Sony Officially Unveils 84-Inch 4K TV

By Kevin Parrish
published

Sony's rumored monster HDTV is now officially heading to the States later this year.

As previously rumored, Sony Electronics plans to launch an 84-inch 4K 3D TV at Sony Stores and select retail locations in North America later this year. Labeled as the XBR-84X900, this monster-sized HDTV will be equipped with a 4K (3840 x 2160) LCD panel packing Sony's 4K X-Reality PRO Picture Engine with up-scaling capability to 4K.

"From Trinitron to HD, 3D and now 4K, Sony has led the way, innovating TV since 1968. This new model redefines what consumers should expect from their television’s performance," said Brian Siegel, vice president of Sony Electronics’ TV Group. "Our professional division continues to see the migration toward 4K content creation with major film and broadcast productions. Armed with this knowledge and expertise, only Sony continues to push the television experience with innovation and immersive products."

According to Sony, the 4K TV incorporates a 10 Unit Live Speaker system which is optimized for the large-sized screen and envelops the viewer in virtual 5.1 surround sound. The side speakers are also detachable, allowing consumers to connect to an existing home theater system. The specs reveal that the 4K TV has a 50 watt total output, and a 10-unit speaker system including a subwoofer. Other audible features include a 10 degree inward facing array, and S-Force Surround 3D.

As for the screen itself, Sony said viewers can watch video on the large screen and not see any degradation of image quality traditionally associated with larger screen sizes. "High-resolution processing powers a 3D viewing experience that exceeds Full HD resolution," the company said. "The accompanying 3D glasses use a light and comfortable passive design, allowing viewers to enjoy 3D footage on an impressive large screen the same way they would in a movie theater."

Naturally this monster-sized HDTV will have direct access to the Sony Entertainment Network via a built-in Wi-Fi connection. A tablet or smartphone can even be used as a remote (via the Media Remote App), allowing users to sit back and pull up movies, TV shows, music and other media through Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited, Netflix, Pandora, Yahoo! Broadcast Interactivity and more than 50 other "popular internet entertainment providers."

The spec list reports that the HDTV features a Dynamic Edge LED backlighting design, local dimming, Full HD 3D support, Motionflow XR 960 for a fluid framerate, and support for Wi-Fi Direct, DNLA and Skype. Users can also connect their PlayStation 3 and use the console's PlayMemories Studio to view, share and edit photos in 4K. PC and tablet content can even be streamed to the HDTV using Intelligent Connect.

"Sony leads the way in all aspects of the 4K workflow, from both the professional and consumer perspective," Sony said. "More than 12,500 of the company’s 4K digital cinema projectors are in use at movie theaters throughout the world, and Sony is also leading the way in true 4K content creation with its flagship F65 CineAlta 4K camera. With several 4K movies in production, the first broadcast TV shows beginning to shoot in 4K and Taylor Swift’s release tomorrow of the world’s first-ever 4K music video the content evolution has begun. Also part of Sony’s 4K line-up in the home is the VPL-VW1000ES, the first 4K home theater projector, which was announced last year and is available through custom installers."

For more information about the upcoming 4K 3D TV, head here. It's ok if your jaw hits the table -- we totally get it.

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Kevin Parrish
27 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Socialdisorder
    I'm not going to ask!
    Reply
  • Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer
    I wouldn't mind Sony bragging about how they "lead the way" in all things 4K if the television they're showing off actually displayed at the same resolution as the camera they namedrop records at. Would the extra 256 columns of pixels have killed them?
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    If Sony were to match this with a 4K Bluray player and start churning out 4K Bluray movies that are being shown in those cinemas then this would be a step in the right direction, put seriously the early adopters are going to be hosed on the cost.
    Reply
  • mrmike_49
    soldier37Too bad most broadcast HDTV now is still in 720p. Wont see 4K anything on TV for at least 5 more years if then. But hey they can always make computer displays in 4K waiting on that next before the TVs. Want to replace my 2560 x 1600 30 inch display with one!!Is that true ?? Both NBC and CBS use 1080i, while ABC and Fox use 720P, AFAIK ()
    Reply
  • bison88
    mrmike_49Is that true ?? Both NBC and CBS use 1080i, while ABC and Fox use 720P, AFAIK ()

    Yes, 1080i is roughly the same bandwidth as 720p. However, 720p is far superior to 1080i (although this can be debated). You can look up the difference to see why, but the lack of true 1080p content lacks because Cable systems just can't handle it, even compressing the hell out of it, it would just use up too much frequency spaces which would mean they could broadcast far fewer channels.

    I'd say we'd be lucky to see 1080p content in 5 years. I wouldn't expect 4K or 8K to hit TV's for far longer than that, unless some major investments are done between now and 2017.
    Reply
  • kunser
    See: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/hevc-h.264-video-compression-mpeg,16976.html
    The new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) draft describes a technology that achieves about twice the compression levels of the current H.264/AVC standard.
    Reply
  • goodguy713
    bison88Yes, 1080i is roughly the same bandwidth as 720p. However, 720p is far superior to 1080i (although this can be debated). You can look up the difference to see why, but the lack of true 1080p content lacks because Cable systems just can't handle it, even compressing the hell out of it, it would just use up too much frequency spaces which would mean they could broadcast far fewer channels.I'd say we'd be lucky to see 1080p content in 5 years. I wouldn't expect 4K or 8K to hit TV's for far longer than that, unless some major investments are done between now and 2017.
    more like 2020 .. another factor is that you can stream 1080p content but you need at least a 1.5 2.0 MB sec data rate just to be able to watch it fluidly over the internet most people are still in the 3 Mbit range 12Mbit is good for 720p but not reliable enough for 1080p content .. 18Mb service its reliable on but most people dont have access to something that fast and can also be cost prohibitive.. considering comcast has 100Mbit connection speeds but at 200 or so a month with a 250 GB cap sounds like ISP and Cable TV providers really just want you to have limited features .. and are not interested in taking on the extra capital investments needed to make something like this work .. Im kinda leaning more towards WI DI taking a bigger step into the Internet data pool and possibly seeing greater proliferation with higher data rates .. i think the biggest road block for ISP's is the physical need to maintain a physical cable network to every location in its service area where as with WIDI you could build a few broadcast hubs and disperse them through out the area of service or even piggy back on cell network towers. Once data rates catch up with physical transmission lines then your more likely to see greater proliferation of high resolution images .. considering 4k video is ruffly 4 times that of 1080p you would need at least a 8 to 10 MB connection to be able to stream it with out pause..

    Reply
  • RADIO_ACTIVE
    I wonder if you went on Sony's facebook page and asked for a free one, if they would give a you a custom dragon tv lol
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    bison88the lack of true 1080p content lacks because Cable systems just can't handle it, even compressing the hell out of itSurely the new draft MPEG compression story the other day could lead to 4K videos using the same bandwidth as normal HD, and TV isn't where the investment will come from, it will the premium movie channels and the ordinary TV comes after. People will be happy to watch a grinding weekly TV show in lower def, but they will insist on watching Avengers 3 in 4K and will pay through the nose to subscribe to a movie channel to get it.
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    RADIO_ACTIVEI wonder if you went on Sony's facebook page and asked for a free one, if they would give a you a custom dragon tv lolTry it, if it works let us know, pics or it didn't happen
    Reply