Check out the line about it being the same chip as in the Qualia!
Sony Unveils 0.61" SXRD Chip As 'Volume Driver' for Rear-Projection TVs
NEW STANTON, Pa. -- Sony unveiled a 0.61" SXRD microdisplay chip to be the heart of new XBR 50W ($3,999) and 60W ($5,999) rear projection TVs and the "volume driver" for SXRD, TV Product Planning Gen. Mgr. Shigeo Saito told us after a presentation Tues. at the company's TV assembly plant here.
The 0.61" device maintains the same 1,920x1080p resolution as the 0.78" SXRD microdisplay chip built into the current Qualia 006 70W rear projection TV ($13,000) -- but increases the contrast ratio to 5,000:1 from 3,000:1 and reflectivity to 74% from 65%. The new sets also add an automatic iris feature that continuously monitors incoming signals and makes adjustments such as closing down the iris during dark scenes to enhance apparent black level.
The new display device -- smaller than the Texas Instruments 0.82" DLP chip that also delivers 1080p resolution -- started in volume production at Sony's Kumamoto, Japan, facility this year using the same 8" wafers and 0.35"-micron process as the 0.78". At the same time, Sony shrank the pixel pitch for the 0.61" SXRD to 7 micrometers from 9 micrometers, company officials said. The Kumamoto factory, which uses wafers produced at Sony's Kokudu, Japan, facility, will by year-end have annual capacity for 3 million SXRD displays
that can be assembled into one million sets, Saito said. The 50W and 60W sets will be assembled here using panels imported from Japan.
The new SXRD-based 50W and 60W sets have CableCARD slots, 2 HDMI inputs, an RGB PC input and a Memory Stick slot, but are shorn of 1080p inputs until content protection issues are resolved, TV Mktg. VP Greg Gudorf said. Despite the introduction of new lower-priced SXRD sets, Sony has no immediate plans to drop the retail for either the Qualia 70W SXRD rear projection TV or the front projector ($30,000). Whether the 0.61" will eventually finds its way into front projectors hasn't been finalized, company officials said. The 0.61" will supplement, not replace, the 0.78" display, with the larger size reserved for sets that require greater brightness, Saito said.
The 50W and 60W sets use a 120 w UHP lamp, while the 70W has a 200 w model, company officials said. With the introduction of an 0.61" SXRD that enables the technology to reach lower prices, Sony will eventually be faced with a new competitor to its own LCD-based rear projection TVs -- sales of which enabled it to grab a 47% share of a 1.7 to 1.8 million unit market for microdisplay TVs Oct.-July, Gudorf said citing NPD figures. While the price gap currently for 50W sets is about $1,500, that's likely to shrink as SXRD production increases, company officials said.
The ultimate goal of SXRD "will be determined by what we want to do with the picture quality and what will be the price range and feature sets," Saito said. "All the variables will help determine whether we choose to introduce LCD or SXRD sets." Saito declined to comment on whether Sony planned to introduce LCD microdisplays with 1080p resolution. It currently produces a 0.63" LCD microdisplay device with 720p resolution. Gudorf
also declined to comment on whether there were plans for a smaller SXRD-based TV, although he conceded that 42W was an "interesting" screen size.
Sony has installed 5 SXRD assembly lines at the New Stanton factory, each with maximum capacity of 500 units per day, Production Mgr. Michael Straub said. The SXRD lines cover 40,000-sq.-ft. of former warehouse space within the plant as well a former assembly area for CRT-based rear projection TVs. Production of CRT rear projection TVs ended at New Stanton midsummer and has been moved to Sony facilities in Mexico, Straub said.
Each of the SXRD sets can be assembled in about an hour along a line staffed by 75 workers, he said. The 70W rear projection model will continue to be assembled in Japan and exported to the U.S. largely because of the smaller volumes required, Straub said. About 10 units each of 50W and 60W sets were assembled as engineering samples at New Stanton facility during the past week. Preproduction is scheduled to begin Fri. as the factory moves toward volume manufacturing in Sept., Straub said. The manufacturing capacity for SXRD sets is expected
to be less than the 500 units a day at the start, gradually growing to larger volumes, Straub said.
SXRD and LCD technologies will become the focal points of Sony's TV strategy as it continues reducing its emphasis on plasma, Sony executives said. The company will field 42W and 50W plasma TV monitors for the custom market based on "market demand," Gudorf said. It’s also weighing introduction of LCD TVs that use "enhanced backlight" technology, he said. In Japan, Sony introduced 40W and 46W Qualia LCD TVs using LEDs
supplied by Lumileds. Gudorf declined to comment on whether there were similar plans for the U.S. market, saying only that Sony would make new introductions at next month's CEDIA Expo
Sony Unveils 0.61" SXRD Chip As 'Volume Driver' for Rear-Projection TVs
NEW STANTON, Pa. -- Sony unveiled a 0.61" SXRD microdisplay chip to be the heart of new XBR 50W ($3,999) and 60W ($5,999) rear projection TVs and the "volume driver" for SXRD, TV Product Planning Gen. Mgr. Shigeo Saito told us after a presentation Tues. at the company's TV assembly plant here.
