Cheaper,Smaller SXRD Rptvs This Fall Maybe?

[morpheus]

Heres a post from an AVS Forum member just recent:

Sony plans to hire 1,000
By James Pletcher Jr., Herald-Standard
06/02/2005

Increased sales of its Wega television, a new TV line to be introduced this fall and other factors are the reasons behind Sony's recent announcement that it will hire 1,000 permanent and seasonal workers at its New Stanton factory.
....
Sony will begin producing its new proprietary SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) televisions this fall.

"In layman's terms, this is a pure high-definition television, which gives more lines of resolution vertically and horizontally across the screen. It triples the number of pixels and provides much better contrast. The picture actually has some depth and almost looks three-dimensional,'' he said.

Sony is producing SXRDs in Japan for the eastern market, and the New Stanton plant will be the only Sony factory in North America manufacturing the sets, Koff said.

"I'm not sure of the screen sizes, but believe there will be a 50-, 60- and possibly a 70-inch version that we will be making here,'' he said.

"We are already building five new production lines for the SXRDs. In fact, we started that yesterday (Tuesday). There are new jigs and things like that we need to install for the manufacturing process, but the manufacturing process will not be vastly different from making the LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions we have now.''

Sony's New Stanton facility, Koff added, has already ceased producing the 7-inch cathode ray tubes (CRTs) that went into its picture-tube-based rear projection television set.

http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/n...d=480247&rfi=6

Originally Posted by Lew Black Quoted from a Sony dealer in U.S.
More news from Sony. The 50" (and 60") SXRD models are real: KDSR50A10 $3,999.99 Nov. 05. KDSR60A10 $4,999.99 Oct. 05.
....
No Official Press Release from Sony Yet!!!! Keep ya updated.

[morpheus]

More Details:Post from AVS member

KDSR50A10 $3,999.99 Nov. 05, KDSR60A10 $4,999.99 Oct 05. HDTV monitor (3 x .61"SXRD/1920x1080 panels), qualia006 pure red, high contrast ratio, film like reproduction, WEGA Engine HD (DRC MultiFunction V2), S-Master, 2 HDMI, Audio Optical Out (Tos Link), PC Input (D-Sub 15 pin), MS Viewer, New Edge Design, WEGA GATE User Interface,Cinema Black Pro, PAP, MS Playback, 132w Lamp,

Sony's new SXRD chips at 5,000:1 Production CR have already bettered that CR mark. Quote:AVS member who has seen Sony's 70 page pdf. on their SXRD plans handed out to Sony dealers at the S.I.D.show a couple of weeks ago.May 22nd - May 27th 2005.


[About his source]: As I have said earlier, I am passing on information that Sony has released to salespeople. They are helping us, as many systems are planned way ahead of time. They email us info and I am copying pertinant information. I probably should get an okay from our rep to do this, but I figure it is public information once they release it. What I have posted is all I have right now.

Quote:
I have no idea if this is accurate but for what it's worth, I was told by a major Sony dealer that they will be coming out with a "50 inch SXRD Grand Wega" rear projection this year at an expected list price of $3999. He said it is SXRD but not a Qualia and the model number will be KDSR50A10.

[About his source:] I don't think it's right for me to mention the guy's name unless he does so himself. He's got a large custom design and installation firm (CEDIA member) and he put it in the specs for a job he'll be doing for me in the late fall. I thought he must have meant the new A10 50" LCD but when I asked him if he was sure he hadn't made an error in the description he said he was positive it was a SXRD and has already seen a demo of the TV. He said the only thing they would tell him about it was it wouldn't be called a Qualia but he didn't know what that meant as far as missing features or degraded quality

[cctyler]

Lots of people talking about this over at the AVS forum. And I was just getting set on picking up the new 50 or 55 LCD from Sony and they throw this out there.....too many choices. With the current 50" Sony selling for $2800 at FS, I could see the new 50" being roughly 3300-3500 and if those MSRP's for the SXRD's are correct, thats about $4500 CND for a 50". Tough decision, have to wait and see how much better the SXRD looks.

[fuzman]

Funny that this was just brought up as I was @ The Sony store today.The person i was speaking to had very little knowledge on the new A10's or 20's coming out & knew nothing about the sxrd's.

