By Sarah Toy
For BU News Service
LAS VEGAS — Sony debuted its latest products on Wednesday at a press conference at CES, among them a razor-thin, free-standing OLED.
Sony Corporation President and CEO Kazuo Hirai introduced the addition of the X930E and X940E LCDs to the company’s Bravia 4K HDR TV line, but the real star was the XBR-A1E Bravia OLED.
Compared to a traditional LCD, an OLED is supposed to offer more vibrant colors and better black levels. The A1E also comes with a unique sound system: the Acoustic SurfaceTM. The TV doesn’t have separate side speakers, nor does it have speakers on its bottom. Instead, the display vibrates to produce “awe-inspiring sound,” according to Hirai. It will be available in 55-, 65- and 77-inch sizes once they hit the market later this year, but other specifications aren’t available yet. Both the X930E/X940E and A1E will support Dolby Vision.
Sony also introduced a new Dolby Atmos-capable sound bar, the HT-5T500, which Hirai claimed will provide “3D-immersive sound.”
In its Life Space UX range, which focuses on home electronics, Sony introduced the VPL-VZ1000ES Ultra-Short Throw laser light projector, an HDR 4K projector that can project from as close as 6 inches away from its screen surface and display objects as large as 128 inches.
Hirai also announced a related Life Space UX concept Sony was developing: literally called “New 4K Projector – It’s all here –,” which proposes using their 4K projectors to discover and interact with new content, like throwing up a projection of a bookshelf and using it to browse books.
And it wouldn’t be a Sony press conference without some mention of the PlayStation 4, which Hirai spoke of with great pride. Nothing new on that front, but he said the company sold 6.2 million units this past holiday season, and lifetime sales were now at 53.4 million units.
