, and the results are impressive.)

Other winning features

For me, the colors on the Sony Bravia 4K LED TVs are another winning feature. The TVs have Triluminos Display LED backlighting; they also integrate QD Vision’s Colour IQTM optical component — a one-two punch that, explains Sony, presents rich colors with subtle tones while also replicating hard-to-reproduce reds and greens in order to deliver a significantly wide color gamut and provide a heightened sense of depth.

To complete the experience, the new 4K Bravias also offer a better sound experience. Sony’s proprietary Magnetic Fluid Speakers deliver sound pressure levels that are higher than what conventional TVs can produce. The TVs, out of the box, deliver such loud and rich audio that there is no need to buy an external sound system for these babies.

Now, these aren’t the first 4K models Sony has launched. Sony dipped their feet into the medium last year with an 84-inch model that cost P1.2 million. (The company says they’ve sold four units in the Philippines).

So, what do the new Bravias have over their predecessor? Aside from improved image quality, and aside from the X-reality PRO processing engine, which upgrades content, the come-on for me is the price. The 55-inch Bravia 4K TV retails for P299,000, while the 65-inch model sells for P399,000. It seems that Sony is on a mission to bring the magic of the big screen to a broader reach of consumers.

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The Sony Bravia KD-X9004A TV’s, 55-inch and 65-inch models, are now available in the Philippines.