These new sxrd's sound very Interesting...But thier going to be in excess of $5000 depending on the canadian dollar...I for one would look @ them but that's a lot of coin for a 50" TV..I don't mind spending the money as long as your getting value...

fuz

[k4kman]

Well just to add what I think
If you take a look at the KDS70Q006 70" WOW they are really something and let me tell you they sound like they are going to use the same panels.
If so I’m glad I waited. Might have to go with the 50" instead of a 60" do to cost but with direct pc in and other options it might be worth have a slightly smaller one and really showing off on quality

[testikoff]

Originally Posted by k4kman

Well just to add what I think
If you take a look at the KDS70Q006 70" WOW they are really something and let me tell you they sound like they are going to use the same panels.
If so I’m glad I waited. Might have to go with the 50" instead of a 60" do to cost but with direct pc in and other options it might be worth have a slightly smaller one and really showing off on quality

I was at Vaughn Mills' Sony Store today and they had a 70'' Qualia 006 SXRD TV on display. They were using the usual Rogers HDTV demo of 2004 MuchMusic Video Awards. The picture was alright but I was not exactly blown away by it. I think the term "the best HDTV ever" used in some reviews might be slightly exaggerated (the smaller flat panel TV with native 1920x1080 resolution may be capable of delivering more impressive imagery, but it could be subpar in-store setup as well).

[k4kman]

OK well I have to say I also don't know about "the best HDTV ever" but I do see a very big improvement over the others in the Sony line as per contrast and clarity at close distance.

We will also have to wait and see. Remember the 70" is $17,000. and from what this post states they are going to sell for 5k mmmm lets see even though they are smaller that’s a big price jump.


My problem is that I was really thinking of getting one of the KDS60XS955 but now with this news it's going to be hard to get one knowing the new TV might have a much higher resolution and sharper picture

[HD Watcher]

The KDF60XS955 is now $4999 including a Sony surround sound system, with wireless rear speakers at FS. No stand included though, but regardless, a pretty good deal.

[cctyler]

Originally Posted by fuzman

Funny that this was just brought up as I was @ The Sony store today.The person i was speaking to had very little knowledge on the new A10's or 20's coming out & knew nothing about the sxrd's.

fuz

I had the same experience. I asked a salesman if he had any brochures on the upcoming rear projection tv's and he said "Nope, nothings changed, their the exact same as last years models."
OK. I asked, "but didn't they change the case design".
He answered, "Well yeah, but thats it".
"What about the HDMI input, I heard the 42 and the 50 will have one"
"Well they already do"
"Really"
"Well, the 55 and 60's do, the 42 and 50 have DVI"
"Ok, so thats something new"
"Yeah but thats it"
"I also heard they may have improved the black levels"
"Nope, picture quality will be the same, you're confused with the SXRD's coming out."

I don't know why I bother going in there anymore. The store I usually go to doesn't even have a true HDTV signal in the building.

[k4kman]

It's been a couple of weeks is there any more news on these new SXRD Rptvs?

[cctyler]

Originally Posted by k4kman

It's been a couple of weeks is there any more news on these new SXRD Rptvs?

There is quite a bit of talk over at the avsforums.com. Looks like they might have a 50 or 55" model starting at 4K USD around November. Its a tough toss up between the new LCD sony's, espeically since there is no support for a true 1080p input/output right now.

[morpheus]

Some news I've heard as of late that Canada will see a 55" and 60" sometime in October. For Sony an official news release should come in the USA in early August. In Canada by the end of September. I've used the Grand Wega xs series press releases from 2004 as a reference for now.

Actually the xs Grand Wega series was announced in the US with prices way
back in February 2004.

[morpheus]

Sony Shifts Retail Operations Structure

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 6/24/2005 9:26:00 AM

New York — Responding to strong growth in its direct-to-consumer sales operations, Sony has realigned management responsibilities, shifting the online consumer electronics and Sony-branded retail stores to the consumer electronics group, Sony Electronics’ COO Hideki “Dick” Komiyama announced at roundtable conference with the press, here.

The e-commerce and retail store businesses, which were previously managed under Sony’s e-Solutions Company, have now been moved into the consumer electronics sales operation headed by Stan Glasgow, Sony’s U.S. consumer sales president.

Glasgow said Sony will continue to use its direct-marketing e-commerce and flagship Sony Style boutique stores as a vehicle for building Sony’s sales across all of its channels of distribution.

