New Sony SDM-HS74P & SDM-HS94P HS Premium-Series LCD Monitors

Unique Sony LCD screen technology means crisper, brighter and better displays for home users

Brussels, 6 July 2004 – Today saw the launch of two Sony LCD monitors created to provide discerning home users with visibly superior image quality and award-winning style.

The Sony SDM-HS74P (SDMHS74P) and Sony SDM-HS94P (SDMHS94P) offer users the choice of 17-inch and 19-inch screen diagonals respectively.

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UPDATE:

Sony HS-Series LCD Monitors available to buy at the SonyStyle store

Sony HS-Series LCD Monitors are now available to Order at the SonyStyle online store.

Check for the latest prices of the SDM-HS74P and SDM-HS94P at SonyStyle today.

UPDATE ENDS

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Both displays feature new Sony screen technology, which boosts contrast, breathes vivid life into colours with high brightness and reduces reflection. Digital photos take on a new dimension, games come alive, and activities like photo editing which require exacting colour reproduction are enhanced.

The Sony HS Premium-Series is also set apart from other monitors by its highly distinctive ‘floating wing’ design. This concept won the only coveted Display Gold award at the internationally recognised iF Design Awards 2004, against stiff competition. The panel of top design professionals selected just 15 products out of 400 nominations for Gold. In addition to improved colours and greater contrast, Sony X-black screens are also brighter than conventional LCDs, making them easy to read in a variety of lighting environments around the home. The specially engineered low reflection coating on the screen surface ensures that the picture is not marred by reflection, wherever the monitor is situated.

The Sony SDM-HS74P & Sony SDM-HS94P are distinguished by fast response times, making them ideal for gaming, watching DVDs and motion video playback. The fast response time means that even when the action is at its hottest, no lag or latency spoils the picture. With its exceptional 12ms response time, the Sony SDM-HS94P is particularly suitable for demanding users requiring the absolute best from their display.

Sony’s Advanced backlight control gives users instant control over brightness, ensuring optimum viewing comfort for every type of activity and lighting environment, at the touch of a button. Pinpoint control over brightness also reduces power consumption and ultimately extends the life of the product. In addition, the Sony SDM-HS74P & Sony SDM-HS94P feature precision sRGB colour control, allowing users to set the highest standards of accuracy when it comes to photo editing and colour printing.

The Sony HS Premium-Series is offered in a choice of stylish metallic silver or matt black finishes that complement the physical design and make either model an eye-catching addition to any room. Commenting on the launch, Kris Van den Bossche, head of Product Marketing Manager for Sony displays said: “The Sony Premium models are a true marriage of form and function: visually superior; visually impressive. When you fuse real design excellence with advanced technology, there’s a certain magic. You could say that the Sony HS Premium-Series is greater than the sum of its parts.”

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

A better picture with new Sony screen technology

LCD screens enhanced with new Sony screen technology deliver sharp contrast, increased brightness, and rich, vivid colour, all with minimal reflection from the surface of the panel. This is achieved by replacing the conventional anti-glare/anti-reflection coating applied to the screen surface with a specially engineered glare filter and a low-reflection surface layer. The problem with the standard anti-glare/anti-reflection coating is that it works by deliberately scattering and diffusing light by covering the LCD screen with microscopic irregularities. Unfortunately, this same diffusing process reduces the amount of contrast in the image as scattered light bleeds into black areas, making them look washed out, and colours become less saturated and vibrant. The overall brightness of the screen is also diminished and the true sharpness of focus is diluted by the scatter of light at the surface. Sony X-black avoids all these problems by reducing glare and surface reflection without the diffusing effect of normal coatings. The difference is immediately apparent: black areas appear truly black with no hint of greying and colours seem solid and lifelike. The picture looks brighter and more vibrant thanks to the increased contrast now that the interference from scattered light has been eliminated. Finally, the overall brightness of the image is boosted by as much as 40 per cent compared to conventional panels by a sequence of optical inserts between the high-powered backlight and the LCD screen itself. These focus and intensify the illumination passing through the LCD, visibly increasing the general brightness of the picture, ensuring that Sony X-black screens always stand out from the rest.

IF Design Awards

The iF Design Awards are judged by Industrie Forum Design, one of the oldest design centres in Europe. The association is based in the Hannover Exhibition Centre, and provides a broad range of design-related consultancy and services, as well as promoting design excellence through the iF Design Awards. First held in 1954, this is today regarded as one of the most important design competitions worldwide, attracting nearly 2000 entries from over 30 countries. Sony’s HS-Series of LCD monitors was selected as an ‘outstanding winner’ for its unique ‘floating wing’ design concept, and was duly awarded Gold by a panel of top international designers. These coveted ‘design Oscars’ were presented at a special ceremony held on March 18 at the CeBIT international IT exhibition in Hannover, Germany. The jury of distinguished design professionals conferred only 15 Gold awards on 400 nominated products drawn from nearly 1500 entrants from 32 countries. To find out more about iF Design and the Awards, visit the iF Design website: www.ifdesign.de

Resolution in detail

When it comes to workspace area, bigger is better for the user experience. That’s why both models in the Sony HSP-Series have a native SXGA resolution (1280 x 1024). This yields 1.3 megapixels, or about 1.7 times as much room for applications than conventional XGA (1024 x 768), so users can view much larger documents and images without scrolling.

Environment, Service and Support

Sony is committed to the development of environmentally sustainable manufacturing processes. Sony LCD displays are produced in facilities certified according to the ISO 14001 Standard for Environmental Management Systems. This ensures that they are easier to recycle, consume less energy, and are built from materials with the lowest possible impact on the environment. Additionally, all Sony LCDs comply with ISO 13406-2, the international standard that covers many issues central to LCD technology and manufacture. These include important quality definitions limiting acceptable levels of pixel failure in the finished product. Both the new models come with the peace of mind afforded by a three-year pan-European warranty. For further information please contact your local Sony office.

You make it a Sony

Sony products bring digital technology to life, offering a world of applications in entertainment and networking. Whether you are a novice or an enthusiast, you can shoot your own movies on DVD, edit them with a VAIO and share them with friends and family with a DVD player/recorder. You can take perfect still shots every time with easy to use Sony digital cameras such as Cyber-shot, then make quality prints, enjoy them cable free on your Sony WEGA television or simply store your albums on your Sony VAIO. With a Sony network audio device, you can create your own Internet-sourced music compilations and enjoy them at great quality at home or on the move. These are just some of the ways in which Sony gives you complete control over your digital environment, enabling you to enjoy whatever you want, wherever and whenever.

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