CES: New TV technology from Sony

Sony has used the CES 2010 show in Las Vegas to unveil some of the technology it plans to include in its next generation of TVs.

The first big news is that the Japanese manufacturer has radically restyled its televisions: they're now a simple flat panel slotted into a small, discrete stand.  The new single-piece stand is made from glass and aluminium.


Plenty of LEDs

The LCD displays will mostly be backlit by LEDs with only very few retaining neon tubes.  The new LX900, HX900, NX800 and EX700 lines will all use LED backlighting, for example.

Sony goes 3D too

It's official: Sony will bring 3D-compatible TVs to market this year.  They'll involve a standard 200 Hz signal coupled to a pair of LCD glasses.  The 200 Hz will of course also be used for Motionflow, which will be upgraded to the Advanced Pro version to keep jerkiness and ghosting at bay for sharper images and smoother movements.  Be careful though, as all the new 3D TVs will have Motionflow 200 Hz, but the reverse won't be true.

I can see you!

Some of the new TVs will have sensors that detect the presence (or absence) of viewers with a view to reducing energy consumption when nobody's watching  The light sensor is apparently also designed not just to adjust the backlighting level, but also the colour temperature according to light levels in the room.  This seems odd to us, as the colours displayed by a TV depend entirely on the colour temperature of its backlighting and not the room's, but we'll see just what happens when we have a chance to test one.

Online content

Sony also announced plans to continue to provide online content available over the Internet.  Some TVs will be able to access WiFi, removing the need for a network cable.  The actual content itself won't change though, as Sony has extended its agreements with content providers.  You can also access videos from sites like YouTube, or download widgets that will display your favourite RSS feeds for instance.

> Product Survey: 40'' to 49'' TVs