“We’re giving consumers a choice to shop anywhere [they] want,” Glasgow said. “We’re going to try to have a very open environment to allow consumers to shop, and we’re going to try to make sure there’s synergy between our online sales and our retail partners and between our stores and our retail partners.”

Glasgow, who said Sony will double the number of its stores to 30 this year, said the company has been successful at balancing its direct sales and its consumer electronics retail distribution, adding that he has not had one complaint from a retail partner about Sony’s stores.

“They don’t see them as a threat,” Glasgow said. “Number one, they’re too small. We don’t stock everything in the stores. We’re trying to sell a select range of products and inform the customer and demonstrate things.”

The shift was made in tandem with the realignment and expansion of Sony’s business-to-business sales into one company, which will bring together sales and product development teams to address the needs of various markets, Komiyama said.

“Previously, our other segment of the business was more or less fragmented and it functionally separated sales and marketing,” he said. In response Sony has established “a completely new platform” for business-to-business, focusing more directly on key product areas “while segmenting different markets such as education and government,” said Komiyama.

Also as part of the change, direct sales of Sony Vaio PCs to business-to-business clients, which was formerly handled through the e-Solutions Company, has moved to the new business-to-business operation, Komiyama said.

Komiyama said Sony Electronics North American sales operation “had another banner year,” in 2004, and is continuing to see growth as Howard Stringer, Sony’s newly approved worldwide chairman, leads a “turnaround” for the global organization.

Komiyama said Sony is following closely its three-year rejuvenation plan, called “Transformation 60,” which included last year’s relocation of its CE sales and marketing headquarters from Park Ridge, N.J., to San Diego. The goal is to complete the transformation around Sony’s 60th anniversary next year.

The move, Komiyama said, has helped solidify communication between engineering, sales, marketing and manufacturing, while speeding the time to market for innovative new technologies.

Komiyama acknowledged “concern” over certain market trends, including the rapid price compression in flat-panel televisions, and all digital technologies which have been exposed to the rapid commoditization of key components.

“However, I believe we have strong strategies for meeting these challenges,” Komiyama said.

Glasgow mapped out Sony’s display products strategy for 2005, showing the currently available 70W-inch Qualia 006 ($13,000) SXRD rear-projection microdisplay HDTV “at the very high end of the line.”

Below Qualia, Sony is extending the XBR sub-brand — which was once used to mark top of the line CRT TVs — to include flat-panel LCD and SXRD.

Glasgow said Sony will introduce in the fall 50W-inch and 60W-inch SXRD-based microdisplay rear-projection HDTV sets under the XBR line “at considerably lower pricing” than the current Qualia 006 model.

Below SXRD, by display type, are Sony’s 3LCD-based Grand Wega microdisplay rear-projection HDTV sets. Glasgow said Sony’s Grand Wega line is currently its largest consumer display segment. Kamiyama pointed to Grand Wega as one of Sony’s “vertically integrated” products that use Sony-manufactured key components such as high-temperature LCD panels.

“We are going to be highly competitive in microdisplay with our Grand Wega 3LCD line 42W-, 50W-, 55W- and 60W-inch models,” noted Glasgow. “We’ll be competitive against all the other rear-projection products.”

In flat-panel TV, Glasgow said Sony has scaled back its plasma TV offerings, but he added “we’re not out of it officially at this time.”

Glasgow noted that production has started at the new Sony Samsung LCD-panel joint venture factory, giving the company a core competency in flat-panel production. Sony will market three major flat-panel LCD lines including the entry S Series, which “will be highly competitive, even against the 50 to 60 brands now showing up in the United States,” Glasgow vowed, noting that Sony “won’t be the cheapest. That’s not our goal. But we will be competitive in terms of base LCD models.”

“Where we are really excelling is in stepping it up to higher performance” LCDs, Glasgow said.

Sony’s step-up V Series LCD TVs are positioned “for the more discerning XBR type of customer,” he said. The series will use enhanced CCFL backlighting to expand the color gamut, while using “a wider looking panel” with a faster response time.

At the high end, Sony will also deliver this year’s models using LED backlighting, which outperforms even CCFL, Glasgow said.

Glasgow said “Sony hasn’t given up on CRTs,” adding the company “will be responsive to whatever the market needs in terms of how these changes happen.”

