Big, bright screens are a huge part of CES every year, and 2018 is no different. Sony has long been a provider of high-end televisions, and this year it has a few different products on offer at the show, each interesting in its own right. The highlights include a short-throw projector and a pair of big televisions.
Up first is the LSPX-A1 4K Ultra Short-Throw Projector. As part of Sony's Life Space UX line, this projector is meant to disappear into your living room—despite the clunky name. This short-throw projector will sit right in front of the wall it's going to light up. With that in mind, Sony is making the projector look like a piece of furniture. It has an artificial marble top and half-mirror-finished aluminum frame, as well as a wooden shelf to store your components.
When in use, this projector can display 4K HDR content in a size up to 120" diagonally. To further help hide cords, the unit has speakers and a subwoofer to deliver audio without the need for additional speakers.
On the more traditional side of things are the A8F Series OLED and the X900F series TVs. Both are 4K HDR-compatible sets powered by Sony's X1 Extreme processor. For you HDR nuts, both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision standards are supported. Most interesting, though, is the inclusion of Sony's Acoustic Surface tech on the A8F models. Instead of traditional speakers built into the TV's bottom or back, the screen itself is the speaker by way of vibration. Sony says this tech can make sound seem as if it's coming directly from the source on the television, such as a speaking person's mouth.
On the more traditional LED side of things, the X900F will be available sizes from 49" to 85". Sony says the highlight of this panel is its X-Motion Clarity motion enhancement technology, which "keeps fast action images smooth and lifelike." That sounds like an improved version of the motion-enhancement effects we've been seeing on TVs for years, known colloquially as the soap opera effect.
Sony also has on display a prototype version of its X1 Ultimate picture processor, which it says has twice the processing power of the current X1 Extreme. The company will be showcasing it in an 8K HDR display with a peak brightness of 10,000 nits. Bring your sunglasses.
Sony isn't talking pricing on any of these just yet, but says the projector will be available this spring. We're guessing at a similar time frame for the televisions.