Yesterday dropped by the Gateway Apple store and saw the huge Sony Bravia plasma TV's used to demo the Apple TV. I didn't realize that Apple and Sony were so close? Hmm...
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Sony Bravia TV used for Apple TV demo's.
- Thread starter princealfie
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two things:
1. apple's gotta use somebody's tv, so what's the big deal if they're using a sony, a samsung or any other brand? the fact that they're using a sony tv really shouldn't be raising any alarms. it's not something we should be looking too much into.
2. it's not like apple needs sony's permission to use their tv's. they just go out and buy some like any any other person/company. i don't think they called sony up and said, "hey, we could use some bravias over here. we'd really appreciate it. thanks!"
1. apple's gotta use somebody's tv, so what's the big deal if they're using a sony, a samsung or any other brand? the fact that they're using a sony tv really shouldn't be raising any alarms. it's not something we should be looking too much into.
2. it's not like apple needs sony's permission to use their tv's. they just go out and buy some like any any other person/company. i don't think they called sony up and said, "hey, we could use some bravias over here. we'd really appreciate it. thanks!"
They've been in the back of the stores for at least two months waiting to go on display.
1. Apple wanted to use a quality TV and Sony is a well-respected brand.
2. Permission, no. Called em up and asked for a discount, you bet. Three TV's per store X 176 stores...
Small point of clarification, the Bravia series is LCD, not plasma. Additionally, these are one of the best reviewed LCD HDTV's on the market. (That would be the high end XBR version). It would make sense to use one of the best TV's to promote your set top box. Wow em with the pict quality and they don't think twice about buying.
That's ironic because I have known that Sony and Apple only contracted for batteries and CD-ROM's in the past.
It just startled me that Sony was chosen for the TV set considering that Apple TV will become a gaming console to compete against the PS3 in about 2-3 years. Hmm...
Of course, the Sony content just appeared on iTunes so that's interesting. They are the last to jump on board.
It just startled me that Sony was chosen for the TV set considering that Apple TV will become a gaming console to compete against the PS3 in about 2-3 years. Hmm...
Of course, the Sony content just appeared on iTunes so that's interesting. They are the last to jump on board.
After the laptop battery fiasco earlier this year, you'd think that Sony would have given them to Apple for free.
Because if we did not start rumors based on assumptions we wouldn't be human.
That is right. If anything I think Sony's would start to sell more because it'll somehow be associated. People will want to mimic the quality seen in stores if they don't already have a set or if they're looking for another. I also believe that it is a stellar choice to show off what
TV can do.
swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
I'm glad they're using Bravias, as they are the world's first televisions for both men AND women. It would be a shame if only half the population could see the screen.
You have got to be kidding me. And this is the same company trying to pull over BluRay over our heads (think Al Gore's invention of the internet)?
My goodness. I think that Sharp or Panny could have been just as good a choice.
Oh, the SoHo Apple store, how I miss the good old days. I lived in SoHo this past summer, in fact I was two blocks away from the store. Man I loved SoHo. It was amazing to just stop for 2 minutes on any given day and watch the sheer number of people going into the Apple store.
You're right. I can't tell the size, but they are definately the S2000 (or S2010) series Bravia XBR1. It's a 720p (1366x768) HDTV and are last year's models. They've been eclipsed by the XBR2, XBR3, and V2500 series of 1080p panels.
As far as Apple using name brand TVs in their displays and ads, I remember the mini webpage showing it connected to a Samsung DLP. They've also used these same XBR1's on some other webpages.
If these are brand new, they're probably overstock that Sony (or a retailer) is trying to unload. Hope Apple got a great deal on them.
Aside - I wonder what they're going to do with them when they change the store display. Maybe they'll sell them to store employees.
ft
Thank You For The SoHo Store Pics Martin
Thanks for those fantastic pictures Martin. Awesome work man.
Nope They're 32" KDL-V32XBR2 @ $1,700. You can tell because XBRs have that metal strip dividing the screen and the speakers and S & V units don't.
