SONY UNVEILS FLAT-PANEL LCD AND PLASMA WEGA TELEVISION MODELS GEARED FOR ENTRY LEVEL CONSUMERS

Feb. 25, 2004 - Meeting the growing demand for high performance, entry level flat-panel LCD and plasma television sets, Sony Electronics today introduced the new M-series lineup to complement its extensive array of flat-panel TVs.

The expanded flat-panel lineup includes a 42-inch Plasma WEGA™ and 32- and 23-inch LCD WEGA™ models that deliver digital picture performance combined with an eye catching, stylish appeal of flat panel TVs.

"As consumers have made it clear in the past couple of years, they're having a fantastic love affair with flat-panel TVs," said Tim Baxter, senior vice president of marketing of Sony's Home Products Division. "We are very excited to introduce the M-series, which expands our flat-panel lineup to include price points for all consumers. As a result, more and more consumers can now enjoy flat-panel TVs that offer latest video technology and picture performance features that only Sony can deliver."

With these new sets, Sony now offers one of the broadest line of flat-panel TVs, in the U.S. market, including 10 Plasma WEGA models and eight LCD WEGA models, ranging in screen sizes from 21-inch to its flagship 61-inch and the new 55-inch integrated high definition XBR® series plasma model.

Raising the Bar in Entry Level Flat Panel TVs

The new M-series include the KE-42M1 42-inch Plasma WEGA EDTV monitor and two LCD WEGA HD models, the 32-inch KLV-32M1 and the 23-inch KLV-23M1. These flat-panel TVs incorporate several step-up features, including a re-engineered panel driver, Direct Digital Circuitry II, Digital Reality Creation® picture enhancing circuitry, a HDMI™ connection and an SRS® TruSurround® audio system, all adding up to an outstanding flat panel home theater experience.

These models feature the improved proprietary panel driver LSI (Large Scale Integrated circuit) for LCD and plasma displays. In the case of LCD monitors, LSI improves the response rate for minimized image blur for fast action scenes. For plasma monitors, it increases the contrast range to add picture depth.

The new flat-panel sets also feature such proprietary Sony picture technology as:

Direct Digital Circuitry II, which optimizes incoming video signals to minimize video artifacts for cleaner signal processing;

Digital Reality Creation MultiFunction circuitry, which bit maps any NTSC source (DVD, VHS, DBS, Cable, etc.), creating a picture that rivals high definition resolution; and

CineMotion® reverse 3:2 pulldown circuitry, which is also included for the finest film-based video source display.

In addition, these sets incorporate the latest HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) technology with HDCP (High Definition Multimedia Interface with High Definition Copy Protection), which interconnects between digital sources, supporting both uncompressed high definition video and multi-channel digital audio through a single cable. HDMI technology is an enhanced version of DVI-HDTV and is backward compatible with compliant devices.

Each of Sony's new flat-panel models offer the all-in-one convenience of a built-in NTSC tuner, a tabletop stand for placement flexibility and a sleek, bottom speaker design to compliment any home theater system.

The M-series also feature Sony's new Center Speaker In function. When connected a multi-channel A/V receiver, the TV's built-in speakers can be used as center channel speaker. Wall mount kits will be also available as an optional accessory.