As promised, here is the second part of our Q&A Session with Sony. Thanks once again to Tim and Nicola for taking part, it was instructive!

• There was a lot of excitement surrounding OLED technology a few years
  ago although it all seems to have gone a bit quiet at the moment. What
  was so great about it, and why are we not hearing more?

Tim: When used in TVs, OLED technology is completely different to any existing technology, as it requires no backlight. The LEDs used in the panel emit their own light, which means the screens can be incredibly thin (the XEL-1 is 3mm). OLED screens also have an instantaneous response time and over 1 million to one dynamic contrast ratio, all of which means that they can produce an incredibly smooth and colour rich picture. We are continuing to research and develop OLED technology and are exploring its uses as a technology in all types of products.

• Following on from that, you have the XEL-1 which is an 11 inch OLED
  TV. Can I expect to see a 42" model any time soon? (edit – I kind of expected this answer but you have to ask!)

Tim: As is our policy for all products in all divisions, we never comment about products that have not yet been announced.

• Your recent marketing makes a big point of the dedicated “off” switch on your latest sets and the associated power savings that come with it. This never used to be a “feature” of TVs, it just used to be part of the set. Why did it disappear – was there some technological reason for keeping the set on standby or did manufacturers just decide that there was no point in an off button because people always used the remote?

 Tim: There are two main reasons why dedicated ‘off’ switches have become less common; the first is that keeping a TV on standby meant that it could be turned on easily and would start up much more quickly than from a truly ‘off’ state. The second is that if you are using the internal TV tuner to record directly to DVD, then you need to leave the TV on standby to ensure that programmes record.

Nicola: The Energy Saving Switch (mechanical “off” switch) is not a completely new idea; it actually was on some CRT TVs in the past. As power consumption is becoming more and more important, not only for economical but also for ecological reasons, we decided to bring it back and make it one among many clever energy saving features on our BRAVIA TVs.

• Looking at the WE5 (super-green) and the X4500 (super-high-end) it seems that the consumer still has to make a conscious choice between "green" and "features". The X4500 for instance doesn’t feature an "off" switch or presence sensor. Is power saving seen as less important on the more feature-rich models?

Tim: The BRAVIA WE5 and BRAVIA X4500 are completely different types of TV in terms of backlights, and they are also from separate ranges that were launched independently of each other (X4500 is 2008, WE5 is 2009). It is not always the case that you have to choose between performance and eco-aware features: the recently launched BRAVIA Z5500 has the energy saving switch as standard.

Nicola: As Tim mentioned, we introduced this feature on the WE5, which is a model introducing various new energy saving features. We then launched the Z5500 and are planning to equip future models with this feature.

• Staying with the green theme, what is Sony doing to reduce the environmental impact of their products, from manufacturing through to eventual disposal?

Tim: All of our press releases contain a lot of information about what Sony is already doing to reduce the environmental impact of our products. Just some of the things we do include: reducing CO² emissions in manufacturing, packaging and transport of our products; using smaller TV cartons to reduce the amount of packaging; and including an easy-to-use electronic on-screen operation manual that reduces the need for printed paper instructions.

• I’ve seen some impressive 3D display technology demonstrations. Does Sony have a view on the viability of 3D televisions in the next, say, 5 years? Do you have anything in the works

Tim: We showed a 3DTV model at CES in Las Vegas this year, and we are currently investigating the technology options available to further the development of this exciting new format (as mentioned above!).

Nicola: I would also add specifically that we will be looking into further improvements of picture quality, whilst also focusing on the general usability of TVs through enhanced connectivity and interaction with other devices. All of our products are developed with network capability in mind, making it as easy possible to connect to your favourite devices.

We recently had the chance to ask Sony some questions about their TV range. Fielding the questions were Tim Page, Senior technology marketing manager and Nicola Plump, Product manager for the Bravia range.

The answers were quite long so we’ll be presenting them in two posts, starting with this one.

• With the global recession hitting everybody how are you seeing TV sales affected? If you’re seeing a drop, is it in the more expensive high end models or is it more across the board?

Nicola: Obviously, it’s a difficult situation for all manufacturers to be in. However, one of Sony’s strengths is that we have a broad line up of TV models that can cater for all of our customer’s needs.

• HDTV has been a big driver for TV upgrades in the past few years. Looking beyond that, what do you see as the “Next Big Thing” we’ll all be wanting?

Tim: 3DTV is definitely set to be the next development which will alter the way people watch TV. The technology is more advanced than ever and there will be a number of platforms available for people to view content on, so the TVs themselves will need to be up to speed.