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Yes, SoHo is quite a wonderful neighborhood.Oh, the SoHo Apple store, how I miss the good old days. I lived in SoHo this past summer, in fact I was two blocks away from the store. Man I loved SoHo. It was amazing to just stop for 2 minutes on any given day and watch the sheer number of people going into the Apple store.
Thanks Multimedia, anytime.Multimedia said:
Interesting. It's funny that Sony is calling this TV an XBR2 when it looks exactly (or at least similar) like the XBR1's. The 40" and bigger XBR2 look completely different.
I stand corrected.
ft
That is right. If anything I think Sony's would start to sell more because it'll somehow be associated. People will want to mimic the quality seen in stores if they don't already have a set or if they're looking for another. I also believe that it is a stellar choice to show off what
I bought a 40" Bravia S series because I heard Apple was using them for the
tv, I'm just waiting for the tv to arrive n South Africa nowI bought a 40" Bravia S series because I heard Apple was using them for the
The problem with the S series is that they max out at 720p. The V series is a full 1080 while the XBR will upcode any signal to the full 1080. It is easy to get confused by retialer's ads cause they don't really specify the series.
I found the V series the best deal for my $$ plus the XBR would not fit in my existing cabinet.
I'm surprised they call those 32" Bravias "XBR". Back in the day "XBR" Trinitrons were the best of the best, and these LCD's look like utter crap. The XBR circuitry in a Trinitron differed by a number of measures including fine pitch and super fine pitch tubes, early use of component video inputs on NTSC TV's, 3D digital comb filters, etc. Absolutely stunning picture... and now there's this LCD junk.
Maybe I'm spoiled on the vastly superior color, contrast and clarity of my 34" XBR Trinitron WEGA HD, but short of hauling in one of those 200 pound babies how about instead of using three crappy Bravias they put in one Sony SXRD XBR? Those are the best non-CRT displays Sony makes... not quite as good as a CRT but far better contrast, clarity and color than a Bravia XBR.
I went into the Apple Store and was baffled to see them using these and, to make matters worse, feeding them with less than 640x480 demo content that they say came preloaded on the AppleTV floor demo units. I'll try to get some pictures up of my setup soon but the stores are blowing it by not showing customers how good a picture you can, in principle, achieve with AppleTV.
when steve jobs introduced the intel mac minis, he said you could hook it up tvs, including a sony bravia. i guess he's partial to sonys.
intel mini intro - time 2:35
intel mini intro - time 2:35
why are you surprised? It's all marketing. The XBR name does carry weight. Besides, at the time these XBR's were made (almost two years ago), they were among the best LCDs around.
If you're concerned with how the pre-loaded stuff looked on the 32" Bravia LCD, could you imagine how crappy it would look on a 50" SXRD? It would be an utter mess.
Incidentally, I was at the Menlo Park Apple Store last night and checked out the Apple TV in person. I was pretty impressed with the interface as it was much slicker and more responsive than I thought it would be. I guess using Front Row on a Macbook lowered my expectations. As has been reported, the video quality looked a mess. TV shows were mediocre, but the widescreen movies were junk. I suspect that this is because the TV shows are 640x480 and the movies are 640x360 (depending on aspect ratio). The photos looked amazing.
The other interesting thing was that an employee (off duty) was messing around with the other aTV in the store. He had his Macbook and external HD and was playing around with the aTV. I was eaveslooking and apparently, he episodes of The Office playing on the aTV. The NBC-HD logo was apparent. Looked very good (from my angle). So I proceeded to play with my aTV and found his Macbook on the list of sources. I played around a little and was able to find his stash of HD shows. When he came back, I chatted with him for a couple of moments (he was rushing out). The aTV was playing 720p material. I didn't get to ask where the files came from or if he encoded it himself, etc.
All in all, pretty slick.
One more thing, I seems that to my eyes, the aTV doesn't handle the iTS media as well. I have my wife's Macbook hooked up to a 46" 1080p LCD at home and the newer shows (640x480) look OK. Much better than the aTV hooked up to the 32" 720p Bravia yesterday. I don't want to base my decision on a lousy set-up at the Apple Store. Especially since these aTV's are capable of displaying very crisp video quality.
ft