Monday, April 14,2008 @ 12:25pm
Sony Bravia XBR line to get LED backlights in fall
Sony's XBR line of top-end Bravia HDTV sets will receive one of its most extensive updates when refreshed for the fall, says a leaked roadmap provided to BGR. In addition to an improved interface and support for DLNA media sharing as well as online program guides, all of which will appear in the unannounced XBR7, the top-end XBR8 will be the first Sony set to include LED backlighting. Nicknamed TRILUMINOS, the feature will dramatically improve contrast ratios by allowing the TV to selectively shut off the backlight in darker parts of a scene, creating much deeper blacks without affecting the rest of the picture.
It also improves the overall color accuracy and reduces the power draw compared to a normal set's cold cathode fluorescent (CCFL) light, which is almost always switched on.
A fast 120Hz LCD panel, four HDMI inputs, and other features from other 2008 models will carry through to the new range-topping screen.
The XBR8 is expected to launch at first with just one 46-inch model, the KDL-46XBR8, that will ship in August. A 52-inch XBR8 model will follow sometime between September and October along with the XBR7 line, which includes at least 40-inch (KDL-40XBR7) and 70-inch (KDL-70XBR7) versions. The already-public XBR6 series now has a more tangible May release date for the smallest 32- and 37-inch sets but will include 40-, 46-, and 52-inch versions in the early fall launch window.