• You use LED backlights in some of your range. What’s the advantage of these versus the normal backlight? Will we see them coming to more of the range or will they be reserved for the high-end sets?

Tim: LCD TVs that use an LED backlighting system have a number of benefits, the two main ones being that LEDs ensure a lower power consumption, whilst enabling us to make our TVs much slimmer than models which use a CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) backlight.

Nicola: LED as backlight technology can offer various advantages. We used LEDs integrated in the frame of the ZX1 (Edge LED technology) to make this model the slimmest available 40” LCD TV at the time of launch (<1cm). LEDs are also used in the form of locally dimmable clusters of Red Green and Blue LEDs in our X45 series to get ultra high contrast and better colour reproduction, and as Tim mentions, LED backlights can also have a positive impact on power consumption.

• In CRT days I understood the concept of “refresh rate” and how it applied to flicker. LCD technology is different though (there is no “refresh” in the traditional sense), so why are manufacturers chasing ever increasing numbers for refresh rate (600Hz in the case of a recent advert). What does the term mean now?

Tim:No, refresh rate (i.e. 50/100/200Hz) has the same meaning for LCD TVs as it did for CRT models. 600Hz is in fact a grey area, and is simply a marketing tool used by some manufacturers to promote high frame rate on some plasma models when in fact it is not comparable – the real results are only equivalent to 50 or 60Hz LCD TVs.

Nicola: It’s also worth noting that Sony’s Motionflow 200Hz technology enhances moving images on your BRAVIA LCD TV by inserting extra frames between pictures. A BRAVIA TV with Motionflow 200Hz shows an extra four frames per second compared to a standard 50Hz television, meaning less blur and sharper, smoother sports and action scenes. Motionflow 200Hz doesn’t just repeat images between footage like some other TV technologies. It accurately creates new frames by comparing the preceding picture with the action to come, as well as using Image Blur Reduction to clean each frame for even more clarity and detail.

• Related question – if higher number = better picture, when are Sony going to come out with a 600Hz set?!

Tim: As outlined above, a higher number does not mean a better picture. Sony has no plans to produce a 600Hz set.

Nicola: 600Hz on Plasmas works quite differently from 200Hz technology on LCDs. 600Hz on Plasma TVs flashes the same image multiple times to combat the false colour that sometimes occurs when either the image being displayed or the observer’s eyes are in motion. 200Hz on LCD TVs displays 200 unique frames every second, meaning a smoother picture. If you directly compare 600Hz with 200Hz, 600Hz can look darker and more juddery.

Here’s a chance you don’t get every day – We’ve arranged an interview with some of the top people in Sony’s TV division and we thought it would be more interesting if you submitted the questions. So if there’s anything you ever wanted to ask Sony about their TV technology, product range or future plans now’s your chance!

Your victims are:

Tim Page – Senior Technology Marketing Manager. Tim spends a lot of time hopping between tradeshows showcasing TV and Blu-Ray technology and has also advised on Sony products in the last two Bond movies. If there’s a question about technology, he’s your guy.

Nicola Plump – Product Manager for the BRAVIA range. Nicola will be fielding questions regarding the new WE5 and associated technologies.

We’ll be submitting the questions to Tim and Nicola next week, so you’ve got a week to work out what you want to ask.

Send your questions to tips@coolest-gadgets.com.

I’ve been thinking about the gaming news announced at E3 this year, with both Microsoft and Sony getting into the motion control arena. There’s no doubt that all the technology on display is impressive but here’s the thing – they’ll never sell any, or not in the current market anyway.

When you look at why the Wii was so successful the answer is obvious – the motion controller. What’s less obvious (until you think about it) is that this is the primary way of interacting with the console. Sure, the mars bar has a D-pad on it but that’s really only there because you need some buttons to press. The main control mechanism for the console is via motion.

Because you get that capability in the box, developers are forced to write games that use it and that’s the problem for MS and Sony. They ship standard controllers and nobody will write a game that relies on an optional accessory because it just won’t sell (unless it’s so mind-bogglingly innovative that you’ll buy the accessory just to play the game). The eye-toy has been around for years and I can count the number of games that use it without running out of fingers.

So here’s the point – If Sony and MS are really serious about motion control they need to make new consoles and their new stuff needs to have motion control as the only way of interacting with it. Sell the standard controllers as optional accessories if you must have them. By doing that you make a statement to developers that there’ll be a product out there and they’d better support it.

Until that happens, the motion control arena will remain firmly in the grip of Mario and his cohorts.

[Photograph from Ludovic Maillard]