Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2008/08/12/sony_bravia_x4500_w4500/

Sony's floating Bravia

Magical speakers hang mid-air

By James Sherwood

Posted in Personal Tech, 12th August 2008 12:16 GMT

Sony has expanded its Bravia TV line with a telly that not only boasts “floating” speakers, but a screen that can automatically dim itself to save power and improve contrast.

Sony_Bravia_X4500

Sony's Bravia X4500 has floating speakers

The X4500 uses clusters of “energy-efficient” red, green and blue LED backlights – rather than traditional white, one-colour LED backlights. By doing so, Sony claims the telly’s able to momentarily dim itself in dark areas of a picture, lowering power usage.

Sony also states that this auto-dimming feature reduces “light leakage”, provides deeper blacks and enhances contrast.

Speakers either side of the telly are attached to the screen’s frame by thin Perspex bars at the top and bottom of the set, which makes the audio bars appear as though they’re floating beside the screen.

The 1080p resolution TV provides 24f/s - aka 24p - playback, in addition to 100Hz motion technology. So even though the speakers might be floating, on-screen ghosting shouldn’t occur. The set has an impressive 1,100,000:1 contrast ratio.

Four HDMI ports are included for plugging in all your HD gadgets, and the set even has a USB port where you can slot in a Flash drive.

Sony_Bravia_W4500

The lesser W4500 has a 50,000:1 contrast ratio

Sony’s also launched the Bravia W4500, which is much the same as the X4500 but doesn’t feature floating speakers or the RGB LED backlight set-up.

The W4500 is a 1080p screen, but users will have to settle for a 50,000:1 contrast ratio. On the bright side, the set still supports 24f/s playback and 100Hz technology. A USB port is built into the set too, but only three HDMI ports are included.

Sony’s X4500 will be available in 46in and 55in models this October, whilst the W4500 will appear in 40in, 46in and 52in sizes next month. Prices haven’t been given yet.