Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

Last Friday saw the release of Sony’s first 3DTV the Bravia HX803. We spoke about it a few months back as one to watch, well now its here, ready for the World Cup and has been backed by an advert campaign shown during the World Cup matches ( if you haven’t seen it click here)

For a quick re-cap, HX803 is available in two screen sizes, 40” and 46” and packs Full 1080p HD with LED backlighting for great contrast ratios. They also include Sony’s Motionflow 200Hz Pro technology for super smooth images, Freeview HD, Bravia Internet Video and DLNA support for streaming. They also come packed with plenty of HDMI sockets too, 4 in all. The screen itself uses active shutter technology to give you better quality 3D images with special(expensive) LCD shutter glasses.

So although content to watch isn’t so readily available, Sony is adding some options for you to get your hands on some 3D viewing. The BDV-E370 is a 3D  Blu-Ray player which comes bundled with “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" Also the PS3 has recently updated to allow 3D games playback and when the NEX-3 and 5 cameras we spoke about last month come out they have the ability to take a high resolution panoramic shot that when shown on a 3D TV such as this, the image will appear in 3D.

Available now the screens start at a whopping £1799.

The 3D revolution is now in full swing with companies such as Sony future-proofing and readying its new AV tech ready for our 3D future. We’ve seen the up-coming Bravia TV’s that Sony are coming our way, well now we have some Blu-Ray players to match them.

The BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 will both be 3D compatible the first requiring a future software update and the latter will be compatible straight out the box. Both will achieve this with Active Shutter 3D technology delivering full 1080P HD quality 3D images to your peepers.

Also designed much like its new line of Bravia TVs, these black beauties will be internet enabled. The S470, the obvious entry-level one, will connect via ethernet or can go Wi-Fi with the help of a Sony wireless dongle. The S-570 will do this all by itself. Once connected they can hook up to the Bravia Internet Video service we’ve spoke of before, allowing catch-up TV playback like BBC iPlayer, YouTube  or stream from LoveFilm’s new service. Both can play media from USB but S-570 is DLNA compatible for home network streaming.

Both are arriving sometime this month the BDP-S470 is currently on the US Sony store for $199.99 and the S570 for $249.99.

Freeview HD is still in it’s first steps. Although the signal is being broadcast in some regions, the sheer lack of set top boxes available to catch the signal seems to be hindering it hitting the mainstream. Sony though have announced that new lines of TVs incorporating the subscription-free Freeview HD tuners will be launched this week.

The NX803 will be available in 40”- 52” screen sizes capable of LED backlit 200Hz images and future-proofed with 3D support. With built in Wi-Fi this model can stream media from your PC but also incorporates the Sony/LoveFilm widget, allowing subscribed users to stream movies from the DVD rental people(when it gets launched)and Skype and Bravia Internet Video(a TV catch-up service).

Also for the more budget/eco conscious, there’s the HX803 and Bravia Essential EX703. The HX803 same as the above but minus the networking options and the EX703 will have the networking options only a less responsive 100Hz screen and energy saving features. Both the latter models will be available in 40” and 46”

There were 2 impressive announcements from Sony at the press event last week, and without a doubt the biggest one they are trying to push is the range of 3D Bravia’s due for release next year.

The press conference included some example footage of the 3D used in the Bravia’s and it will be using RealD 3D technology which is the type of 3d that uses polarized images to and the sunglasses style glasses.

The footage they played included a clip from the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, some 3D gaming footage of Wipeout, some nature footage and some footage of a Football game.

The Sony booth also included some TVs running the above footage.

Personally my experience was a bit hit and miss with it. I thought the football was poor however the movie, Wipeout and the nature footage were good.

Personally I am not totally sold on the 3D at home idea, I think 3D technology has some way to go before I would consider it. I don’t think it is an of the TV’s though, more a lack of quality content that shows off the 3D technology properly. I wish they had show some footage of Avatar instead of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, I think that may of change my perception of the 3D tech quite a bit.

The BRAVIA Theatre BDV-IT1000 is an all-in-one home cinema system with an integrated Blu-ray Disc drive. It features super-slim speakers with full-range drive units just 16mm wide, wireless rear speakers, as well as DVD upscaling to 1080p.

BDV-IT1000 at a glance

• Super-slim speakers made possible by finger-sized full-range drive units
• All-in-one home cinema system with integrated Blu-ray Disc drive
• Full HD 1080/24p picture quality with Deep Color and x.v.Colour
• Wireless rear speakers for great surround effects without cables
• BD-Live Ready: upgradable to Profile 2.0 for extra content and downloads via Ethernet port
• DVD upscaling to 1080p
• Two HDMI input terminals for connection of games consoles, HD TV decoder boxes or other sources, and one HDMI output
• Optical digital and analogue stereo inputs. Also composite/component video in
• Upconversion to HDMI for analogue sources
• Fast, perfect 'one-touch' set-up with Digital Cinema Auto Calibration
• BRAVIA Sync for integrated operation with other Sony components
• XrossMediaBar onscreen display for simple, logical operation of all functions
• Connectivity with Network WALKMAN® and iPod® players, Bluetooth devices and home Wi-Fi networks via DIGITAL MEDIA PORT, plus Portable Audio Enhancer
• 700W total power: 5x100W plus 2x100W for subwoofer, using efficient, high-quality 32-bit S-Master digital amplification