IFA coverage: Sony switches on new TV range

If there’s a theme from all of the big players at this year’s IFA, it’s that TVs are “in” again. The humble TV is, without doubt, one of the most amazing devices to come out in the last hundred years. Apart from Stephen Hawking. The physical appearance and technological advances of the old telly has changed dramatically since the large brown boxes with screens that would compel you to sit two inches away to make out movement amongst all of the snow.

Sony in particular has ignored this trip down memory lane to unveil three world firsts in their Bravia TV range. The most impressively presented of the three was undoubtedly the Bravia ZX1. There was no sheet covering a mysterious silhouette for some guy in a suit to yank off. This TV rose out of a podium amongst a dramatic cloud of smoke. My first reaction was that it may have caught fire, but as the haze lifted, we were treated to a very sexy looking machine. Heralded as the world’s thinnest LCD TV, this weighs in at 9.9mm deep. I’ve had pancakes thicker than that!

The next TV to come out of the Sony style-lab was the Bravia Z4500 Motionflow, with an amazing 200Hz frame rate, meaning that you see 200 frames per second on the screen. This resulted in a very noticeable difference in performance when we compared it to a normal TV. This is an important development for a HD-enabled world, as a quality HD movie means nothing without a screen with the capabilities to show it off in all its glory.

The last world first from Sony, granted, is a bit of a mouthful. After trying to pronounce a few German street signs though, I have had practice. The Bravia EX1 is “the world’s first LCD Picture Frame TV with integrated High Definition wireless connectivity”. The technology is there with this TV, but this particular model is based on style, to fit flatly on any wall with a polished “frame” appearance around the screen.

Despite these three world firsts, Sony also threw in a European first which I know will make quite a few readers very excited. The again catchily-named XEL-1 is the first OLED TV to reach the European Market. With a super sexy 3mm screen, you could get a paper cut by moving it around your living room. The image quality is outstanding on this self-illuminating screen which has a contrast ratio of over 1 million to 1.

Prices and release dates were rather vague, except for the Bravia Z4500 Motionflow, which is due in shops in time for Christmas, meaning that there is a chance for you to catch the next season of Grey’s Anatomy in better quality than ever before.