You’ll be moved by what’s playing on your Sony TV, but the room will stay as relaxing as ever.
The secret: new product design that takes cues from interior design.
Imagine a design palette that consists of the shapes, patterns, and other elements found in a ‘slice’ of a living room scene. Most slices would include flat, slate-like objects – such as pictures leaning against walls, books on a shelf, or dishes on a table – so we used these as our basic building blocks during product design.
By utilizing this palette and slate-like shapes to inform the look and feel of our new TVs, we were able to ensure that their slim design maintains the harmony of your living room while still making a statement.1
Structurally simple, 2016 BRAVIA TVs resonate with living room design because they’re composed of slate shapes, both in stands that seem sliced from walls or the floor and screens that recall pictures or windows. Not just slim, they’re also free of distracting elements. Across the new lineup cables can be routed through the stand, concealing it from view on all sides. Here, we’ve set a new standard in elegant TV design that keep your living room comfortable.
The Z9D Series balances the spatial harmony of our Slice of Living concept with a refined look—a fitting embodiment of the high-end models that deliver the ultimate viewing experience.2 From the front, the design exudes sophistication in the form of a simple black slate, letting viewers immerse themselves in the stunning power of 4K HDR (High Dynamic Range).
* In cases of sold in Europe and Russia, called “ZD9” series
Accentuating the side view, where the front and back slates lock together, are lines of premium gold colouring that fill out the look with a strong, metallic tone and add another visual dimension to the experience.
Echoing the geometric notes of interior design and architecture, the back panel features a seamless grid pattern that downplays the lines of the various parts and creates a visual complement to its surroundings. The design also keeps all the cables completely concealed, ensuring that the device strikes an elegant look from any angle.
Behind the X94/93D Series’ outstanding 4K HDR picture quality lie two slate-like layers designed to bring the very best out of every image: a beautiful surface screen and our new Slim Backlight Drive™3, seemingly divided by a line with a brassy sheen that runs down the sides of the TV. The sleek, flat bezel creates a visual link between all sides, framing and emphasizing the ultra-slim nature of the TV.
Our commitment to beautiful design flows through every aspect of this TV – including the stands. The X94/93D Series boasts an elegant, tapered front plate that lifts and angles the TV to create a sense of lightness while also ensuring stability. Finished in aluminum, the warm silver tone of the stand perfectly complements both the TV and your living space.
You can also mount it on a wall, where the TV’s specially engineered rear vent and bracket enable it to look as well integrated as a window within your living room.4
* In cases of sold in Europe and Russia, called “XD94/93” series
The same simple combination of panels in the X94/93D series is found in the aluminum-framed X85D series, but the line on the top that runs down the side is silver, and the sleek front panel of the stand tapers inward.
*In cases of sold in Europe and Russia, called “XD85” series
The bezel flows gracefully into the stand on Full HD5 TV W65/60D sets, taking advantage of the excellent moldability of plastic in both parts. In living rooms, the sets look as understated as a simple slate, resting against a wall. They’re much like an extension of the floor or cabinet they’re sitting on.
*In cases of sold in Europe and Russia, called “WD65/60” series
How would people like Slice of Living design? To find out, we asked people in several countries. Feedback on prototypes – especially for stands, which we had created in many shapes, at various angles, and in several colors and materials – brought preferences into clearer focus. Once we were convinced that this was the right direction to take in design, we worked out the details with our engineers. Even for sets as structurally challenging as these, our close collaboration made it possible without compromise.
Yokota, Art Director
Crafted in flat, slate-like shapes to blend discreetly and seamlessly into living spaces,
Sony’s home theatre products maximise functionality
—from producing crystal-clear music and sound to delivering video like you’ve never seen it before.
For the soundbar, we translated the Slice of Living concept into two “sound” slates—one for the housing, which forms the bottom layer of the unit, and one for the grille, which stretches across the housing and releases the sound. With a hairline finish lending the surface a strong, rigid visual presence, we designed the housing to look like the audio that the unit generates—rich and sharp. The perforated metal grille features a dark grey colour that, unlike a black colour scheme, brings just a bit of warmth to the overall appearance and makes for a cosier aesthetic fit in living-room settings.
Whether it’s in a tabletop configuration or on the wall, the soundbar delivers a stunning look and amazing sound. The tabletop setup strikes a graceful profile, with the layered slates sloping gently downward—not only does that give the sound some momentum as it makes its way toward the viewer, but it also keeps the housing from obstructing the bottom of the screen. The slate-styled configuration delivers a host of functional benefits in a wall setup, too, including a more wall-hugging fit that only serves to enhance the “slice” effect. The soundbar for the high-resolution SL Series, meanwhile, features tweeters—vital components for reproducing high-resolution sound—on both the front and the top of the unit. By giving users the ability to switch between tabletop sound and wall-mount sound, the soundbar brings users the same high-quality audio in whatever setup they choose.
The thick slate look of the Blu-ray Disc recorder and player is a visual representation of all the intelligence inside the device, which boasts network connectivity features. The recorder design consists of two blocks: the slate on the bottom houses the base, while the slate on the top contains the tray and the display.
Thanks to the different color schemes for the top and bottom slates, the device looks completely at home on any white or brown surface. The textures contribute to the natural look, too: with the smooth feel of the top contrasting the rough, stony texture of the bottom, the slates form two distinct—yet complementary—pieces in a stack.
While the soundbar strikes a sleek, refined profile with its thin-slate look, the Blu-ray disc player offers a different take on the Slice of Living concept with a thick, weighty slate—a block of all the intelligence that goes into playing online content and doing everything else modern-day Blu-ray devices can do. Featuring a design that places the playback slate between two rock-solid slates, the device has an authoritative, powerful presence: take one look, and you’ll know it has the capacity to play high-resolution audio. The off-black colouring adds a degree of warmth to the overall visual package, as well, making it easier for the player to blend in with its surroundings.
When we tried to design a slate-shaped soundbar for high-resolution audio, it was quite the challenge. The angles, housing dimensions, and other specifications of the high-resolution audio units were already set in stone, so we got engineers on board with the concept and started hammering out possible solutions. When the dust finally settled, we’d come up with a finished product that not only featured a brand-new, innovative design but also delivered better sound quality than we’d ever achieved. The “slice” concept wasn’t just part of the exterior design: by incorporating the idea into the functionality of the soundbar, we’ve broken new ground with a device that looks at home in any living-room environment and pushes soundbar performance to the next level.
Oikawa, Senior Manager
Sony’s BRAVIA™ and Home Theatre Systems have given shape to a new mode of design
and broadened the perspective on the viewing experience,
making it more about the bigger picture of watching content in a living room.
Let these Sony products take you to a whole new world of wonder and inspiration
—all from the comfort of your living space.
As slimmer bodies and thinner bezels make TVs less noticeable as distinct objects in a room, the room as a whole has greater impact on the viewing experience. Although we sought the same, highly immersive experience that people expect from BRAVIA™, we realized we should also think outside the box and build on the comfort of living rooms. This broader perspective – not just viewing itself but the bigger picture of viewing in a living room – inspired Slice of Living design.
Tako, Chief Art Director