Sony pulls plug on cabled power

Sony claims to have proven that reaching around the back of your TV to find that elusive power plug could, one day, become a problem of the past.

The electronics giant has trialled an in-house “wireless power supply system” in Japan, which the firm claimed enabled a 22in LCD to wirelessly receive around 60W of power sent over a distance of about 50cm.

Sony's tech allowed power to be sent wirelessly over a 50cm gap

Sony’s system is based on high-frequency “magnetic resonance” technology, which produces a magnetic field by feeding power into a 40cm-wide square coil of wires.

When another coil is brought within the magnetic field, a current is induced in the second coil, feeding power to the TV.

But the technology is far from perfect, Sony admitted. At least 80W of power was originally pumped into the first coil, but the technology’s low efficiency meant that 25 per cent of the energy was lost during transmission.

The tech's range can be boosted by using relay units

The firm hasn’t said how it plans to improve the technology’s efficiency, but claimed that by placing relay units in between the first and second coil the transfer distance can be extended by a further 30cm.

Something tells us that it will be a while before Bravia TVs set-up for wireless power transmission make it over to Blighty. ®