Bang & Olufsen intros luxury BeoVision 7 40-inch LCD

Premium home theater builders Bang & Olufsen today launched the BeoVision 7, a 40-inch LCD designed to minimize the number of extra components for a full home theater. The 1080p-native display incorporates a DVD player as with some mainstream sets, but also includes its own 7.1-channel surround sound decoder and a center-channel speaker that can be had in one of two models depending on the audio environment. A basic BeoLab 7-2 speaker provides stereo for smaller areas; the vertical BeoLab 7-4 in turn is meant to fit into a larger surround setup and provides added treble to dialog and other sounds unlikely to remain exclusively in side channels.

The Danish firm's design touches also come into play through the automated technology. In addition to a display that automatically compensates for light levels, both the included floor stand or wall mounts feature tilt and turn motors that can be adjusted manually via remote and even cued to automatically visit certain positions when the TV set is turned on or off. The DVD loader also hides until it's cued up by the user, Bang & Olufsen says.

Shipping in the company's trademark aluminum as well as black, blue, dark grey, or red, the BeoVision 7 is set to launch during the summer at a base price of $13,250 including either of the BeoLab speaker sets. The company's custom stands vary between $500 and $1,000 depending on the material finish and design.