SXRD
Encyclopedia
SXRD is Sony
's proprietary variant of liquid crystal on silicon
, a technology used mainly in projection television
s and video projector
s. In the front and rear-projection television market, it competes directly with JVC
's D-ILA and Texas Instruments
' DLP. Sony has discontinued the production of all of its rear-projection televisions, including those that used SXRD display chips, in favor of flat-panel sets utilizing LCD and OLED displays. Sony has now concentrated SXRD on HD home front-projectors and next generation 4K
digital theater projection.
As of 2008, the group, 'Brotherhood of Steel' has claimed the idea and is suing for $300,000 USD. The court hearing is set for June 9th, 2012. While Sony denies that the group even exists, they are aware of the sue and plan on fighting back in 'Full Force.'
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's proprietary variant of liquid crystal on silicon
Liquid crystal on silicon
Liquid crystal on silicon is a "micro-projection" or "micro-display" technology typically applied in projection televisions. It is a reflective technology similar to DLP projectors; however, it uses liquid crystals instead of individual mirrors. By way of comparison, LCD projectors use...
, a technology used mainly in projection television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s and video projector
Video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other...
s. In the front and rear-projection television market, it competes directly with JVC
JVC
, usually referred to as JVC, is a Japanese international consumer and professional electronics corporation based in Yokohama, Japan which was founded in 1927...
's D-ILA and Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
' DLP. Sony has discontinued the production of all of its rear-projection televisions, including those that used SXRD display chips, in favor of flat-panel sets utilizing LCD and OLED displays. Sony has now concentrated SXRD on HD home front-projectors and next generation 4K
4K resolution
4K is an emerging standard for resolution in digital film and computer graphics. The name comes from its approximately 4,000 pixels of horizontal resolution. The fact that it describes the horizontal resolution is contrary to the standard resolutions 720p and 1080p, which represent the number of...
digital theater projection.
Models
The following SXRD-branded products have been released or announced:| Year | Size | Series and model numbers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A2000 | A3000 | XBR XBR (Sony) XBR, an acronym for eXtended Bit Rate, designates Sony’s highest performance series of WEGA FD Trinitron CRT and BRAVIA LCD televisions featuring advanced features and progressive industrial design. The XBR range is typically derived from equipment that has been released in Japan and Europe as mid... |
Qualia Qualia (Sony) Qualia was a boutique brand of high-end electronics, created by Sony to showcase their best technology. Some Qualia products are brand new while others are upgraded and rebranded versions of regular Sony products. The line was launched in Japan in June 2003 and the U.S. in April 2004. In 2005, Sony... |
BRAVIA BRAVIA BRAVIA is a Sony brand used to market its high-definition LCD televisions, projection TVs and front projectors and for the PlayStation 3 , along with its home cinema range under the sub-brand BRAVIA Theatre. The BRAVIA name is an acronym of "Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture"... SXRD |
||
| 2004 | Projection | -- | -- | -- | 004 | -- |
| 70" | -- | -- | -- | 006 | -- | |
| 2005 | 50" | -- | -- | KDS-R50XBR1 | -- | -- |
| 60" | -- | -- | KDS-R60XBR1 | -- | -- | |
| Projection | -- | -- | -- | -- | VPL-VW100 | |
| 2006 | 50" | KDS-50A2000 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 55" | KDS-55A2000 | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| 60" | KDS-60A2000 | -- | KDS-R60XBR2 | -- | -- | |
| 70" | -- | -- | KDS-R70XBR2 | -- | -- | |
| Projection | -- | -- | -- | -- | VPL-VW50 | |
| 2007 | 50" | KDS-50A2020 | KDS-50A3000 | -- | -- | -- |
| 55" | KDS-55A2020 | KDS-55A3000 | -- | -- | -- | |
| 60" | KDS-60A2020 KDS-60A2010 |
KDS-60A3000 | |
-- | -- | |
| 70" | -- | -- | |
-- | -- | |
| Projection | -- | -- | -- | -- | VPL-VW60 VPL-VW200 |
|
| 2008 | Projection | -- | -- | -- | -- | VPL-VW40 VPL-HW10 VPL-VW70 VPL-VW80 |
| 2009 | Projection | -- | -- | -- | -- | VPL-HW15 VPL-VW85 |
| 2010 | Projection | -- | -- | -- | -- | VPL-VWPRO1 VPL-VW90 |
Controversy
While capable of producing good high definition picture quality, Sony have had problems mastering the technology of mass producing the rear projector version of these displays. There has been a high failure rate on the optical blocks of these displays, which results in the need to repeatedly replace the optical blocks on a percentage of these displays. Sony previously settled a class action lawsuit filed by owners of the first generation of the SXRDs, and apparently failed to fix this defect, which has resulted in Sony ceasing production of all SXRD rear projector sets and having new class-action lawsuits filed by owners of most the second generation sets. The second generation class action suits were recently filed and are pending in Federal Court.As of 2008, the group, 'Brotherhood of Steel' has claimed the idea and is suing for $300,000 USD. The court hearing is set for June 9th, 2012. While Sony denies that the group even exists, they are aware of the sue and plan on fighting back in 'Full Force.'