‘New BRAVIA lineup will match picture quality with filmmakers’ vision’: Sony India MD Sunil Nayyar

“In that sense, Sony has a lens-to-living story. Because of our heritage, we have embedded this tech in our new BRAVIA series (7,8,9),” Nayyar added.

Sony demo of XR backlight master drive. (Image: Karan Mahadik/The Indian Express)

The refreshed lineup of BRAVIA televisions will be equipped with an XR backlight master drive that promises to deliver the highest possible dynamic range, peak luminance, and dark gradation along with the best of contrast.

“It makes everything so balanced that you feel you are in the movie theatre. Most televisions won’t be able to reach this level without messing up on colour or clarity,” Nayyar said in his address.

He also revealed that the BRAVIA 7,8, and 9 series will come with Studio Calibration, a feature developed in collaboration with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video that allows for filmmakers’ cinematic vision and intent to be relayed as is. “Filmmakers have their own coding, colour, contrast, etc. They match it with our television. Since we have studios, we are in alignment with these people. The competition doesn’t have it. Whatever content they create, the reproduction in our televisions is as good as the creator’s imagination,” Nayyar said.

Capitalising on the OTT trend

Declaring that Sony rightly anticipated OTT streaming content was going to take off in India two years ago, Nayyar said that the company is now progressing towards elevating the overall viewing experience of OTT content with XR Clear Image and iMax-enhanced features as well as DOLBY Atmos and DOLBY Vision tech.

However, when asked about gaming specs, Nayyar did not elaborate further than stating, “PS5 is Sony so you can easily imagine that the compatibility with BRAVIA televisions is beautiful.”

In terms of audio, Sony’s new BRAVIA lineup boasts of Acoustic Surface Audio Plus that allows sound to be beamed from the screen through embedded “tweeters”.

Sony demo of differences in picture quality between new BRAVIA series (left), master monitor (centre), and conventional TV model. (Image: Karan Mahadik/The Indian Express)

The Japanese consumer electronics giant is also leveraging AI to upscale its premium televisions with a Sony XR processor chip at the heart. When asked about how AI could shape the future of the television sector, Nayyar replied, “We want to deliver cognitive intelligence which is more human-like and that makes the TV read and evolve with you. If the lighting conditions are dark, the TV will take care. The sound will also be calibrated in accordance with wherever you’re sitting.”

Perspective on the market

As per company figures, Sony India controls over 31 per cent of the 55-inch market segment, 36 per cent of the 65-inch segment, 45 per cent of the 75-inch segment, and almost half the 85-inch market.

While acknowledging that the overall TV market was stagnant, Nayyar argued that screen size configurations were growing. “The 32-inch and 40-inch are declining. What segment is growing is 55-inch and above, more so, the 75-inch and above. That’s the growth momentum area. Within that segment, there’s various tech available like LEDs, OLEDs, etc.”

“We want to further grow by making sure that our customers graduate to better tech in televisions so that they get pure cinematic experience at home. This would help us capture more of the market share, grow the market, grow the average selling prices (ASPs), and do value growth for the business,” Nayyar said.