Sony’s new line of Bravia XR televisions will allow customers to watch and stream movies at some of the highest quality levels available on the consumer market through its new Bravia Core platform, according to the company.
Bravia XR owners will be able to choose from a range of Sony Pictures titles and watch them using Sony’s “Pure Stream” technology, which achieves “almost lossless” ultra high definition Blu-ray disc quality, according to Sony. Pure Stream also allows streaming of up to 80 megabits per second. For comparison, most streaming services recommend maintaining an internet speed between 15 and 25 megabits per second to achieve adequate 4K Ultra HD streaming quality. If Sony’s numbers are accurate, this is better than many of the competition.
The platform comes preloaded on all new Bravia XR models (MASTER Series Z9J 8K LED, MASTER Series A90J and A80J OLED and X95J and X90J 4K LED) and effectively uses a voucher system. Depending on the model someone buys, they receive several credits. These credits can be exchanged for a series of new titles. It is not clear whether people can keep these bonds after they are bought with the credits, but The Verge contacted Sony for more information.
Regarding streaming, the Sony website says that customers can stream a series of titles “anytime and as many times as they want, in HDR quality up to 4K”, but there are also limits to that. The streaming availability periods depend on the Bravia XR model purchased, according to the website.
Bravia Core is not going to replace Netflix, but it looks like it was specifically designed to show customers the ultimate features of their new TV set. Kind of like when you buy a TV with real 4K HDR features and play the best 4K YouTube channels to try to see the difference between your new device and that old clunker you just launched. Bravia XR TVs also have “the largest collection of IMAX Enhanced films”, according to Sony. It is unclear exactly how many films this works, however.