The 0.61" device maintains the same 1,920x1080p resolution as the 0.78" SXRD microdisplay chip built into the current Qualia 006 70W rear projection TV ($13,000) -- but increases the contrast ratio to 5,000:1 from 3,000:1 and reflectivity to 74% from 65%. The new sets also add an automatic iris feature that continuously monitors incoming signals and makes adjustments such as closing down the iris during dark scenes to enhance apparent black level.
The new display device -- smaller than the Texas Instruments 0.82" DLP chip that also delivers 1080p resolution -- started in volume production at Sony's Kumamoto, Japan, facility this year using the same 8" wafers and 0.35"-micron process as the 0.78". At the same time, Sony shrank the pixel pitch for the 0.61" SXRD to 7 micrometers from 9 micrometers, company officials said. The Kumamoto factory, which uses wafers produced at Sony's Kokudu, Japan, facility, will by year-end have annual capacity for 3 million SXRD displays
that can be assembled into one million sets, Saito said. The 50W and 60W sets will be assembled here using panels imported from Japan.
The new SXRD-based 50W and 60W sets have CableCARD slots, 2 HDMI inputs, an RGB PC input and a Memory Stick slot, but are shorn of 1080p inputs until content protection issues are resolved, TV Mktg. VP Greg Gudorf said. Despite the introduction of new lower-priced SXRD sets, Sony has no immediate plans to drop the retail for either the Qualia 70W SXRD rear projection TV or the front projector ($30,000). Whether the 0.61" will eventually finds its way into front projectors hasn't been finalized, company officials said. The 0.61" will supplement, not replace, the 0.78" display, with the larger size reserved for sets that require greater brightness, Saito said.
The 50W and 60W sets use a 120 w UHP lamp, while the 70W has a 200 w model, company officials said. With the introduction of an 0.61" SXRD that enables the technology to reach lower prices, Sony will eventually be faced with a new competitor to its own LCD-based rear projection TVs -- sales of which enabled it to grab a 47% share of a 1.7 to 1.8 million unit market for microdisplay TVs Oct.-July, Gudorf said citing NPD figures. While the price gap currently for 50W sets is about $1,500, that's likely to shrink as SXRD production increases, company officials said.
The ultimate goal of SXRD "will be determined by what we want to do with the picture quality and what will be the price range and feature sets," Saito said. "All the variables will help determine whether we choose to introduce LCD or SXRD sets." Saito declined to comment on whether Sony planned to introduce LCD microdisplays with 1080p resolution. It currently produces a 0.63" LCD microdisplay device with 720p resolution. Gudorf
also declined to comment on whether there were plans for a smaller SXRD-based TV, although he conceded that 42W was an "interesting" screen size.
Sony has installed 5 SXRD assembly lines at the New Stanton factory, each with maximum capacity of 500 units per day, Production Mgr. Michael Straub said. The SXRD lines cover 40,000-sq.-ft. of former warehouse space within the plant as well a former assembly area for CRT-based rear projection TVs. Production of CRT rear projection TVs ended at New Stanton midsummer and has been moved to Sony facilities in Mexico, Straub said.
Each of the SXRD sets can be assembled in about an hour along a line staffed by 75 workers, he said. The 70W rear projection model will continue to be assembled in Japan and exported to the U.S. largely because of the smaller volumes required, Straub said. About 10 units each of 50W and 60W sets were assembled as engineering samples at New Stanton facility during the past week. Preproduction is scheduled to begin Fri. as the factory moves toward volume manufacturing in Sept., Straub said. The manufacturing capacity for SXRD sets is expected
to be less than the 500 units a day at the start, gradually growing to larger volumes, Straub said.
SXRD and LCD technologies will become the focal points of Sony's TV strategy as it continues reducing its emphasis on plasma, Sony executives said. The company will field 42W and 50W plasma TV monitors for the custom market based on "market demand," Gudorf said. It’s also weighing introduction of LCD TVs that use "enhanced backlight" technology, he said. In Japan, Sony introduced 40W and 46W Qualia LCD TVs using LEDs
supplied by Lumileds. Gudorf declined to comment on whether there were similar plans for the U.S. market, saying only that Sony would make new introductions at next month's CEDIA Expo