CES 2018

Sony’s premier video processor for 2018 may be the X1 Extreme, but there’s something even better in Sony’s lab. Dubbed the X1 Ultimate, we’re unlikely to see it in this year’s Sony’s sets. The folks in the white coats are working to make certain it can live up to its promises.

But that didn’t keep Sony from using the X1 Ultimate in several convincing CES demos of possible future designs. The most incredible of these was this 8K LCD-LED model, claimed to be capable of a peak output of 10,000 nits. That’s not a typo. Why might we want such brightness when todays HDR sources don’t exceed 4000 nits at best (most peak out at 1000 nits). At a peak output capability of 10,000 nits, the set needn’t do any tone mapping. It won’t clip any known source and will reproduce HDR source material in full luminance, with the full color saturation demanded by the material.

Always remember, however, that screen shots such as this one can in no way come close to conveying the pictures seen on the screen of a video display.