Glasgow said as prices are driven down in Grand Wega and LCD, CRT, in turn, will have to move to lower price points.

In camcorders, Komiyama said Sony will be focusing its promotional push on DVD recordable models, which was one of Sony’s major strengths last year, and new high-definition models, including the company’s second model introduced in June.

Komiyama said Sony, once again, will make a strong push in the personal audio area this year. He cited the segment, which was once one of Sony’s most dominant categories, as a personal disappointment last year, and credited Apple Computer, which has dominated the market in recent years with its iPod products, for being a strong competitor.

To boost the personal audio business he said Sony will be working closely with key service partners and with Sony’s software businesses to deliver entertainment media for its hardware products.

In addition, Glasgow said Sony has had discussions about possibly including XM and Sirius reception functionality into future portable audio products — a move Apple was also considering.

Komiyama said Sony’s new direction under Stringer will help the company work more effectively as “one company” to leverage its various strengths for synergistic purposes.

He said Sony will be adding a new service and some hard-disk-based players soon. In the meantime, it is marketing a pair of new micro-sized flash memory-based personal audio players.

Sony has moved to include in its players open standards including MP3 and WMA.

The new efforts have helped Sony see “a strong resurgence” in market share within the flash-media-based personal-audio category, said Rick Clancy, Sony’s communications senior VP. Sony now holds the No. 1 market-share position for flash-memory personal-audio products in the Japan market, he said.

Sony’s Vaio PC business, meanwhile, continues to perform profitably, although the company has chosen to innovate rather than to “chase market share,” in the area, Komiyama said. Sony is preparing to market a Media Center PC “for the den” with certain living room functions later this year, to be followed with a full “living room”-based entertainment Media Center for next year.

[morpheus]

Here are a couple of bits of info to get the thread back on track. First, I believe the correct model numbers are KDS-R50XBR1 (50") and KDS-R60XBR1 (60"). The sets have 2 HDMI inputs, a PC input, and 3 i.LINK ports which should support HD play/record. If the photo I saw is accurate, the styling is very similar to the current "XS" Grand Wegas, with speakers on the sides.

Nothing new to report on pricing or availability.

I work for Crutchfield, and I'm writing the SXRD presentation for our Fall catalog, which should begin arriving in mailboxes in early August. I'm getting my info straight from Sony. At this point, I can't really provide any more details.

Steve ( AVS forum member )

[morpheus]

50" KDS-R50XBR1 MSRP: $3999 US.
60" KDS-R60XBR1 MSRP: $4999 US.

Features:
- 3 SXRD image panels (1920 x 1080 pixels each)
- Cinema black Pro with Advanced Iris dynamic iris mode
- Wega Engine HD video processing
- Digital Reality Creation MultiFunction V2 upconversion
- Twin-View Picture-in-Picture (split screen)
- picture settings memory for each video input
- non-detachable side speakers (15 watts x 2)

Connections:
- 3 composite video (2 rear, 1 front)
- 3 S-video (2 rear, 1 front)
- 2 component video
- 2 HDMI (one with audio jacks)
- 3 i.LINK ports (2 rear, 1 front)
- PC input
- 2 RF inputs (1 Antenna, 1 Cable)
- Memory Stick slot

Dimensions & weight
KDS-R50XBR1: 57-1/4"W x 34"H x 18-7/8"D; 94.8 lbs.
KDS-R60XBR1: 66"W x 39-3/4"H x 20-1/4"D; 112.5 lbs.

Notes
i.LINK ports appear to be HD-compatible like those on the Qualia 006. In the "i.LINK Setup" description, the example shows a JVC D-VHS deck as the source.

As you may have gathered from some comments about the A10 Grand Wegas, there are two parts to Cinema Black Pro. First, there's a global iris adjustment with, I think 4 positions, that's designed to compensate for various lighting conditions in your room. The separate Advanced Iris "dynamic iris" option is one of several video adjustments that are only available in the "Pro" picture mode.

Hope this is useful. To those folks who had to scratch the SXRDs off their lists due to the side speakers: my sympathies. I was surprised, too. To everyone else who's still considering the 50" or 60": I'm still convinced the picture quality will be worth waiting for.

Steve @ Crutchfield AVS Member
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